What is an economic calendar and how do you read it?

The biggest moves of the week are rarely random; they sit in the economic calendar days in advance. Trading without checking the calendar every Monday is like driving without checking the weather.

What does the calendar show?

For each event:

• Release time (set the calendar's time zone to your own)
• Country and currency
• Impact: low, medium or high, usually shown by colour or stars
• Previous: the last period's figure
• Forecast: analysts' expectation
• Actual: the number that is released

The key rule: actual versus forecast

Markets do not move on the number itself but on its gap from the forecast. Inflation of 3% when the market expected 3.2% is negative for the currency, even though 3% is high. A revision to last month's figure can also change the reaction.

Events you should always watch

Event	Why it matters
Rate decisions (Fed, ECB, BoE, BoJ)	The most direct effect on currencies
Central bank press conferences	The tone of future policy
Inflation (CPI and PCE)	The path of interest rates
Employment (NFP and unemployment)	The health of the US economy
GDP	Economic growth
PMI	A forward look at activity

A weekly routine

1. Monday: note the high-impact events for the currencies you trade.
2. News day: manage open positions and avoid new entries 15 to 30 minutes before the release.
3. After the news: let the first spike settle, then use your pre-planned levels.

A common mistake

Watching only US data. If you trade EURUSD, eurozone data and ECB speeches matter just as much.

See the live economic calendar in our calendar section and the latest policy rates under central banks.

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Trading financial markets involves risk. This article is educational and is not investment advice.