How to Trade Forex - Making a Killing on News Releases

If there's one thing that distinguished the pros from the amateurs in the forex market it's the way they handle trading around news releases.

In fact many forex trading newbies get their first bitter taste of the unpredictability of foreign currency trading when a news release buffets the market and takes out their position. The novice is left scratching his head and asking himself "what just happened?" while the pro is raking in the pips.

Currency markets are driven by the news releases put out by governments and other agencies. Better than expected numbers can send the currency soaring while weak numbers can cause its value to plummet.

These major moves in currency values offer the trader the greatest potential for major profits. Markets can move hundreds of pips in just a few seconds around the times of major news releases. It's also, of course, the time of the greatest chance for losses for the trader who doesn't know what he's doing.

The pro knows full well what news is going to be released and when. In fact economic news releases are issued on schedule every month and the dates can be easily found online.

So the first thing you need to get to know is the economic calendar for the week and month ahead. This will give you the dates and times of all important economic announcements for the currency pairs you're trading.

The other thing you need to know about news releases in their probable impact on the market. You need to know the strength of the potential movement and its direction.

So for example if the US jobless figures are being released as they are on the first Friday of every month (non farm payroll), then you need to know the estimated numbers and the likely extent of market movement for the actual numbers.

Getting this information can require extensive research. This is another way the pro has an edge on you. He's got all the facts at his fingertips and a skilled research team to back him up.

The final and most important thing you need to develop is a strategy for trading around news release times. You need to know whether to place you trade in advance or to wait for the market to calm down and start a trend. You must place your stop loss in the right position to avoid being taken out by one of the whiplashes that are common at news time. This kind of information is priceless but hard to find.