Most news FAQs are written for beginners. This one is for those of us who've been at it long enough to have opinions, and it's built from questions I actually get asked by people with years on the screens.
"Do you trade the first second?" No. I tried for about eighteen months, around 2015. The fills on my side were too inconsistent. These days the earliest I'll enter is once the first M1 candle after the release has closed.
"Do you go flat before every release?" Not every one. Tier one US releases, ECB and BoE decisions, I'm flat on related pairs from five minutes before. Mid-tier data like German ZEW I'll hold a position through if the stop is already beyond the morning range.
"Do you keep a news trade separate in your stats?" Yes, always. News tickets have different costs and different variance. Blending them hides whether your normal setups work.
"What's the most underrated release?" For EURUSD scalpers, I'd say the French and German flash PMIs at 08:15 and 08:30 London. They come right in the middle of the London session and the spread often doesn't reflect the risk.
"Has your process changed in the last five years?" Mostly it's got more boring. Fewer news trades, smaller size on the ones I take.
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News process: FAQ from experienced scalpers
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LondonScalper
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Shadow Trader
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Re: News process: FAQ from experienced scalpers
The French and German flash PMIs as the most underrated release is a good call. I'd add the eurozone composite flash at 09:00 London on the same days, which often moves EURUSD as much as the German one.
On flash PMI days in my log, the 08:15 to 09:05 window covered about a third of the London morning range. That's a lot of movement for releases that don't always get a red flag on the calendar.
Holding through ZEW with a stop beyond the morning range makes sense. I'd treat German Ifo the same way, it rarely moves EURUSD more than 10 pips.
Waiting for the first M1 candle to close is roughly what I do too, though on NFP I wait three candles. The first close after NFP is often reversed in the next two minutes.
For the separate news stats, do you also split by tier, or keep all news tickets in one bucket?
On flash PMI days in my log, the 08:15 to 09:05 window covered about a third of the London morning range. That's a lot of movement for releases that don't always get a red flag on the calendar.
Holding through ZEW with a stop beyond the morning range makes sense. I'd treat German Ifo the same way, it rarely moves EURUSD more than 10 pips.
Waiting for the first M1 candle to close is roughly what I do too, though on NFP I wait three candles. The first close after NFP is often reversed in the next two minutes.
For the separate news stats, do you also split by tier, or keep all news tickets in one bucket?
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Shadow Trader
- Posts: 241
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2026 5:19 pm
Re: News process: FAQ from experienced scalpers
A question I'd add to the FAQ: what do you do when a release is delayed or the data source is late? It happens more often than people think, and it creates a strange window.
I had a CPI morning where the number came out about 40 seconds late on my feed. My blackout timer had ended, I took a normal setup, and then the release hit with me holding a position I'd never have opened.
Now my rule is that the blackout ends five minutes after I've seen the number on the screen, not five minutes after the scheduled time.
The other edge case is revisions. Sometimes the headline is in line but last month's number is revised hard, and the move comes from the revision. If you only check headline versus forecast, you can be confused by the reaction.
Has anyone else been caught by a delayed release, or by a big revision that moved price against the headline?
I had a CPI morning where the number came out about 40 seconds late on my feed. My blackout timer had ended, I took a normal setup, and then the release hit with me holding a position I'd never have opened.
Now my rule is that the blackout ends five minutes after I've seen the number on the screen, not five minutes after the scheduled time.
The other edge case is revisions. Sometimes the headline is in line but last month's number is revised hard, and the move comes from the revision. If you only check headline versus forecast, you can be confused by the reaction.
Has anyone else been caught by a delayed release, or by a big revision that moved price against the headline?