Forex factory
Family I · Instruments
Not to be confused with forex, forex card, forex account.
Forex Factory is a website and data service that compiles macroeconomic calendar events — such as interest-rate decisions, inflation prints and employment reports — for the major currency pairs. It presents each event with a scheduled time, a consensus forecast and the released figure, and also hosts a news stream and community forums. The site is not a broker, exchange or trading venue; it is an information source.
What the calendar shows
Each calendar row typically carries the country or currency, the event name, the release time in a chosen time zone, a forecast value, the previous value and the actual value once published. Many entries also carry an impact rating, from low to high, indicating how much price movement the event has historically produced. Traders use the calendar to know when scheduled volatility is likely, and to compare the actual release against the consensus forecast.
Because the calendar is a third-party compilation, release times and forecast figures can differ slightly from those published by the issuing statistics agency or central bank. The official source remains the authority for any figure that matters.
Worked example: reading a release
A trader checks a calendar entry for a US non-farm payrolls report scheduled at 13:30 London time, with a consensus forecast of 180,000 jobs and a previous reading of 165,000.
The actual figure exceeded the forecast by 60,000 jobs. A larger-than-expected payrolls number is often associated with a stronger dollar, though the reaction depends on the wider rate outlook and can reverse quickly.
Limits and cautions
- Forecast figures are consensus estimates, not guarantees; the actual release can differ materially.
- Impact ratings are historical generalisations and do not predict the size of any future move.
- Calendar times can shift if an agency changes its schedule, and time-zone conversions can introduce errors.
- The site is an information service only; it does not execute trades or hold client funds.
Often confused with
- forex
- Forex is the global over-the-counter market where national currencies are exchanged in pairs, with prices quoted as the amount of one currency required to buy another.
- forex card
- A forex card is a prepaid payment card denominated in one or more foreign currencies, loaded in advance and used to make purchases or withdraw cash abroad without converting from the home currency at the point of sale.
- forex account
- A forex account is a ledger held with a broker that records cash, open currency positions and margin, and through which spot foreign-exchange trades are executed and settled.