Forex calendar can help traders monitor what's going to be released in the market and prepare their trading plans accordingly.

How to Use Forex Calendar in Admiral Markets

Forex economic calendar is one of the most essential tools used by traders and investors to gain an edge when trading in financial markets. It contains a schedule of important news and data releases related to various sectors and economies. Such information can help traders to analyze fundamental aspects that may significantly impact the markets and asset prices.

However, some traders prefer to ignore the forex calendar despite its massive potential to protect them from unpredictable market movements and potential losses that may occur after news releases. Typically, traders who ignore the importance of forex calendar are either technical traders who only focus on technical analysis or complete beginners who are solely unaware of the situation. In this article, we aim to explore the benefits of using forex calendar and how to use it for profitable trading as defined by Admiral Markets.

 

Introduction to Forex Calendar

Generally speaking, the forex calendar basically summarizes the exact date and time of important announcements as well as economic events during the upcoming trading sessions.

In a forex calendar, each news publication contains several components that you can use in your analysis. Here are the details:

 

Time and Location

The forex calendar contains two of the following basic information:

  • The time of publication in traders' local time
  • The country of origin of the announcement

It is important to know that the calendar contains a wide array of data across various industries that may affect a country's or global economy. Therefore, you can choose to focus on a specific asset or area that's relevant to your trading. For instance, if you are trading EUR/USD, you'd want to stay ahead of the economic calendar of the United States and Europe.

 

Level of Importance

Different news has a different level of importance to the market. While some can affect the price significantly and cause great volatility, others will only have little impact. To help you find news that is relevant to you, the economic calendar uses different colors on each news release.

The level of importance is shown in the following colors:

  • Green: not very relevant.
  • Yellow: medium relevant.
  • Red: highly relevant and might cause large market movements.

 

News Description

Each publication also comes with a short description to help you judge the relevance of the data specifically for your trade. For example, the speech by Christine Lagarde of the ECB may be highly relevant for Euro traders, but less relevant for other traders. This is why you need to assess your portfolio and pay attention to relevant factors that can directly affect your trades.

 

Forecast Statistics and Previous Results

The economic calendar provides information about both upcoming and past results. Combining the two results, you can evaluate the differences in the data and compare them with market consensus. This allows you to follow market trends in real time and benefit from opportunities highlighted by the forex calendar.

 

When to Open Position

The economic calendar can be used and interpreted in various different ways. The upcoming schedules and previous statistics provided by the calendar can definitely help you locate and find the best time to enter the market. Here are some possible approaches you can use:

  • Expectation of Results: In this approach, the trader would open a position in advance of the news in line with the market consensus. This method is more suitable for swing traders, but it's not recommended for short-term traders.
  • Buy/Sell Approach: The trader makes use of the volatility caused by the news release, so they place orders above and below current market prices to enter the market at the same time as the news announcement.
  • Pure Performance Tracking: Open trades based on the announcement to benefit from the impact of the news and the price direction caused by the new fundamentals.
  • Waiting: Once the impact of the news has passed, you can either follow the previous trend or the new trend triggered by the news release.

That being said, you can either open a position before, during, or after the news announcement to make a profit. Make sure to do more thorough research on each option in order to determine which one is the best for you. Another option recommended by Admiral Markets is to not open any position around unpredictable situations, which is also a smart move to avoid unnecessary losses and high volatility.

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Global Economic Calendar Indicators

There are many economic indicators included in a forex calendar that can be used to understand the possible impact of a news release on a certain currency pair. Here is the list of indicators that are considered to be of high impact in the market:

 

US Indicators

  • Regarding the US labor market:
    • Unemployment claims, which reflect the number of new claims and update the total
    • The unemployment rate, which shows the proportion of unemployed citizens in the country.
    • The NFP (Non-Farm Payroll).
  • Macroeconomic indicators to measure economic growth: GDP (Gross Domestic Product), which measures the aggregate output of goods and services within the US economy.
  • Productivity indicators:
    • The ISM Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing Index, which involves inflation and working conditions that reflect the health of the markets.
    • The industrial production figures, which show the production capacity used each month.
    • Durable goods orders, which shows orders placed to manufacturing companies in the country.
  • Consumption measures: Retail sales, which directly show consumer spending and confidence.
  • Regarding inflation:
    • Consumer prices, which measure a range of prices for goods and services among consumers.
    • Producer prices, reflecting the prices by producers of goods.
  • For the trade figures: The trade balance, which reflects the difference between the country's import and export of goods and services.
  • Regarding monetary policy:
    • Fed's interest rates decision.
    • The minutes of the Fed's FOMC meeting.
    • Speeches and decisions on the Fed's monetary policy.

 

European Indicators

  • ECB Calendar: Monetary policy meetings and speeches by the European central bank.
  • Regarding inflation:
    • The Eurozone CPI index that provides an estimate of inflation in the area.
    • The employment indicators
  • Regarding activity and production in the EU:
    • German manufacturing orders
    • The German IFO index, representing the level of economic activity.
    • The ZEW indicator, basically similar to the IFO but related to the banking sector.

 

Japan Indicators

  • Inflation and GDP indicators
  • BOJ (Bank of Japan) monetary policy
  • The publication of interest rates and minutes

 

Conclusion

The economic calendar is one of the most essential tools for many types of traders. It can help traders anticipate upcoming announcements along with the possible market movements following the news release. Paying attention to scheduled events before trading can help you avoid unexpected losses and make more informed decisions. So, as a whole, this can be a crucial part of your trading strategy.

You can find economic calendars in most leading brokers, such as Admiral Markets. In this broker, the calendar is completely free for all active users, so it's highly convenient and easy to access. Aside from that, the broker offers a bunch of other analytical tools and educational materials to prepare their traders with excellent trading resources.

 


Admiral Markets is a forex and CFD brokerage that has been operating since 2001 to provide smart financial answers for traders around the globe. Their main services revolve around 3 key activities: Learning, Trade, and investing. In doing so, they have many registered subsidiaries, including Admiral Markets UK Ltd, Admiral Markets Pty Ltd (Australia), Admiral Markets AS Jordan Ltd, Admiral Markets Cyprus Ltd, Admirals SA (Pty) Ltd (South Africa), and Aglobe Investments Ltd (Seychelles) for the worldwide market.