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Fairman wrote:Understanding Basis Points and Why They Matter for Scalpers Basis points show up constantly in central bank commentary and financial news, and while the concept itself is simple, understanding exactly why this specific unit of measurement matters — and how it connects

Stand-aside versus trade-through is a written matrix for me: Tier-1 on the pair → flat; secondary data → size down; no folder → normal. Guessing in the minute before the print is not discretion, it is gambling.

Prop blackouts remove the debate.

Where is your line between stand aside and reduced size?

I also log refused tickets so flat time counts as work — otherwise the desk invents activity.

Funded trailing DD is the external referee that keeps the desk honest.

Topic note from my sheet for t=12291: keep risk unchanged until the sample says otherwise.

Fairman wrote:Understanding Basis Points and Why They Matter for Scalpers Basis points show up constantly in central bank commentary and financial news, and while the concept itself is simple, understanding exactly why this specific unit of measurement matters — and how

Good addition to the series. One step further that I find practical in live trading: the market rarely prices a clean 25 or zero. It prices probabilities, and that turns basis points into a surprise measure.

If futures imply roughly a 60% chance of a 25 basis point hike, the market has effectively priced about 15bp. A hike then delivers a 10bp surprise and a hold delivers 15bp the other way. That's why a decision everyone called 'expected' can still move a pair sharply, and why the direction of the reaction depends on pricing going in, not on the decision itself. Checking the implied probability the evening before tells you which outcome is actually the shock.

During the release I watch the 2-year yield in basis points rather than the currency for the first minute. A 2-year that moves 8 or 10bp in a couple of minutes says the market has repriced the path; a 2bp move says the currency spike is probably positioning and may fade. It's a cleaner read than the first candle, which is mostly spread and stop orders.

That fits the stand-aside logic in the opening post: understand the size of the surprise while flat, then decide whether anything is worth taking once spreads settle.