News Trading and Prop Firms: Which Firms Allow It, and How to Stay Compliant

Trading a major economic release is the fastest way to double an account, and the fastest way to blow one up. Prop firms know this, which is why most operate some form of news trading rule. The specifics vary widely: some firms allow news trading with no restrictions, others impose a 2-minute blackout around Tier-1 releases, and a few ban news trading outright on their funded programmes. This guide walks through what the news window is, which major firms allow what, how to check the calendar correctly, and what typically happens if you breach a rule.

News rules sit alongside the other core rules (drawdown, target, consistency). For the full context, see our prop firm rules explained article. This page focuses specifically on the news side.

Why prop firms restrict news trading

A Tier-1 release such as Non-Farm Payrolls or an FOMC rate decision creates conditions no risk model handles cleanly:

• Extreme slippage. Prices can jump 30, 50 or 100 pips in a single tick. Stop-losses are filled far below the level you set. What looks like a controlled 1% risk on the chart can materialise as a 5% loss on the account.
• Spread widening. Brokers widen spreads by 5-10x during the release. A tight entry may become impossible.
• One-shot lottery. A trader can put on 10x normal size in the seconds before a release, catch a favourable move, and jump from failing to passing in one candle. That is the antithesis of what a prop firm wants to fund.

By restricting activity in a narrow window around the release, the firm keeps its own risk manageable and filters out gambling behaviour that inflates trader statistics.

What "news window" actually means

The standard news window is 2 minutes before and 2 minutes after a Tier-1 release, on affected instruments. Some firms use 5 minutes on either side. Inside the window, the trader typically may not:

• Open a new position
• Close an existing position (in some firms' rules)
• Modify a pending order
• Set a new stop-loss or take-profit

Outside the window, trading is unrestricted. So if NFP releases at 13:30 GMT, the window is 13:28 to 13:32 GMT. Trades entered at 13:27 and left running through the release are typically fine (positions held before the release are treated differently in different firms; check yours).

Which events count as Tier-1 news?

Firms use different definitions, but the core list of events that appear on every restriction list is:

• US: FOMC statements and rate decisions, Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP), CPI, PPI, Retail Sales, GDP, ISM Manufacturing/Services PMI.
• Eurozone: ECB rate decisions, ECB press conferences, German CPI, PMI releases.
• UK: BoE rate decisions, BoE minutes, UK CPI, UK GDP, UK PMI.
• Others: BoC rate decisions, RBA rate decisions, BoJ rate decisions, SNB rate decisions.

Some firms restrict activity on all Tier-1 events on any pair. Others only restrict activity on pairs directly affected by the release (e.g., only USD pairs during NFP). Read the wording carefully.

Firm-by-firm news trading rules

The table below summarises the historical posture of a few major firms. Rules change, and firms differentiate between programmes internally, so always verify the current position on the firm's own site before you rely on it.

Newer firms cycle in and out of news-friendly stances quickly, sometimes in response to a losing month. If news trading is core to your edge, monitor announcements or subscribe to your firm's changelog before every major release.

How to check the economic calendar correctly

The tools every prop trader should have at their fingertips:

1. Forex Factory. The default free calendar in the retail world. Filter by "high impact" only.
2. Investing.com Economic Calendar. More filterable, better for scheduling ahead.
3. DailyFX Calendar. Cleaner UI, less noise.
4. Firm's own calendar. Many prop firms publish a filtered calendar showing exactly which events they consider Tier-1. Use this as the authoritative version.

Two mistakes to avoid:

• Time zone confusion. Calendars often show the local time based on your browser location. Prop firm rules are usually written in GMT or the broker server time (often GMT+2 or GMT+3). Cross-check the timestamp.
• Missed unscheduled events. Central bank speeches and geopolitical statements are often not on the schedule but can move markets as much as a scheduled release. Check whether your firm treats unscheduled events as covered by the news rule.

Positions held from before the release

This is the detail that catches out swing traders. Some firms only restrict opening or closing during the window. Others require you to be flat on the affected instrument during the window, meaning any position running into the release must be closed at least 2 minutes before.

Read the exact wording. If the rule says "no orders may be opened or closed within 2 minutes", positions from before are fine. If it says "no positions may be held during the 2-minute window", you must exit early.

Swing traders trading EUR/USD across an NFP release are affected the most. If your strategy holds through a Friday NFP, either shortlist firms with the more permissive wording, or close and re-enter around the event to be safe.

Consequences of breaking a news rule

The response varies by firm and severity:

• Warning + trade disqualification. The trade's profit is removed from the account, but the account remains open. Common for a first-time, small breach.
• Payout denied. On funded accounts, the specific payout cycle in which the breach occurred is voided.
• Account termination. Common for repeated or blatant breaches (e.g., 5x normal position size placed 30 seconds before NFP).
• Ban from future purchases. Rare, but has happened for extreme cases.

If you breach accidentally, contact support immediately with the account number, timestamp of the trade, and a clear explanation. Firms are more lenient with traders who report themselves than with those who wait to be caught.

Trading style compatibility

Match your style to a compatible firm.

• News scalpers. Traders whose edge is the release itself must choose news-friendly firms. FTMO and Alpha Capital have historically been the natural home.
• London/New York overlap day traders. A 2-minute buffer around 13:30 GMT releases is easy to plan for. Almost any firm works.
• Swing traders. Prefer firms where positions held into a release are allowed. If in doubt, close before and re-enter after.
• Algorithmic traders. Coding a news filter into an EA is straightforward but essential. Most reputable EAs include a calendar-based blackout module. If yours does not, add one before deploying on a prop account.

Building news awareness into your process

The traders who never breach news rules do the same three things every session:

1. Check the calendar before market open. Note every high-impact event of the day. Set alarms.
2. Close all positions on affected instruments at least 5 minutes before each event, unless the firm explicitly allows holding.
3. Stay flat for 3 minutes after each event, then reassess the setup on a fresh basis.

The extra effort is small. The cost of a single blow-up is enormous.

News trading vs "trading through the news"

Two different activities are often confused:

• News trading is deliberately opening a position in the seconds before a release, expecting the release to trigger a move. Most restricted.
• "Trading through the news" is holding an unrelated position that happens to be open when a release occurs. Some firms treat these the same, others more leniently.

If your setup does not benefit from the release itself, exit before it and re-enter after. The trade is not worth the compliance risk on a funded account.

Setting up MT5 to block trades during news windows

If you rely on manual discipline alone, one distracted afternoon can end an evaluation. Two low-effort tools eliminate the risk almost entirely.

• Calendar overlay on the chart. Several free MT5 indicators plot upcoming high-impact releases as vertical lines directly on the chart. A quick glance tells you whether the next 30 minutes are safe.
• News-aware EA guard. If you run an EA, wrap the entry logic in a calendar check. MetaQuotes' built-in calendar (MQL5 CalendarValueHistoryByEvent) exposes upcoming events. The pattern is: if a Tier-1 event on the current instrument's currency falls within the next N minutes, skip the trade.

Even manual traders benefit from an EA-based blocker running in the background. Set it to reject any manual open order within 3 minutes of a Tier-1 release. It saves you from yourself on the day you forget to check.

What firms actually monitor

Firms increasingly rely on automated post-trade analysis rather than manual review. That means a breach is usually detected within hours, sometimes minutes, of the release. The typical process is:

1. Firm's risk system flags any trade timestamped within the news window on a monitored instrument.
2. Automated email or dashboard notification is sent to the trader.
3. Manual review determines whether the breach is severe enough for account termination.
4. Decision is finalised, often within 24-72 hours.

You will not hide a news breach by moving on quickly. The system checks every trade against the calendar. This makes proactive discipline the only reliable strategy.

The bottom line

News rules exist because a prop firm cannot afford to underwrite an unfiltered gambler. If you already trade with respect for volatile events, the rules cost you nothing. If you were counting on scalping NFP to pass a challenge, either choose a firm that explicitly allows it or reconsider your approach. Most consistent funded traders never trade the release itself; they simply respect the buffer and get on with the setups either side.

Whenever a firm updates its rulebook, re-read the news section. This is the area where changes appear most frequently, and where the difference between compliant and terminated is often measured in seconds.

Continue exploring: the consistency rule, payouts and profit splits, or return to the full prop firm rulebook.