Economic events on the chart: macro markers and highlights
Economic-calendar events (CPI, NFP, FOMC…) can be drawn as vertical markers on the footprint time axis, coloured by impact, and the time labels carrying a release can be highlighted. Both read the same calendar, which the chart fetches on its own.
Senzoukria · Documentation · Updated September 2026
Where to find it
- Where
- Indicators panel → « Overlays » → « Macro events » — the same switch is listed in Chart settings as « Macro event lines »; the axis highlight is Chart settings → « Highlight macro release times »
- Default
- Macro events on; Highlight macro release times off
- Filter
- Impact ≥ medium, ±18 h around now, at most 40 markers (closest to now kept)
What it does
The News module maintains an economic calendar. The chart converts those events into markers at the exact Unix second of the release, so a spike on the 08:30 bar is read next to the « CPI » label that caused it. Markers are coloured by impact: high #ef4444, medium #eab308, low #6b7280. Labels longer than 22 characters are truncated with an ellipsis.
Two affordances read the same markers. The vertical lines are governed by one switch that the interface lists twice under two names — « Macro events » in the Indicators panel and « Macro event lines » in Chart settings; both toggle the same setting. The second affordance is independent: « Highlight macro release times », whose hint reads — colours the time label carrying an economic release, so 16:00 reads as an event before it happens.
The chart does not depend on the News tab having been opened. A dedicated hook fetches the calendar when either affordance is on, refreshes it every 5 minutes, and skips the fetch on mount when the data in memory is younger than 5 minutes. The backend caches the response for 5 minutes as well, so several charts do not multiply requests. Articles are never loaded by the chart.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Macro events / Macro event lines | On | One switch, listed under both names; draws the vertical markers built from the calendar for this chart |
| Highlight macro release times | Off | Independent switch; colours the time-axis label that carries a release, with or without the lines |
| Minimum impact | medium (code default) | Events with low impact are not turned into markers |
| Window | ±18 hours around now (code default) | Events outside the window are dropped |
| Cap | 40 markers (code default) | When more events qualify, the ones closest to now are kept |
How to use it
Keep « Macro events » on during US data mornings and read the marker together with the footprint of the bar at that second: the vertical line tells you which release, the cells tell you who was aggressive. The high-impact colour is the one to respect for position sizing decisions you make yourself.
If the lines clutter a crowded chart, turn the markers off and leave « Highlight macro release times » on: the calendar is still fetched, and the hour label alone reads as an event.
Limits and pitfalls
- The calendar comes from the News data source configured in the connection manager; no source, no markers.
- Only impact ≥ medium and ±18 h are shown by design; older releases are not annotated on deep history.
- A marker records the scheduled time, not the measured spike; the two coincide when the release is on time.
- Actual and forecast values are carried by the marker for a hover badge; they are not a trading signal.
Related pages
- Named sessions and CME trading day
- Trade history markers
- How to read a footprint chart
- Time-of-day volume indicator
This page in other languages
Frequently asked questions
- Why were the markers empty before I opened the News tab?
- Earlier versions only polled the calendar inside the News route. The chart now has its own calendar hook that fetches when « Macro events » or the axis highlight is enabled, so the markers no longer depend on the News tab.
- How often does the calendar refresh on the chart?
- Every 5 minutes while the chart is mounted, plus one fetch on mount if the data is missing or older than 5 minutes. The backend caches the response for 5 minutes.
- Are « Macro events » and « Macro event lines » two different settings?
- No. They are two labels for the same switch — the Indicators panel calls it « Macro events », Chart settings calls it « Macro event lines », and changing one changes the other. The only separate switch is « Highlight macro release times » on the time axis.