ECB meeting days: splitting the morning and the afternoon

[FXS London Scalper]

On ECB decision days the London morning can be traded normally, but the afternoon needs a different plan.

The decision comes at 13:15 London (14:15 CET), the press conference at 13:45. US data is sometimes at 13:30 the same day.

A set of rules that fits a scalping style:

• Normal trading until 12:00 London, with size reduced by half after 11:00.
• All positions flat by 13:00.
• No trades until 15 minutes after the press conference ends. The first questions often move EUR more than the statement.

Expect the morning before the ECB to be quieter than usual, since many participants wait for the decision. You can check this on your own data by comparing the 08:00 to 12:00 range on ECB days with the average of the surrounding days; if it's consistently smaller, scale targets down rather than forcing trades.

The press conference itself is a different game. Spreads widen on headlines, and moves can reverse within seconds as the answers come in, which makes small targets and tight stops hard to execute.

Do others trade the press conference directly? The spreads make it unattractive for this style.