Economic news releases affect currency markets in both short-term and long-term time frames. Keeping up with the latest news releases is a must for active traders and long-term investors. Forex news feeds are a good place to stay current on the latest events and news. These are the main reasons why you should follow these feeds. The main benefit of following these feeds is that they offer detailed analysis of key economic news.

Figure 3 shows the price action following the release of U.S. non-farm payroll data on October 4. Before the data was released, EUR/USD was stuck in a tight trading range of 30 pip. A pip represents the smallest change in a currency pair. Most major currency pairs are priced to four decimal places. A single pip represents a change of 0.01% in a currency pair. Because of this, news traders would have had a great breakout opportunity.

Major economic announcements can cause short-term volatility and throw even the best chart pattern out of whack. These announcements could be anything from new unemployment figures to changes in interest rates and inflation. Make sure you pay attention to when major trading announcements are coming out, as placing a trade too early could result in a stop-loss or a loss. You should also wait until after the news event has passed before deciding to place another trade.