News events: NFP, CPI, FOMC
Sessions & Killzones
The big scheduled shocks
NFP, CPI, FOMC are among the highest-impact scheduled releases, most landing around 8:30 AM ET for data or 2 PM ET for Fed decisions. Price can whip violently in both directions within seconds.
Stand down through the release
The standard, disciplined approach is simple: no new trades through the release itself, and often no trades for fifteen to thirty minutes afterward while the initial wick settles.
The first wick can lie
Chasing the first wick on a big news candle is one of the more common ways traders get caught, since that initial spike can fully reverse once the real reaction develops.