When bank holidays turn into a trap
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2026 12:53 pm
A holiday in one country does not close forex, but it does thin it. When the United Kingdom is on holiday, London desks are empty. When Japan is closed, yen liquidity drops sharply. A US holiday during the week removes the largest source of daytime volume.
Price in thin markets behaves oddly. Spreads widen. Small orders move price disproportionately. Breakouts fail more often, and false spikes appear.
Many scalpers underestimate this because the charts still show candles and the platform still works. The danger is the quiet change in market quality.
A calendar of bank holidays for the major centres, marked on a shared sheet or phone, takes ten minutes to set up each year. A simple rule such as reduced size or no trading during major holidays avoids a lot of grief.
Some holiday periods are especially unpredictable, like the days between Christmas and New Year, when volume collapses and moves become erratic.
Which holidays have caused strange behaviour here, and how were they handled?
Price in thin markets behaves oddly. Spreads widen. Small orders move price disproportionately. Breakouts fail more often, and false spikes appear.
Many scalpers underestimate this because the charts still show candles and the platform still works. The danger is the quiet change in market quality.
A calendar of bank holidays for the major centres, marked on a shared sheet or phone, takes ten minutes to set up each year. A simple rule such as reduced size or no trading during major holidays avoids a lot of grief.
Some holiday periods are especially unpredictable, like the days between Christmas and New Year, when volume collapses and moves become erratic.
Which holidays have caused strange behaviour here, and how were they handled?