Financial events

News trading is a strategy where traders take a position around scheduled announcements, such as central bank decisions, economic data releases and company earnings. These events can bring volatility, so prices may move quickly and in either direction. Some traders trade the initial reaction, while others wait for the market to settle. With Pepperstone, you can trade news events with traditional CFDs on forex, indices, commodities, shares and ETFs.

To trade the news, start by reviewing an economic calendar to identify upcoming events and the markets they may influence. Consider how a release could affect your chosen market, then plan your approach, including your risk, position size and use of stop-loss orders. Major announcements can trigger sharp price movements and in fast-moving markets prices may move beyond your intended stop-loss level.* A demo account can be a useful way to practise around live news events and gain experience before trading with real funds.

*Stop-loss orders do not guarantee protection against losses 

NFP stands for non-farm payrolls, a monthly US jobs report that shows how many jobs the economy added or lost outside the farming sector. Because employment data can influence expectations around interest rates, the release is closely watched and may affect the US dollar, indices and gold. It is widely followed as one of the key economic events of the month. 

With CFDs, you can go both directions. You can take a long position if you expect prices to rise, or a short position if you expect them to fall. However, markets can move unexpectedly, particularly around major news events. As CFDs are leveraged products, both profits and losses can be magnified, so it's important to manage your exposure and use appropriate risk management tools. 

Traders typically look at execution quality, platform choice and support. Pepperstone offers a 99.32% fill rate with no dealer intervention², access to TradingView, MT4, MT5, cTrader and the Pepperstone platform and app, plus support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For events that unfold outside traditional market hours, you can trade 100+ US share CFDs 24/5¹. 

Volatility around announcements can cause prices to move rapidly and spreads to widen. Orders can even fill at a different price than expected if the market moves quickly or gaps. CFDs are leveraged products, so you can lose money quickly. Only trade with money you can afford to lose and consider using risk-management tools.