News trading is unrestricted during the challenge and the Flex evaluation, and restricted on Funded and Instant accounts.
1. Challenge Phase (1-Step, 2-Step and Flex evaluation)
- You may trade freely during all news events with no restricted windows or execution limits.
- Trades may be opened, closed or modified directly during news events.
2. Funded Stage and Instant Accounts (the 10-minute window)
- The restricted window: you may not open a new position or close an existing position on the affected instrument within 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after a listed high-impact news announcement (a 10-minute total restricted window).
- Execution types covered: this restriction applies to all forms of execution: manual market execution, pending orders, Stop-Loss (SL) and Take-Profit (TP).
- Holding through news: holding an open trade through the news release is permitted, provided the position was opened more than 5 minutes before the start of the restricted event.
- Applies to: 1-Step Funded, 2-Step Funded, Flex Funded and all Instant accounts.
3. Soft breach handling
If a pre-existing position's Stop-Loss or Take-Profit executes inside the 10-minute restricted window, it is classified as a soft breach.
- Account status: your account will not be terminated.
- Profit treatment: any realized profits generated from that specific execution are ineligible for withdrawal and will be deducted.
- Loss treatment: any losses incurred during the restricted window remain the trader's sole responsibility and will not be reimbursed or reversed.
Affected economic announcements
This restriction applies strictly to the specific currency or instrument linked to the event (as classified by standard calendars like Forex Factory or Myfxbook):
- Monetary policy: interest rate decisions, rate statements and central bank press conferences.
- Inflation and growth: Consumer Price Index (CPI), Core PCE and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reports.
- Labor market: Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP), Unemployment Rate and Employment Change data.
- Activity indices: Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI).
- Speeches and press conferences: restricted for their entire live duration, plus the standard 5-minute buffer before the start and after the conclusion.
Relation to other rules: this policy works together with the Overnight and Weekend Holding rule. On 1-Step, 2-Step and Instant accounts, a news position cannot be held across the daily reset (00:00 UTC), and holding it over the weekend requires the Weekend Holding Add-on.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I trade news during my Challenge Phase? Yes. News trading is completely unrestricted on 1-Step and 2-Step challenge accounts and during the Flex evaluation.
- Can I trade news once I am on a Funded Stage or Instant account? You cannot open or close trades on the affected currency or asset within 5 minutes before or 5 minutes after a listed high-impact news release. You may hold a running trade through the event as long as it was entered more than 5 minutes before the release.
- What happens if my Stop-Loss or Take-Profit triggers inside the restricted window? It is treated as a soft breach. The account remains active and will not be closed, but any profits earned from that execution cannot be withdrawn. Any incurred losses remain on the account balance.