⚠️ How to Manage Risk During High-Impact News Events
🎯 The Lesson
High-impact news — NFP, CPI, FOMC, interest rate decisions —
can turn a calm chart into a chaos machine in seconds.
Spreads explode.
Slippage hits.
Stops get skipped.
Even perfect setups get destroyed.
Professionals survive news by reducing exposure, not predicting spikes.
📊 Step 1: Know When News Hits
Use the calendar — always.
High-impact events (red folders) include:
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Non-Farm Payroll (NFP)
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CPI inflation
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FOMC statement
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Interest rate decisions
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GDP
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Unemployment claims
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PMI
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Speeches by central bank governors
If any of these are coming in the next 60 minutes, adjust your risk plan.
⚙️ Step 2: Cut Size by 50–70% Before the Release
If you normally risk 2% per trade, during news you risk 0.5–1% max.
News volatility multiplies your exposure unexpectedly.
Example:
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Stop loss = 20 pips
-
Spread widens to 12 pips
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Slippage = 15 pips
Your 20-pip stop becomes 47 pips of real loss.
Smaller sizes keep this manageable.
🛑 Step 3: Avoid Opening Trades Within 5–15 Minutes Before News
The worst time to open a trade is right before the release.
The market goes flat…
then explodes…
then reverses…
then spikes again.
This is not trading — it’s volatility roulette.
Skip the 5–15 minutes before and after.
You lose nothing by avoiding randomness.
🔁 Step 4: Use Wider, Logic-Based Stops If You Stay In
If you insist on trading during news (like a swing setup), your stop must:
✔️ Be wide (ATR-based)
✔️ Sit beyond structure
✔️ Handle spread spikes
✔️ Be placed where noise can’t reach you
And you must use much smaller lot size to compensate.
🧮 Step 5: Reduce Total Exposure Across Correlated Pairs
If USD news is coming (CPI, NFP):
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EURUSD
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GBPUSD
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XAUUSD
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NAS100
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US30
All react together.
If you’re in 3–4 of them at once, you’re overexposed to the same news risk.
Keep correlated exposure < 3% during news events.
🚀 Takeaway
News doesn’t kill accounts —
trading normally during news does.
Reduce size, reduce exposure, widen stops, and skip the noise windows.
You’re not paid to predict the spike.
You’re paid to survive it.
📢 Join my MQL5 channel for more trading & risk-management insights:
👉 https://www.mql5.com/en/channels/issam_kassas
