News Lines Utility: Economic Calendar On Your Chart

Related: Calendar News Filter for MT5: Avoid Trading During High-Impact News Events - another powerful expert for MetaTrader 5 traders.

News Lines – Economic Calendar Lines & Event Panel

Also recommended: Strategy Tester News Filter with Corrected Calendar Export - similar expert with strong performance on MetaTrader 5.

Version 1.30 • Expert Advisor (utility, does not trade) • MetaTrader 5



1. Overview

News Lines places the economic calendar directly on your price chart. Scheduled economic releases are displayed as vertical lines at their exact times, color-coded by importance. Hovering over a line reveals event names, forecast, previous, and actual values. A compact, resizable, and collapsible panel lists upcoming and past events, with support for scrolling.

This product is a utility and does not engage in trading activities. It does not open, modify, or close trades and requires no trading permissions.



Key Features

Feature

Description

Color-coded lines

Lines are colored by impact: Red for high, Orange for medium, Dark Yellow for low. Colors are adjustable.

Tooltips

Hover over a line to view time, currency, event title, forecast, previous, and actual values. Events occurring simultaneously share a single line and tooltip.

History and Future Events

Lines are drawn across the entire visible chart, including the empty space to the right of the last bar for scheduled future events.

All Timeframes Supported

Works on all timeframes from M1 to MN1 and any symbol.

Two News Sources

Select between the MT5 built-in Economic Calendar or the Forex Factory weekly JSON feed with a single button click.

Event Panel

Displays upcoming events (default 36 hours) and past events (default 36 hours) with countdown timers.

Draggable and Resizable Panel

Move the panel by dragging its header. Resize it from the bottom-right corner. Collapse it to a title bar. Scroll using the mouse wheel or the draggable scrollbar.

Quick-Filter Buttons

Control labels visibility, impact level filtering (High/All), group cycling, news source switching, and font size (A− / A+).

Instrument Groups

Predefined groups like Gold & Silver, Forex Majors, Indices, and Oil & Gas, each with customizable currency lists and title keywords.

Click-to-Focus

Click an event in the panel to display only that specific event's occurrences on the chart. Click 'Reset' to restore all filters.

Optional Labels

Display rotated text labels next to chart lines, hidden by default and toggled via a button. Labels appear behind the panel.

Strategy Tester Support

Functional in visual mode using custom CSV history or a provided sample schedule. Actual values are masked until release time to prevent look-ahead bias.

Settings Persistence

Remembers panel position, size, font size, and button states across timeframe changes and restarts.

No DLL Required

Does not utilize any DLL imports.



2. How It Works

Step

Action

1

The EA loads events from the selected source (MT5 calendar or Forex Factory feed).

2

Events are filtered based on impact level and the currently active instrument group.

3

Lines are generated for the visible chart range and an additional screen-width on each side, ensuring continuous display during scrolling. The range updates dynamically upon scrolling or zooming.

4

The panel displays events within a configurable time window around the current server time.

5

Data is refreshed automatically (default every 15 minutes) to show updated forecast and actual values.

If the maximum number of lines (default 1000) is exceeded, the lowest-impact lines are removed first.



3. News Sources

MT5 Economic Calendar

Forex Factory Feed

Provider

MetaQuotes calendar integrated within MetaTrader 5.

Free weekly JSON feed (FairEconomy mirror of the Forex Factory calendar).

History

Full history, displaying lines as far back as the chart allows.

Current week and the following week only.

Future

Available for as long as the broker's calendar provides scheduled events (typically several weeks).

Current week and the following week.

Actual Values

Yes.

Not provided by the feed.

Setup

None required.

Add the web address to the WebRequest allowed list (see Section 4).

Tester Compatibility

Not available in the tester (see Section 8).

Not available in the tester (see Section 8).

Notes

Requires a connected terminal; some brokers offer limited calendar data.

The feed is a third-party service. The EA maintains a local copy and uses it as a fallback if download fails. Downloads are limited to once every 5 minutes.

Use the 'Source' button in the panel to switch between sources at any time. The panel and lines update instantly.



4. Installation and Setup

Copy the .ex5 file to the MQL5\Experts folder or install from the Market. Restart or refresh the Navigator window.

Drag 'News Lines' onto a chart. Algorithmic trading permission is not required for display, but the EA must be allowed to run.

For the Forex Factory source only: Navigate to Tools → Options → Expert Advisors. Tick 'Allow WebRequest for listed URL' and add the provided feed address. Without this, the panel footer will indicate the reason for the download failure.

Only one Expert Advisor can run per chart. If you are already using a trading EA on a chart, attach News Lines to a separate chart for the same symbol.



System Requirements

Item

Requirement

Platform

MetaTrader 5 (build with Economic Calendar support).

Account

Any account type (demo/real, hedging/netting).

Symbols / Timeframes

All.

Internet

Required for accessing the calendar and the Forex Factory feed.

DLL Imports

Not required.

Trading Permission

Not required.



5. The Panel

Layout

Area

Content

Header

Title, font size controls (A− / A+), and collapse/expand buttons ( − / + ). Drag the header to reposition the panel.

Toolbar

Buttons for Labels, Impact, Group, Source, and Reset (when an event is focused). May wrap to a second row on narrower panels.

List

UPCOMING section (soonest first) and PAST section (most recent first). Columns include date/time, countdown, currency, and event title. Forecast, previous, and actual values are displayed on the right for wider panels.

Footer

Displays status information (source, event count, errors) and the time zone. Resize the panel by dragging the triangle in the bottom-right corner.

The colored bar on the left of each row indicates impact level. Rows representing events within the next 30 minutes are highlighted.



Buttons and Mouse Actions

Control

Action

Labels: On / Off

Toggles the display of text labels on the chart (hidden by default).

Impact: High / All

Displays only High impact events by default, or all impact levels when set to 'All' (subject to 'Allow' inputs).

Group: …

Cycles through predefined groups: Default → Gold & Silver → Forex Majors → Indices → Oil & Gas.

Source: MT5 / FF

Switches between the MT5 calendar and the Forex Factory feed.

A− / A+

Adjusts the panel font size.

− / +

Collapses the panel to its header or expands it.

Click an event row

Sets the focus to a specific event, displaying all its occurrences on the chart. Click the row again to clear the focus.

Reset

Clears the event focus and restores normal filtering.

Mouse wheel over the list

Scrolls through the event list.

Scrollbar

Drag the thumb or click the track to navigate the list.

Drag header

Moves the entire panel.

Drag bottom-right corner

Resizes the panel.

While the mouse cursor is over the panel, chart scrolling by mouse is temporarily disabled to allow interaction with the panel without affecting chart movement.



Colors

Color

Impact

Red

High

Orange

Medium

Dark Yellow

Low



6. Instrument Groups

A group is defined by a currency list and an optional keyword list. An event is displayed if its currency is in the list AND either the keyword list is empty or the event title contains at least one specified keyword (case-insensitive matching). Events may belong to multiple groups.

Group

Default Currencies

Default Keywords

Default

Set by 'Currency filter' input (chart symbol currencies, all, or custom list).

–

Gold & Silver

USD

non-farm, payroll, employment, unemployment, jobless, cpi, inflation, pce, ppi, retail sales, gdp, fed, fomc, federal funds, interest rate, ism, powell, treasury

Forex Majors

USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, CAD, AUD, NZD

(empty = all events for these currencies)

Indices

USD, EUR, GBP, JPY

non-farm, payroll, employment, unemployment, cpi, ppi, gdp, retail sales, pmi, ism, fed, fomc, ecb, boe, boj, interest rate, rate decision, consumer confidence, ifo, zew, sentiment

Oil & Gas

USD, CAD

crude, oil, natural gas, eia, api, baker hughes, rig count, gasoline, distillate, cushing, refinery, opec, non-farm, fomc, fed, cpi, gdp

All lists are editable in the input settings and should be separated by commas.



7. Input Parameters

News Source

Parameter

Default

Description

News source

MT5 built-in Economic Calendar

The source used at startup, switchable via the panel button.

FF feed: this week

feed address

Address for the current-week JSON feed.

FF feed: next week

feed address

Address for the next-week JSON feed.

Refresh interval (minutes)

15

Data refresh frequency. The Forex Factory feed is downloaded at most once every 5 minutes.

Startup State

Parameter

Default

Description

Start group

Default

The instrument group active upon startup.

Start showing ALL impact levels

false

false = High impact only.

Start with labels visible

false

Labels are hidden by default.

Ignore remembered state/position

false

Set to true to re-apply these inputs and the initial panel position/size.

Button states are remembered between sessions. Changing a startup input applies the new value on the next startup.



Default Group – Currency Filter

Parameter

Default

Description

Currency filter

Currencies of the chart symbol

Chart symbol currencies / All currencies / Custom list.

Custom currencies

USD,EUR,GBP,JPY

Used when 'Custom list' is selected.



Impact Levels Allowed

Parameter

Default

Description

Allow HIGH impact

true

Master switch for high-impact events.

Allow MEDIUM impact

true

Shown only when the Impact button is set to 'All'.

Allow LOW impact

true

Shown only when the Impact button is set to 'All'.



Group Settings

Parameter

Default

Description

Gold & Silver – currencies / keywords

see Section 6

Edit to fine-tune.

Forex Majors – currencies / keywords

see Section 6

Indices – currencies / keywords

see Section 6

Oil & Gas – currencies / keywords

see Section 6



Chart Lines

Parameter

Default

Description

Draw lines on chart

true

Master switch for displaying lines.

High / Medium / Low color

Red / Orange / dark yellow

Line and label colors.

Line style

Dash

Style of the vertical lines.

Line width

1

Width of the lines.

Label font size

8

Font size for chart labels.

Label max characters

32

Truncates longer labels.

Max lines drawn

1000

Exceeding this limit removes the lowest-impact lines first.

Limit history in days

0

0 means display history as far back as the chart data allows.

Lines selectable

false

Enable if tooltips are not appearing in your build.



Panel

Parameter

Default

Description

Show panel

true

Toggles the visibility of the event panel.

Panel: hours back

36

Defines the window for past events displayed in the panel.

Panel: hours ahead

36

Defines the window for upcoming events displayed in the panel.

Panel time zone

Local PC time

Option to display times in Local PC time or Broker Server time. Chart lines consistently use server time.

Initial X / Y

20 / 40

Initial position of the panel in pixels.

Initial width / height

460 / 400

Initial size of the panel in pixels (minimum width 340).



8. Strategy Tester

The Strategy Tester does not support the calendar or web access. Therefore, the EA utilizes its own tester data.

Mode

Behavior

Non-visual

The EA initializes, logs a single message, and performs no further actions. No lines, panel, or errors are generated.

Visual

Full panel and line display using the tester data described below.



Tester Data

Priority

Data

Notes

1

File NewsLines_history.csv in the Common\Files folder (or MQL5\Files).

Your custom history data. Format is detailed below.

2

Built-in sample schedule.

A recurring pattern of typical economic events (e.g., payrolls, CPI, FOMC, ECB, crude inventories, jobless claims, ISM, sentiment). Event titles end with '(sample)', and the footer indicates 'not real data'.



CSV Format

Events are listed one per line, separated by semicolons. Times are in broker server time. Lines not starting with a digit (headers, comments) are ignored.

Example:
2026.01.10 15:30;USD;High;Non-Farm Payrolls;160K;227K;143K
2026.01.14 15:30;USD;High;CPI m/m;0.3%;0.3%;0.4%
2026.01.15 10:00;EUR;Low;Sentiment Index



Column

Content

1

Date and time in yyyy.mm.dd hh:mm format (server time).

2

Currency code.

3

Impact level: High, Medium, or Low (or 3, 2, 1).

4

Event title.

5–7

Forecast, previous, and actual values (optional).

In the Strategy Tester, actual values are concealed until the event's scheduled time has passed to prevent future data leakage.



9. Frequently Asked Questions

Question

Answer

Does it trade?

No. This tool exclusively displays information.

Why can't I see lines to the right of the last bar?

Enable 'Chart Shift' or scroll the chart to reveal empty space on the right. On higher timeframes, this empty area spans more days.

Lines do not show tooltips.

Set the 'Lines selectable' option to true.

The footer indicates a Forex Factory download failure.

Add the feed address to Tools → Options → Expert Advisors → Allow WebRequest for listed URL. The footer text provides specific error details.

The MT5 calendar shows no data.

Ensure your terminal is connected to the broker. Some brokers provide limited calendar data.

Labels are hidden behind candles.

Labels are rendered in the chart background to ensure the panel remains always visible on top.

Can I use it with a trading EA?

Only one EA is permitted per chart. Attach News Lines to a secondary chart of the same symbol.

Times appear different from my local time.

Chart lines use broker server time. The panel can be configured to display Local or Server time via the 'Panel time zone' input.

How do I reset the panel position?

Set the 'Ignore remembered state/position' option to true.



10. Limitations

Item

Detail

One EA per chart

A restriction imposed by MetaTrader.

Forex Factory feed

Covers only the current and next week; does not include actual values. This is a third-party service, and its availability is not guaranteed by the author.

MT5 calendar

Dependent on data provided by the broker's terminal connection. Values are displayed as plain numbers without units.

Strategy Tester

Real historical news data is accessible only via a custom CSV file; otherwise, the sample schedule is utilized.

High-DPI Screens

Panel text sizing is in pixels; use the 'A−' / 'A+' buttons for adjustment.



11. Disclaimer

This product presents information from third-party sources and serves as a visual aid only. It does not offer trading signals or investment advice. Economic data may be subject to delays, incompleteness, or inaccuracies. Trading involves risk; users are solely responsible for their own decisions.



12. Version History

Version

Changes

1.30

Added Strategy Tester support (CSV history / sample schedule), masking of actual values until release time in the tester, and quiet non-visual mode.

1.20

Introduced Click-to-Focus on events and a Reset button, source switch button, draggable scrollbar, instrument groups, font size buttons, label toggle, and set high-impact-only as the default.

1.00

Initial release.

You may also like: advanced pattern scanner with dom and news integration - excellent alternative for expert users on MetaTrader 5.

#property copyright "RobotFX"
#property version   "1.30"
#property description "This code is educational. Feel free to use, modify and upgrade as you wish. Visit ROBOTFX.ORG for professional trading tools"
#include <Canvas\Canvas.mqh>
#include <Generic\HashMap.mqh>
enum ENUM_NEWS_SOURCE { SRC_MT5 = 0,
                        SRC_FF  = 1 };
enum ENUM_CCY_MODE    { CCY_SYMBOL = 0,
                        CCY_ALL    = 1,
                        CCY_CUSTOM = 2 };

.......

• This tool is provided for educational and testing purposes only.
• Past performance does not guarantee future results.
• Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Use on a demo account first.
• Results may vary depending on market conditions, broker, and settings.
• We recommend thorough backtesting and forward testing before using with real funds.