News taxonomy for discretionary scalpers: the edge cases
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2026 5:30 pm
I sort news into categories, partly to decide what to do and partly to stop myself treating every headline as equally urgent. The obvious categories are easy. It's the awkward ones that taught me the most.
My basic taxonomy: scheduled data, scheduled central bank events, scheduled speeches, unscheduled official comments, unscheduled market events like a large bank or fund in trouble, and geopolitical news. Each has its own default response.
The edge cases:
Scheduled events with unscheduled content. A central banker's speech is on the calendar but the topic isn't. If it's about financial stability, nobody cares. If they comment on rates, it moves. I now treat any speech by a voting member as potentially high impact until the first headlines show otherwise.
Reports that are leaked or "sources say" stories. These look like news but are really rumours. They often get denied or walked back. I treat them as noise for the first 15 minutes.
Events that are on the calendar but whose timing is fuzzy, like a government statement "later today". I treat the whole window as risky.
Market structure events: index rebalances, month-end and quarter-end flows, options expiries. Not news in the usual sense, but they move prices at predictable times.
My basic taxonomy: scheduled data, scheduled central bank events, scheduled speeches, unscheduled official comments, unscheduled market events like a large bank or fund in trouble, and geopolitical news. Each has its own default response.
The edge cases:
Scheduled events with unscheduled content. A central banker's speech is on the calendar but the topic isn't. If it's about financial stability, nobody cares. If they comment on rates, it moves. I now treat any speech by a voting member as potentially high impact until the first headlines show otherwise.
Reports that are leaked or "sources say" stories. These look like news but are really rumours. They often get denied or walked back. I treat them as noise for the first 15 minutes.
Events that are on the calendar but whose timing is fuzzy, like a government statement "later today". I treat the whole window as risky.
Market structure events: index rebalances, month-end and quarter-end flows, options expiries. Not news in the usual sense, but they move prices at predictable times.