News process: common debates settled with data

[LondonScalper]

Some news-trading debates come up here every few weeks. I checked a few of them against my own data. Small sample, but better than opinions.

Debate one: is it better to be flat before high-impact news or hold with a wider stop? Over about 80 releases where I had a position available to hold, holding produced a slightly better average result, but with much larger worst cases. Two slipped stops alone wiped out most of the benefit. I stay flat.

Debate two: does the first spike usually reverse? In my log of EURUSD second-tier releases, the first spike reversed at least halfway within 15 minutes a bit more than half the time. For NFP and CPI, the first move continued more often than it reversed. So it depends on the event.

Debate three: is the first 15 minutes after a release the best time to trade? For me, no. My results from 15 to 60 minutes after the release are better than in the first 15, mostly because spreads and slippage are lower.

Debate four: does trading news require a fast VPS? For trades after the first minute, my results were the same from home and from a VPS.

None of this is universal. Different pairs, brokers and sessions may give different answers. Check your own log before taking any side.