Free Tools

Free NinjaTrader News Indicator: HunterNews

April 4, 2026 · 6 min read

One of the fastest ways to lose money in futures trading is to be caught holding a position during a high-impact economic news release. CPI prints, FOMC decisions, and Non-Farm Payrolls can move ES 20 or more points in seconds. If you are on the wrong side of that move, your stop loss fills at a price far worse than you planned. The solution is simple: know when news is coming and be flat before it hits.

HunterNews is a free NinjaTrader 8 indicator that plots scheduled economic events directly on your chart. It draws vertical lines at the times of upcoming releases, color-coded by impact level, so you can see at a glance when to be cautious or flat.

What HunterNews Does

HunterNews reads economic calendar data and renders it on your NinjaTrader chart as visual markers. Each marker includes:

• A vertical line at the exact time of the scheduled release, extending from the bottom to the top of the chart.
• Color coding by impact — red for high-impact events (FOMC, NFP, CPI), orange for medium-impact events (ISM, PPI, retail sales), and gray for low-impact events.
• A text label showing the event name, so you can identify what is coming without leaving your chart.
• Time zone adjustment — events are displayed in your chart's time zone, so you do not need to convert from ET manually.

The indicator updates automatically each day with the current schedule. You do not need to manually enter events or maintain a calendar file.

Why This Matters for Automated Traders

If you run automated strategies, you might think news awareness is irrelevant because the strategy trades mechanically regardless of conditions. That assumption is dangerous. Most breakout and momentum strategies will enter a trade right before a news release because the pre-news consolidation looks like a valid setup. The strategy does not know that the breakout is about to be overwhelmed by a 15-point spike in either direction.

HunterNews solves this for manual traders by making news times visible. For automated traders, it serves as a planning tool: you can configure your strategy's trading hours to avoid known high-impact windows, or you can use NinjaTrader's session templates to create no-trade zones around major releases.

HuntersAlgo's paid strategies have news filtering built in, but HunterNews gives any trader — regardless of what strategies they use — the ability to see the economic calendar on their chart.

Installation

HunterNews is distributed as a standard NinjaTrader import file. Here is how to install it:

1. Download the HunterNews zip file from the HuntersAlgo Discord server (the link is in the #free-tools channel).
2. Open NinjaTrader 8.
3. Go to Tools > Import > NinjaScript Add-On.
4. Select the downloaded zip file and click Import.
5. NinjaTrader will confirm the import. Click OK.
6. Open any chart, right-click, select Indicators, and find HunterNews in the list. Click Add, then OK.

The indicator appears immediately on your chart. You can adjust colors, visibility of low-impact events, and label positioning through the indicator's properties panel.

Configuration Options

HunterNews exposes several configurable parameters:

Parameter	Default	Description
ShowHighImpact	True	Display high-impact events (FOMC, NFP, CPI)
ShowMediumImpact	True	Display medium-impact events (ISM, PPI)
ShowLowImpact	False	Display low-impact events (minor reports)
HighColor	Red	Line color for high-impact events
MediumColor	Orange	Line color for medium-impact events
LowColor	Gray	Line color for low-impact events
ShowLabels	True	Display event name text on the chart
LabelOffset	5	Pixel offset for label positioning

Most traders leave ShowLowImpact set to False because low-impact events rarely move the market enough to matter for day trading. High and medium impact events are the ones that require attention.

How to Use HunterNews in Your Trading Routine

The best way to use HunterNews is as part of a morning preparation routine. Before the market opens, glance at your chart and note any vertical lines during your trading hours. If a high-impact event falls within your session, plan around it:

• Before the event — avoid entering new trades within 15 minutes of a high-impact release. If you have an open position, consider closing it or tightening your stop.
• During the event — stay flat. The initial reaction to news is often a spike in one direction followed by a reversal. Trading the initial spike is gambling, not trading.
• After the event — wait 5 to 10 minutes for the market to digest the news and establish a post-release range. The first breakout from this range is often a high-quality trade setup.

Events That Move Futures the Most

Not all economic events are created equal. Here are the releases that consistently produce the largest moves in equity index futures:

• FOMC rate decision — released 8 times per year at 2:00 PM ET. The statement and press conference can move ES 30 to 50 points in an afternoon. This is the single most impactful event for equity futures.
• Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) — released on the first Friday of each month at 8:30 AM ET. A significant miss versus expectations can move ES 15 to 25 points in minutes.
• Consumer Price Index (CPI) — released monthly at 8:30 AM ET. Since 2022, CPI has become one of the most market-moving releases because inflation data directly influences Fed policy expectations.
• GDP (advance estimate) — released quarterly at 8:30 AM ET. Significant surprises can produce large moves, though the impact has diminished in recent years as higher-frequency data provides advance signals.

Why We Made This Free

HunterNews is free because we believe every futures trader should have access to basic risk tools regardless of their account size or subscription status. News awareness is not a competitive advantage — it is table stakes. Charging for a calendar indicator would not align with how we think about the trading community.

If you find HunterNews useful, join our Discord community where we share market analysis, strategy updates, and free tools. No purchase required.