Traders on the Foreign Exchange market, Forex market for short, can potentially make thousands of dollars based on the volatility and fluctuations of a country’s currency. To better themselves and have a leading advantage over other traders, some Forex traders and investors participate in a practice known as news trading. The risks are very high, but the potential gains can be worth thousands of dollars and many traders and investors use this technique.
The technique of news trading is quite simple. It is the trading of foreign currency immediately before or after an important economic news announcement. After such announcements, there is a high possibility that market prices will fluctuate, either for the better or worse, depending on the announcement. For example, if the U. S. Federal Reserve announces another increase of the interest rate, many traders might invest in the U.S. dollar as it is expected that its value will appreciate. The main advantage of news trading is the potential for a country’s currency to make huge gains or losses in very little time. Within minutes of an economic announcement, a country’s currency can gain or lose one hundred points almost instantly. The potential of huge profits attracts Foreign Exchange traders and investors, however there are various risks associated with news trading.
Like any investment, there is always a risk, and news trading on the Forex market is no different. Though the potential profits are huge, the losses are also equally as large. The dangers of news trading come from the fact that a trade must be made quickly or else you are going to lose. If you are caught on the bad side of a trade, your money will be gone quicker than you can blink your eye. You will lose money so fast that there won’t even be time for you to manually close your trades, leaving you with nothing. Stop-loss orders are also potentially dangerous as there is a high probability of slippage because of the sudden price fluctuation.
Though some investors and traders might get lucky trading news, there is only a small probability that you will make a profit. Even if you are an expert news trader, you should still be very, very cautious when participating in this practice. Successful news trading depends solely on how you get your news. The most successful news traders are the ones with the fastest news feeds and those that are able to quickly place their trades immediately after an announcement has been made. Even using other forms of news trading, such as placing orders above or below the market price is still a guessing game, and those traders in the market who base their trades on guesses, won’t have much money after a short time.
For many Forex traders and investors, their trades are dictated by technical indicators and price indexes. Hours are spent researching every indicator, taking every risk into account and then making a decision based on everything they have studied. However, for a Forex news trader, none of this matter, and the only thing they take into account is economical news announcements.
News trading is possible because the Forex market is always open, unlike many financial markets. In a financial market, securities trades of certain stocks are suspended when an important company announcement is being made. These announcements are usually made after the market has closed for the day. However, because the Foreign Exchange market is open 24 hours, any economic announcement will have direct affects on the currency of that country, and maybe others as well. In the Forex market, there are eight major currencies that are traded, as well as over seventeen derivatives to be traded as well. This means that on any given day, there will always be economic announcements from any of the major traded currencies. The major trader currencies are as follows:
- U.S. Dollar (USD)
- Great British Pound (GBP)
- Euro (EUR)
- Japanese Yen (JPY)
- Australian Dollar (AUD)
- Swiss Franc (CHF)
- Canadian Dollar (CAD)
- New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
Because of the availability of each currency, currency pairs, and its derivatives, such as USD/JPY, EUR/USD, AUD/USD, as well as several others, each currency can be traded at any given time because these currencies are globally traded.
Any Forex news trader or news investor will have to have the latest most up to the moment news announcements. Even if the news announcements are only a couple of minutes old, this can have devastating effects for any trader who has risked any sum of money. Most news traders like to keep an eagle eye on any news regarding economical activity, but most importantly news dealing with interest rates changes, FOMC rate decisions, retail sales figures, inflation indicators such as the consumer price index (CPI), producer price index (PPI), unemployment figures, industrial production announcements, boost in business and consumer confidence, as well as business sentiment surveys. Manufacturing sector surveys, trade balance release details, and foreign purchases of U.S. Treasuries may also prove useful for a news trader to better make decisions regarding when or when not to trade.
However, it should be remembered that these news announcements can have ranging impacts on a country’s currency, and after an announcement, the volatility of a currency may greatly fluctuate. It is important to take advantage of news that creates movements in volatility that will last for a few minutes or even hours. Trading on the Forex market based solely on news is a difficult and sometimes dangerous practice. However, there are some indicators that can make a news trader’s job easier, such as breakout indicators (Bollinger bands, breakout of a candlestick bar, or a price bar). Research has proved that news announcements can impact a currency’s value quite severely, in some cases it can gain or lose anywhere from 33 pips to 124 pips, opening up the ideal trading opportunity looked for by news traders. If a news trader is able to act quickly enough, even the smallest news release can be turned into a potential profit of thousands of dollars. However, it is important to remember the volatility of such announcements, and although the profits seem endless, the losses can happen too.
