NFP, FOMC, CPI — do you pause the EA, reduce size, or let it run? I've seen all three preached with total confidence.
What does the data say in your trading? If you logged it, please share what you found rather than what sounds right.
Hard pause 15 minutes before red-folder events, resume 30 minutes after — but only for my mean-reversion systems. My trend systems actually make their year on news volatility; pausing them costs money.
The answer is per-system, and you find it in your own logs, not in a guru's rules.
Grid trader here: pause or die. News spikes are precisely what kills grids. I flatten everything before FOMC, no exceptions since March 2023. The one time I didn't, I got to watch 8 months of profit leave in 40 minutes.
A compromise that tests well for me: block new entries around news but let exits and trailing stops run. Closing everything blindly often realizes the worst possible price in the spread blowout.
I logged two years of this. My mean-reversion system's news-window trades contributed -18% of profits from 4% of trades. Easiest decision I ever made. The asymmetry point is everything: know where your system's P&L actually comes from before choosing a rule.