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News trading at prop firms: your questions answered
Which question should traders ask?
Ask whether the specific program, account stage and instrument permit the action you intend to take. Holding an earlier position, opening a new trade and triggering a pending order can be treated differently.
Has the industry removed news restrictions?
The official policies below show several approaches operating at the same time: permission, restricted execution windows, profit adjustments and mandatory flattening. They do not establish a market-wide reversal or a universal rule.
How this list was verified
The linked official policies were rechecked on October 5, 2026. The table identifies their product and stage scope. “Checked” is this article’s verification date, not a claim that the provider revised its policy on that date.
This is a selected comparison, not a census. Where the provider’s wording conflicts, the table states the uncertainty rather than classifying the account as unrestricted.
Eight firms: news permissions and account scope
The eight examples below show why permission needs a product and account-stage qualifier. Read the conditions alongside each firm name.
| Firm | Permission | Scope and conditions | Official source checked October 5, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| E8 Markets | Signature and Pro allow news in Challenge and Performance. E8 One allows it in Challenge. | E8 One Performance prohibits affected executions ±5 minutes; speeches extend through five minutes after the end. This CFD FAQ does not establish Zero or other Futures rules. | E8 rules |
| FTMO CFD | Evaluation news trading is permitted subject to forbidden-practice rules. Swing is exempt from the selected-news restriction. | Standard FTMO Accounts: affected executions, including SL/TP and pending orders, prohibited ±2 minutes. Holding earlier positions is permitted; execution can still breach. | FTMO CFD FAQ |
| FundedNext | Challenge accounts are exempt from the News Reward Share Rule. | The 40% rule is specifically for Stellar 1-Step, Stellar 2-Step and Stellar Lite FundedNext Accounts; see the explanation below. Do not apply it to every product. | FundedNext rules |
| Apex Trader Funding | Ordinary strategy trading during news is allowed. | News-chasing or two-sided gambling strategies remain prohibited; this is not permission to exploit the simulated environment. | Apex conduct rules |
| Topstep | General policy does not require flattening solely for economic releases; temporary risk restrictions still apply. | Full-size trading directly into major news is prohibited. The current CPI policy also blocks new affected mini orders and caps affected micro orders in SIM during ±5 minutes; Labs exceptions apply. | Topstep economic releases |
| Take Profit Trader | News trading is permitted in Test accounts. | PRO and PRO+ have event restrictions; PRO requires no open positions or orders from one minute before through one minute after listed prohibited events. | TPT PRO rules |
| My Funded Futures | Its Tier 1 list permits evaluations and Builder; restricts Rapid Sim Funded and Pro Sim Funded. | Restricted plans must be flat with no orders ±2 minutes. The same page has broader all-release language that conflicts with these exceptions; obtain written clarification for your plan. | MFFU news policy |
| Goat Funded Trader | News trading is allowed in challenge and funded stages. | Trades opened or closed ±5 minutes around high-impact news have a 1% initial-balance profit cap. Excess is removed at review without that adjustment constituting a breach. | Goat news policy |
Check Topstep’s current risk adjustments for CPI product, size and Labs-specific limits. Its general permission does not override these temporary restrictions.
Topstep’s separate prohibited-strategies policy still applies when news trading is permitted. TPT’s Test/PRO/PRO+ FAQ distinguishes its stages.
If you are weighing any of these firms on more than their news policy, our funded-trader interviews cover the same names: FTMO, FundedNext, Apex Trader Funding, Topstep, Take Profit Trader and Goat Funded Trader.
When permitted news trades lose eligible profit
Permission to trade and eligibility to retain profit are separate questions.
For FundedNext’s named funded products above, profitable executions within five minutes before or after a correlated listed high-impact event count at 40%; losses remain in full. The rule covers opening, closing and pending orders, including SL/TP. Partial closure can affect the entire order. It is applied after the cycle; this adjusted eligible profit is not the trader’s final cash reward percentage.
- FundingPips: deliberate news trading is prohibited in evaluation and Master stages. Standard-model Master profits from executions ±5 minutes around restricted news may be removed; speech windows run from ten minutes before start to ten minutes after end. An entry at least five hours earlier can qualify for the holding exception. See official news rules.
- AquaFunded: for accounts opened after April 27, 2026, news profits in the specified ±5-minute window are capped per payout cycle at 0.5% of starting balance. Older purchases retain the prior funded-account restrictions; confirm purchases on the cutoff date with support. See official policy.
- Alpha Capital: Qualified Analyst Pro/One/Three/Direct prohibit affected executions ±5 minutes. Profit from a violating SL/TP fill is ineligible and losses remain. Alpha Swing instead requires trades initiated within ±2 minutes to last more than two minutes. Evaluations permit news. See product-specific rules.
Execution and holding restrictions
Some programs restrict execution or require positions to be closed. Account consequences differ; an execution restriction does not always produce immediate termination.
| Firm | Restriction | Applies to | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blueberry Funded | 2 minutes either side of red-folder news. Covers opening, closing, and pending-order triggers | Evaluation and earning accounts both. Exception for positions opened 6+ hours earlier whose stop loss is hit | Help centre, checked October 5, 2026 |
| Funding Pips Zero | 10 minutes either side, and it bans holding, not just transacting. Breach closes the Master account | The Zero product only. On the standard models, holding through news in evaluation is unrestricted, but the firm separately prohibits deliberately trading a release in either phase | Help centre |
| FTMO Standard | 2 minutes either side on listed events, including pending order, stop loss and take profit execution | CFD Standard FTMO Accounts. Swing and evaluations exempt | FTMO FAQ, checked October 5, 2026 |
| E8 One | Opening, closing, stop loss and take profit fills and pending orders all prohibited 5 minutes either side. News-based strategies including straddles and strangles are “NOT permitted” | The SimFi Performance (funded) stage only. The challenge stage is unrestricted | E8 help centre |
| TradeDay | The policy describes automatic liquidation 2 minutes before Tier 1 releases and reopening 2 minutes afterward. Accidental trades are not failed, but deliberate abuse can lose the account | Confirm the applicable account-stage policy; automation is not permission to ignore the restriction | TradeDay support, checked October 5, 2026 |
The5ers’ FAQ distinguishes High Stakes, which prohibits executions ±2 minutes around high-impact news, from HyperGrowth and Bootcamp, which permit news except bracket strategies. Holding is permitted, but High Stakes execution profits can be removed while losses remain.
Blueberry’s policy also provides for voiding an earning-account payout with three or more news trades, and possible breach after continued violations. Use the affected-instrument list and its limited six-hour stop-loss exception precisely.
Loss limits and payout rules still apply
Permission to trade a release does not suspend loss limits. With an intraday equity-based trail, unrealized gains can lift the floor before a reversal. With an end-of-day trail, the floor may update later, but the existing floor can still be enforced intraday.
TPT Test accounts use end-of-day drawdown; PRO uses an intraday trail including unrealized gains. Do not transfer one stage’s mechanism to another. Apex offers different account types, so its brand name alone does not identify the calculation.
Consistency requirements, payout buffers and caps can also delay or reduce a reward. Check the rule for the current product and account generation rather than treating a permitted news win as automatically withdrawable.
What to check before you trade a release
- Calendar and timezone: use the provider’s authoritative calendar and the event’s date-specific timezone.
- Account scope: identify product, stage and purchase date.
- Affected instruments: check which symbols are restricted for that release.
- Executions: determine whether manual trades, pending orders, SL/TP fills and modifications count.
- Holding: check whether positions and working orders must be closed.
- Consequences: distinguish profit adjustment, payout rejection and account breach.
Verdict
Compare the firm, product and account stage together. News permission does not establish unrestricted strategy use, protect against slippage or guarantee a payout.
If two official passages disagree, obtain written confirmation for the specific account before relying on the more permissive wording. Keep that confirmation with the applicable terms.
Frequently asked questions
Can you trade news on a prop firm challenge?
Some evaluations permit it, but there is no universal rule. Check the product, stage, affected instruments and prohibited strategies. Passing an evaluation can change the news policy.
Does news trading allowed mean no restrictions?
No. A provider may allow ordinary trading during releases while prohibiting news-gambling strategies, restricting position size or reducing eligible profit.
Does holding a position through news break the rules?
Holding and execution are different. Some programs permit holding while restricting stop-loss, take-profit or pending-order fills; others require all positions and orders to be closed. Check the specific program.
What happens if an order executes during a restricted window?
Consequences can include profit removal, an ineligible payout, a soft breach or account termination. Automatic execution is not necessarily exempt.
How should I handle conflicting policy wording?
Ask the provider to confirm the exact product, account stage and purchase-date rules in writing before trading the event. Do not assume a general permission overrides a specific restriction.
How many firms ban news trading?
This article is a selected program comparison, not an industry census. It does not establish the percentage of firms that permit or prohibit news trading.
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