Actually, I’ve recently noticed a pretty interesting pattern. On big data days like CPI or Non-Farm Payrolls, if you look back at historical charts, you'll notice a detail. Basically, from around 1 or 2 PM until 8:30 PM when the data is released, the market has already been “giving the answer.”

What does that mean? It means you’ll find that funds start controlling the market in advance. For example, if the trend is going to rise, it won’t drop all at once but will gradually push upward; if it’s going to fall, it won’t crash immediately but will slowly be pushed down.

It looks very calm, but in reality, it’s just pre-determining the direction.

When the 8:30 PM data is released, if you observe the sudden sharp fluctuations, the direction is very likely to be consistent with the trend that the funds had been pushing during that afternoon, and this hit rate is quite high.

In simple terms, the data is announced at 8:30 PM, but smart money has already started acting in the afternoon.