Forex News Impact Filter: Personalized Economic Calendar & Position Risk Analyzer
The Forex News Impact Filter is a free tool that filters the economic calendar to only the events touching your selected pairs, then tells you what to do with open positions. It scores each release as a "surprise" using pctDiff = (actual − forecast) ÷ |forecast| × 100, and recommends actions based on your risk profile and minutes-to-release.
- The filter shows only economic events whose currency appears in one of your selected pairs (e.g. USD events affect EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD).
- Surprise strength is computed as (actual − forecast) ÷ |forecast| × 100: under 1% is In-line, under 5% Slight beat/miss, under 15% Beat/Miss, and 15% or more a Strong beat/miss.
- The default risk profile is Avoid High-Impact; high-impact events under 30 minutes away trigger a Close-or-hedge alert, and under 120 minutes a Set-wider-stops alert.
- The Position Analyzer scans the next 24 hours and matches upcoming events to each open position you enter, with a per-position action recommendation.
- A built-in impact database lists historical average and maximum pip moves, e.g. FOMC averages 55 pips (max 150) and Non-Farm Payrolls averages 45 pips (max 120).
Today's Focus
Position Analyzer
Add your open positions to see how upcoming news events affect them with personalized action recommendations.
Filtered Calendar
Loading...| Time | Currency | Event | Impact | Forecast | Actual | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loading events... | ||||||
What is the Forex News Impact Filter?
The Forex News Impact Filter is a personalized economic-calendar tool. A standard calendar shows every release for every currency. This tool strips that down to only the events that can move your pairs, then layers on three things a raw calendar does not: a surprise score for released data, a historical impact database, and a position-level action recommendation tied to your chosen risk profile.
You select your pairs once and the choice is saved in your browser. From then on, the Today's Focus panel, the countdown bar, and the Filtered Calendar table all show only events whose currency is the base or quote of a pair you trade. An event affects a pair when its currency matches either side of the slash, so a USD release surfaces for EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD and any other USD pair you hold.
The tool is an awareness and risk-management aid, not a signal generator. It is built around the principle that knowing when not to trade protects more capital than trying to trade the spike.
How to use the News Impact Filter
- Select your pairs. In My Trading Setup, tap individual pair chips or use the quick buttons: Majors loads the seven USD majors (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF, AUD/USD, NZD/USD, USD/CAD); All Pairs selects every pair; Clear removes all. With no pairs selected, every event is shown.
- Pick a risk profile. Choose Trade Through News, Avoid High-Impact (the default), Avoid All News, or News Trader. The profile changes the action wording for each event; it does not hide any events.
- Read Today's Focus. This panel summarizes how many events hit your pairs today, flags the high-impact count, and shows a colour-coded action box for each upcoming event.
- Add open positions. In the Position Analyzer, choose a pair, direction (Long/Short) and lot size (default 0.10), then Add Position. The tool scans the next 24 hours and shows the next event plus a recommendation for each position.
- Switch views. Toggle Today, This Week (next 7 days), or All Events, and click any calendar row to open full event detail.
How does the filter calculate the surprise score?
For any event that has both an Actual and a Forecast value, the tool strips non-numeric characters, then computes the percentage deviation:
pctDiff = (actual − forecast) ÷ |forecast| × 100
The absolute value of pctDiff (its magnitude) is mapped to a label and colour:
| Magnitude of pctDiff | Label | Colour |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1% | In-line | Gray |
| 1% to under 5% | Slight beat / Slight miss | Blue |
| 5% to under 15% | Beat / Miss | Green (beat) / Orange (miss) |
| 15% or more | Strong beat / Strong miss | Green (beat) / Red (miss) |
A positive difference (actual above forecast) is a beat; a negative one is a miss. The sign of the move's market impact still depends on the indicator — for inflation and jobs data a beat generally signals currency strength, but the tool reports the data surprise, not a trade direction.
How do the risk profiles and action recommendations work?
Each upcoming event gets an action box whose wording depends on your risk profile and how many minutes remain until release. Importantly, none of the profiles remove events from the calendar — they only change the recommendation text.
| Profile | High-impact event behaviour |
|---|---|
| Avoid High-Impact (default) | Under 30 min: Close or hedge. Under 120 min: Set wider stops. Otherwise: Reduce size. Medium events: Monitor. Low: Hold normally. |
| Avoid All News | Judged purely by time, any impact. Under 30 min: Close positions. Under 120 min: Reduce size. Otherwise: Plan exit. |
| Trade Through News | High: Set wider stops. Medium: Monitor. Low: Hold normally. |
| News Trader | High: Prepare to trade. Medium: Monitor closely. Low: Low priority. |
The Position Analyzer uses the same logic, applied to the next event within 24 hours for each position you have entered.
What is in the historical impact database?
For major recurring releases, the tool shows a compiled historical estimate so you can gauge expected volatility before the number prints. Each entry lists an average pip move, a maximum pip move, the frequency of moves over 50 pips, a typical duration of elevated volatility, and direction and trading notes. These are manually compiled estimates, not live measurements, and serve as a rough scale of how disruptive an event tends to be.
| Event | Avg move | Max move | >50 pip frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| FOMC Statement & Rate Decision | 55 pips | 150 pips | 40% |
| Non-Farm Payrolls | 45 pips | 120 pips | 25% |
| CPI m/m | 35 pips | 80 pips | 15% |
| BOE Rate Decision | 40 pips | 100 pips | 20% |
| Retail Sales m/m | 25 pips | 60 pips | 10% |
Worked example: scoring a JOLTS Job Openings surprise
Suppose JOLTS Job Openings prints an Actual of 7.19M against a Forecast of 7.50M. The tool strips the non-numeric characters to 7.19 and 7.50, then computes:
- Difference:
7.19 − 7.50 = −0.31 - Percentage deviation:
(−0.31 ÷ |7.50|) × 100 = −4.13% - Magnitude:
4.13%, which falls in the 1%–under-5% band
Because the difference is negative and the magnitude is under 5%, the tool labels this a Slight miss and colours it blue, displaying Slight miss (−4.1% vs forecast) (the percentage is shown rounded to one decimal). Fewer job openings than expected is a soft labor-market read, generally USD-negative, though the tool reports the data surprise rather than a trade direction.
Frequently Asked Questions
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It checks whether the event's currency appears on either side of any pair you selected. A pair affects an event when the event currency equals the base or quote currency. For example, with EUR/USD selected, every USD and EUR release is shown, because both currencies make up that pair.
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No. All four risk profiles keep every event visible in the calendar and Today's Focus. The profile only changes the recommended action wording. Avoid High-Impact, the default, tells you to close, hedge, or widen stops around red events, while Trade Through News and News Trader keep positions open or suggest preparing to trade.
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The Position Analyzer scans the next 24 hours from the current time. For each open position you enter, it finds upcoming events whose currency matches the pair, shows the soonest one with a colour-coded recommendation, counts how many events lie ahead, and lists the rest. If no events fall in that 24-hour window, it reports none affecting your positions.
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They grade how far an actual reading deviated from forecast, using (actual − forecast) ÷ |forecast| × 100. Under 1% is In-line, 1% to under 5% is a Slight beat or miss, 5% to under 15% is a Beat or Miss, and 15% or more is a Strong beat or miss. Positive deviations are beats; negative ones are misses.
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No. They are manually compiled estimates for major recurring events, giving a rough sense of expected volatility. The database lists an average move, maximum move, and the frequency of moves over 50 pips. For example, FOMC averages about 55 pips with a 150-pip maximum, and Non-Farm Payrolls averages about 45 pips.
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It shows the next high-impact event affecting your selected pairs, with a live countdown that refreshes every 30 seconds. The bar turns amber when the event is under 120 minutes away and red with a pulse when it is under 30 minutes away, so you get a clear visual warning as a major release approaches.