Thank you for asking. When we initiate a trade it is always on a lower time frame. The benchmark spreadsheet I post on here is based on our benchmark day-trading plan which is executed from a 15-min chart. Here are the first two lines of that plan:

"Day Trading Plan 2014
Method
Buy dips up-trends on/in buy zones, and sell rallies in downtrends on/in sell zones, in-line with the majority of patterns

Check Calendar
Do not initiate day trades ahead of employment or central bank news"

Sometimes I may personally take a trade many hours ahead of one of those releases but I know I cannot manage it to plan, and most exit ahead of the number.

Managing risk is job one in trading. Clearly that cannot be done from stepping in front of Fed news as I'm sure you know.

Thanks for contributing!