Scheduled releases are known down to the second. Spreads widen beforehand, liquidity providers step back, and everyone positions. The chaos is orderly.
Headline news is different. A central bank governor says something unexpected in a Tuesday interview, a rumor hits a news terminal, a geopolitical event breaks over a weekend. There's no warning, so there's no widening in advance.
That changes the risk for a scalper. During scheduled releases, avoiding the minute is possible. During headlines, positions are already open, spreads are tight, and the moment the headline lands, quotes vanish.
The first tick of a headline reaction often has no liquidity. Fills come in at prices that were never really quoted. A stop in that window is filled at a gap.
Pairs react unevenly. A comment from the ECB hits EUR crosses, not JPY crosses. A tweet about trade tariffs might move CNH and AUD more than EUR.
Keeping a news feed with speed, not just a calendar, is how headline risk gets caught early. Even then, a few seconds of lag is normal.
Which news source has been fastest for catching headlines that move currency pairs?
Advertisement
Scheduled news versus headline news
Recommended broker for automated trading & scalping
