name: economic-calendar-fetcher description: Fetch upcoming economic events and data releases using FMP API. Retrieve scheduled central bank decisions, employment reports, inflation data, GDP releases, and other market-moving economic indicators for specified date ranges (default: next 7 days). Output chronological markdown reports with impact assessment.

Economic Calendar Fetcher

Overview

Retrieve upcoming economic events and data releases from the Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) Economic Calendar API. This skill fetches scheduled economic indicators including central bank monetary policy decisions, employment reports, inflation data (CPI/PPI), GDP releases, retail sales, manufacturing data, and other market-moving events that impact financial markets.

The skill uses a Python script to query the FMP API and generates chronological markdown reports with impact assessment for each scheduled event.

Key Capabilities:

Fetch economic events for specified date ranges (max 90 days)
Support flexible API key provision (environment variable or user input)
Filter by impact level, country, or event type
Generate structured markdown reports with impact analysis
Default to next 7 days for quick market outlook

Data Source:

FMP Economic Calendar API: https://financialmodelingprep.com/api/v3/economic_calendar
Covers major economies: US, EU, UK, Japan, China, Canada, Australia
Event types: Central bank decisions, employment, inflation, GDP, trade, housing, surveys

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user requests:

Economic Calendar Queries:
- "What economic events are coming up this week?"
- "Show me the economic calendar for the next two weeks"
- "When is the next FOMC meeting?"
- "What major economic data is being released next month?"
Market Event Planning:
- "What should I watch for in the markets this week?"
- "Are there any high-impact economic releases coming?"
- "When is the next jobs report / CPI release / GDP report?"
Specific Date Range Requests:
- "Get economic events from January 1 to January 31"
- "What's on the economic calendar for Q1 2025?"
Country-Specific Queries:
- "Show me US economic data releases next week"
- "What ECB events are scheduled?"
- "When is Japan releasing their inflation data?"

DO NOT use this skill for:

Past economic events (use market-news-analyst for historical analysis)
Corporate earnings calendars (this skill excludes earnings)
Real-time market data or live quotes
Technical analysis or chart interpretation

Workflow

Follow these steps to fetch and analyze the economic calendar:

Step 1: Obtain FMP API Key

Check for API key availability:

First check if FMP_API_KEY environment variable is set
If not available, ask user to provide API key via chat
If user doesn't have API key, provide instructions:
- Visit https://financialmodelingprep.com
- Sign up for free account (250 requests/day limit)
- Navigate to API dashboard to obtain key

Example user interaction:

User: "Show me economic events for next week"
Assistant: "I'll fetch the economic calendar. Do you have an FMP API key? I can use the FMP_API_KEY environment variable, or you can provide your API key now."

Step 2: Determine Date Range

Set appropriate date range based on user request:

Default (no specific dates): Today + 7 days User specifies period: Use exact dates (validate format: YYYY-MM-DD) Maximum range: 90 days (FMP API limitation)

Examples:

"Next week" → Today to +7 days
"Next two weeks" → Today to +14 days
"January 2025" → 2025-01-01 to 2025-01-31
"Q1 2025" → 2025-01-01 to 2025-03-31

Validate date range:

Ensure start date ≤ end date
Ensure range ≤ 90 days
Warn if querying past dates

Step 3: Execute API Fetch Script

Run the get_economic_calendar.py script with appropriate parameters:

Basic usage (default 7 days):

python3 /path/to/economic-calendar-fetcher/scripts/get_economic_calendar.py --api-key YOUR_KEY

With specific date range:

python3 /path/to/economic-calendar-fetcher/scripts/get_economic_calendar.py \
  --from 2025-01-01 \
  --to 2025-01-31 \
  --api-key YOUR_KEY \
  --format json

Using environment variable (no --api-key needed):

export FMP_API_KEY=your_key_here
python3 /path/to/economic-calendar-fetcher/scripts/get_economic_calendar.py \
  --from 2025-01-01 \
  --to 2025-01-07

Script parameters:

--from: Start date (YYYY-MM-DD) - default: today
--to: End date (YYYY-MM-DD) - default: today + 7 days
--api-key: FMP API key (optional if FMP_API_KEY env var set)
--format: Output format (json or text) - default: json
--output: Output file path (optional, default: stdout)

Handle errors:

Invalid API key → Ask user to verify key
Rate limit exceeded (429) → Suggest waiting or upgrading FMP tier
Network errors → Retry with exponential backoff
Invalid date format → Provide correct format example

Step 4: Parse and Filter Events

Process the JSON response from the script:

Parse event data: Extract all events from API response
Apply user filters if specified:
- Impact level: "High", "Medium", "Low"
- Country: "US", "EU", "JP", "CN", etc.
- Event type: FOMC, CPI, Employment, GDP, etc.
- Currency: USD, EUR, JPY, etc.

Filter examples:

"Show only high-impact events" → Filter impact == "High"
"US events only" → Filter country == "US"
"Central bank decisions" → Search event name for "Rate", "Policy", "FOMC", "ECB", "BOJ"

Event data structure:

{
  "date": "2025-01-15 14:30:00",
  "country": "US",
  "event": "Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY",
  "currency": "USD",
  "previous": 2.6,
  "estimate": 2.7,
  "actual": null,
  "change": null,
  "impact": "High",
  "changePercentage": null
}

Step 5: Assess Market Impact

Evaluate the market significance of each event:

Impact Level Classification (from FMP):

High Impact: Major market-moving events
- FOMC rate decisions, ECB/BOJ policy meetings
- Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP), CPI, GDP
- Market typically shows 0.5-2%+ intraday volatility
Medium Impact: Significant but less volatile
- Retail Sales, Industrial Production
- PMI surveys, Consumer Confidence
- Housing data, Durable Goods Orders
Low Impact: Minor indicators
- Weekly jobless claims (unless extreme)
- Regional manufacturing surveys
- Minor auction results

Additional Context Factors:

Current Market Sensitivity:
- High inflation environment → CPI/PPI elevated importance
- Recession fears → Employment data more critical
- Rate cut speculation → Central bank meetings crucial
Surprise Potential:
- Compare estimate vs. previous reading
- Large expected changes = higher attention
- Consensus uncertainty = higher impact potential
Event Clustering:
- Multiple related events same day = amplified impact
- Example: CPI + Retail Sales + Fed speech = Very High impact day
Forward Significance:
- Does this event influence upcoming central bank decisions?
- Is this a preliminary or final reading?
- Will this data be revised?

Step 6: Generate Output Report

Create structured markdown report with the following sections:

Report Header:

# Economic Calendar
**Period:** [Start Date] to [End Date]
**Report Generated:** [Timestamp]
**Total Events:** [Count]
**High Impact Events:** [Count]

Event Listing (Chronological):

For each event, provide:

## [Date] - [Day of Week]

### [Event Name] ([Impact Level])
- **Country:** [Country Code] ([Currency])
- **Time:** [HH:MM UTC]
- **Previous:** [Value]
- **Estimate:** [Consensus Forecast]
- **Impact Assessment:** [Your analysis]

**Market Implications:**
[2-3 sentences on why this matters, what markets watch for, typical reaction patterns]

---

Example Event Entry:

## 2025-01-15 - Wednesday

### Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY (High Impact)
- **Country:** US (USD)
- **Time:** 14:30 UTC (8:30 AM ET)
- **Previous:** 2.6%
- **Estimate:** 2.7%
- **Impact Assessment:** Very High - Core inflation metric for Fed policy decisions

**Market Implications:**
CPI reading above estimate (>2.7%) likely strengthens hawkish Fed expectations, potentially pressuring equities and supporting USD. Reading at or below 2.7% could reinforce disinflation narrative and support risk assets. Options market pricing 1.2% S&P 500 move on release day.

---

Summary Section:

Add analytical summary at the end:

## Key Takeaways

**Highest Impact Days:**
- [Date]: [Events] - [Combined impact rationale]
- [Date]: [Events] - [Combined impact rationale]

**Central Bank Activity:**
- [Summary of any scheduled Fed/ECB/BOJ meetings or speeches]

**Major Data Releases:**
- Employment: [NFP, Unemployment Rate dates]
- Inflation: [CPI, PPI dates]
- Growth: [GDP, Retail Sales dates]

**Market Positioning Considerations:**
[2-3 bullets on how traders might position around these events]

**Risk Events:**
[Highlight any particularly high-uncertainty or surprise-potential events]

Filtering Notes:

If user requested specific filters, note at top:

**Filters Applied:**
- Impact Level: High only
- Country: US
- Events shown: [X] of [Y] total events in date range

Output Format:

Primary: Markdown file saved to disk
Filename format: economic_calendar_[START]_to_[END].md
Also display summary to user in chat

Output Format Specifications

File naming convention:

economic_calendar_2025-01-01_to_2025-01-31.md
economic_calendar_2025-01-15_to_2025-01-21.md  (weekly)
economic_calendar_high_impact_2025-01.md  (with filters)

Markdown structure requirements:

Chronological ordering: Events sorted by date and time (earliest first)
Impact level indicators: Use (High Impact), (Medium Impact), (Low Impact) labels
Time zone clarity: Always specify UTC and provide ET/PT conversions for US events
Data completeness: Include all available fields (previous, estimate, actual if past)
Null handling: Display "N/A" or "No estimate" for null values
Impact assessment: Every high/medium impact event must have market implications analysis

Table format option (for dense listings):

| Date/Time (UTC) | Event | Country | Impact | Previous | Estimate | Assessment |
|-----------------|-------|---------|--------|----------|----------|------------|
| 01-15 14:30 | CPI YoY | US | High | 2.6% | 2.7% | Core inflation metric |

Language: All reports in English

Resources

Python Script:

scripts/get_economic_calendar.py: Main API fetch script with CLI interface

Reference Documentation:

references/fmp_api_documentation.md: Complete FMP Economic Calendar API reference
- Authentication and API key management
- Request parameters and date formats
- Response field definitions
- Rate limits and error handling
- Best practices for caching and efficiency

API Details:

Endpoint: https://financialmodelingprep.com/api/v3/economic_calendar
Authentication: API key required (free tier: 250 requests/day)
Max date range: 90 days per request
Response format: JSON array of event objects
Rate limits: 5 requests/second (free tier)

Event Coverage:

Major economies: US, EU, UK, Japan, China, Canada, Australia, Switzerland
Event categories: Monetary policy, Employment, Inflation, GDP, Trade, Housing, Surveys
Update frequency: Real-time (events added/updated as scheduled)
Historical data: Available for past events with actual values

Usage Tips:

Cache results to minimize API calls (events rarely change once scheduled)
Query 7-30 day ranges for optimal request efficiency
Don't query >6 months in future (sparse data, speculative dates)
Refresh cache daily for upcoming week to catch time changes
Use smaller ranges (1-7 days) for real-time event monitoring

Error Handling:

API key errors: Clear user guidance for obtaining free key
Rate limits: Exponential backoff retry logic
Network failures: Graceful degradation with cached data if available
Invalid dates: Validation with helpful error messages

economic-calendar-fetcher

Install Skill

SKILL.md