What Is the Economic Calendar?
The economic calendar refers to the scheduled dates of significant releases or events that may affect the movement of individual security prices or markets as a whole. Investors and traders use the economic calendar to plan trades and portfolio reallocations and to be alert for chart patterns and indicators that may be caused or affected by these events. The economic calendar for various countries is available for free on many financial and market websites.
Key Takeaways
- The economic calendar refers to the scheduled dates of significant releases or events that may affect the movement of individual security prices or markets as a whole.
- Investors and traders use the economic calendar to plan trades and portfolio reallocations and find chart patterns and indicators that may be caused or affected by these events.
- Most of the events listed fall into two categories: projections of future financial or economic events or reports on past financial or economic events.
Understanding the Economic Calendar
Economic calendars usually focus on a given country's scheduled releases of economic reports. Examples of events on an economic calendar include weekly jobless claims, reports of new home starts, scheduled changes in the interest rate or interest rate signaling, regular reports from the Federal Reserve or other central banks, and economic sentiment surveys from specific markets and many others.
Traders and investors rely on the economic calendar to provide information and trading opportunities. Traders often move into or out of positions corresponding with an announcement of some event or with the heavy trading volume that often precedes a scheduled announcement.
The majority of the events listed fall into one of two categories: projections of future financial or economic events or reports on recent financial or economic events.
Following the economic calendar can be especially beneficial for a trader who wants to take a short position. If the trader guesses correctly about the nature of the announcement, they can open a position immediately before the scheduled announcement and then close it within hours.
Navigating the Economic Calendar
Economic calendars are available for free from financial and economic websites. These calendars vary from site to site, however. Although they are referred to as "economic calendars," the actual calendar listings depend on the website's focus and the events the users of the website are likely to be interested in.
For example, the economic calendar on many websites lists only events in the United States as these events have a large market impact. Other sites allow users to build their own economic calendar by using filters to display or hide events.
You can create your own economic calendar by visiting the websites of the agencies that affect your investments the most and finding their regularly scheduled releases. Some examples are websites for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
While these free calendars can be a helpful starting point, most traders customize a calendar of their own based on the types of trades they prefer and the asset classes and regions they are comfortable with. Moreover, a customized economic calendar doesn't need to be limited to government and central bank releases.
A trader may, for example, create an economic calendar around the major releases from oil-producing regions while also incorporating the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly petroleum status report and the quarterly filing dates of the oil sector companies they follow. In this way, an economic calendar becomes a customizable trading tool like an indicator alert.
What Is the Economic Calendar for Forex?
The economic calendar for Forex generally follows the same events and releases as economic calendars for stocks with the addition of events and releases in the countries for the pairs being traded.
How Does the Economics Calendar Work?
An economics calendar shows scheduled events, news releases, and other regularly released data that tend to affect trading and investing.
Are Economic Indicators Released Quarterly?
Some economic indicators are released quarterly, while others are monthly reports. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on the employment situation monthly; gross domestic product is released monthly with estimates for a one-quarter period.
FAQs
The economic calendar displays the scheduled release dates of information related to the economy that significantly impacts the financial markets. The financial markets are a news-driven supply and demand vehicle; therefore, the release of significant news or economic events will drive price movements in the market.
What is actual in economic calendar? ›
Specification of an Economic Event
The expectation is the average forecast of the top 50 analysts. This number is very important because this is the reference threshold you can use to judge the Actual release. Actual - This is the actual value when the release occurs.
What is the most important economic calendar? ›
The US economic calendar is the most important one since the country is the largest world economy. The most important indicators mainly impact the price of the dollar, having important effects in other markets and currencies.
Which economic calendar to track all economic events is powered by? ›
The Zerodha economic calendar, powered by IndiaDataHub, allows you to easily track all domestic and global economic events in one place.
How does the calendar work? ›
The Gregorian calendar, like the Julian calendar, is a solar calendar with 12 months of 28–31 days each. The year in both calendars consists of 365 days, with a leap day being added to February in the leap years. The months and length of months in the Gregorian calendar are the same as for the Julian calendar.
How does the calendar method work? ›
This form of birth control involves tracking your menstrual cycle on a calendar to predict ovulation. You use this information to identify when you're most fertile. When you're fertile, you avoid sexual activity or use other types of birth control at that time of your cycle.
What is the basis of the calendar? ›
The civil calendar in use around the world (Gregorian calendar) is a solar calendar. Solar calendars are based on the progression through the seasons as the Earth revolves around the Sun, but neglect any attempt to keep the months synchronous with the lunar phases.
What happens when actual is greater than forecast? ›
If the actual data is better than the forecast, the currency appreciates. If the actual figures are worse than expected, the currency tends to depreciate. In most cases, “better” means higher than forecast and “worse” means lower than forecast.
What is the difference between forecast and actual? ›
While forecast cash flow is a prediction based on calculations, actual cash flow is based on real figures and revenue streams and not dependent on any guess work. Actual cash flow consists of both a company's income and expenses, so it can provide a clear and reliable picture of a business' financial position.
How important is the calendar? ›
A calendar is essential for the study of chronology, which reckons time by regular divisions, or periods, and uses these to date events. It is also vital for any civilization that needs to measure periods for agricultural, business, domestic, or other reasons.
The Gregorian calendar is a solar dating system used by most of the world. It is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who issued the papal bull Inter gravissimas in 1582, announcing calendar reforms for all of Catholic Christendom.
Which calendar is most commonly used? ›
Today, the vast majority of the world uses what is known as the Gregorian calendar, Named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582.
How does economic calendar work? ›
An economic calendar refers to the schedules dates of significant news releases or events that may affect the movement of currency exchange rates and the financial market as a whole. These events often have a significant impact on financial markets and currency volatility.
What is the function of the economic calendar? ›
Economic calendars provide a schedule of upcoming economic events, data releases, and announcements that can impact financial markets. They often provide an filterable 'overview' so that investors can decide which events are most important to then delve deeper into.
Who makes economic predictions? ›
Government officials and business managers use economic forecasts to determine fiscal and monetary policies and plan future operating activities, respectively. Since politics are highly partisan, many rational people regard economic forecasts produced by governments with healthy doses of skepticism.
How does the money calendar work? ›
Creating a budget calendar can be a helpful tool for anyone looking to track finances or get a better overview of personal or household spending. A budget calendar looks just like a regular calendar but is used specifically to monitor income, track expenses, and stay on top of bill due dates.
How does fiscal calendar work? ›
A fiscal year is the 12-month period a government organization, nonprofit or business uses to track its annual finances. It begins at the start of a quarter, so typical fiscal year start dates are January 1, April 1, July 1 or October 1. The fiscal year-end date is at the end of a quarter.
How does the calendar round work? ›
The calendar was based on a ritual cycle of 260 named days and a year of 365 days. Taken together, they form a longer cycle of 18,980 days, or 52 years of 365 days, called a “Calendar Round.”
How did the 10 month calendar work? ›
Legendary 10-month calendar
There were four months of "31" days—March, May, Quintilis, and October—called "full months" (pleni menses) and six months of "30" days—April, June, Sextilis, September, November, and December—called "hollow months" (cavi menses). These "304" days made up exactly 38 nundinal cycles.
