Hi, I’m new to Forex so please excuse my ignorance. I’m having a hard time trying to understand the appropriate times to trade. I mean according to popular advice I know I should not trade shortly before, during and after the news because of the unexpected spikes in prices that will occur. But doesn’t this take a big chunk of the potential times I could be trading during the day?
Also, is there an indicator which I can apply to my mt4 platform that will highlight the news release times so a newbie such as myself will not be confused about when the news is being released? I will appreciate the help. Thank you for your time.
To your first question, there are actually fewer really meaningful data releases and annoucements than you might think. Only a handful really matter very much. That leaves plenty of time for trading in non-news periods.
As to your second inquiry, I’m thinking no. Not that I use MT, mind you, but you’re basically asking for an alert system based on a calendar. Why not just use the notification alert in Outlook or something like that?
If you go to ForexFactory in the Metatrader section and search for Plot News Indicator, i think this is what your looking for. I haven’t tried it myself, but there is plenty of info on that thread.
I know what you have been taught about news trades: BAD BAD BAD BAD BAAAAAAD!!!
Well forget about that. A properly executed news scalp can be very profitable. If you make pips off of just 5 news trades a week, this could be the difference between a profitable trader, a break even trader, or a losing trader.
I am not saying that you should try to predict the future. But after the news is released (especially USD news deemed high impact by forex factory) there is nothing wrong with waiting for a retracement to the the 38.2% fib retracement then buying or selling into a continuation. Beware though, you may not get a 38.2 on some of the more surprising news releases, you will get a feel for it.
I usually wait at least 1 minute after a news release to trade, but I prefer to wait 5.
The most important thing is that if you don’t understand the news that is being released or you don’t know how it should affect the market simply don’t trade and preserve your capital.
Since your a new trader I’m sure your using a demo account. It will not hurt to try what I have just suggested. Give it a shot, you will be surprised with the results.
