Central bank speakers in the middle of London: handling surprise volatility

[FXS London Scalper]

Scheduled data gets a calendar alert. Speeches are harder. A policymaker speaking at 10:30 UK may say nothing new for 20 minutes, then answer one question in a way that moves EURUSD 30 pips in two minutes.

Some practical rules for these windows:

- Treat the scheduled start time as a soft red flag, not a hard one. Reduce size from 10 minutes before, but there's no need to be flat if the speaker is minor or the topic is unrelated to policy.
- Q&A is riskier than prepared remarks. Prepared text is often released in advance and priced quickly. Unscripted answers are where surprises come from.
- Know who matters. A governor or a voting member speaking about inflation is not the same as a regional official at a conference on payment systems.
- Use a headline feed or a fast news squawk if you trade through it. By the time it's on a website, the move is done.
- Widen stops or don't trade. A 3-pip stop during a hawkish surprise can fill 6 pips away.

The hardest part is staying out of the move after it happens. Chasing a speech spike two minutes late is usually a poor trade.

How do you handle speeches that land in the middle of your session?