News trading rules at prop firms are not one rule. They are a set of choices: which events count, how many minutes around the release are restricted, what the restriction covers (opening, closing, holding), which account stages it applies to, and what happens if you break it. Some firms ignore the topic. Others void the profit from a trade. A few close the account.
This guide shows you how to read those rules, what the published data says about how common they are, and how to avoid the mistakes that cost traders money. It also covers weekend holding rules, because the same fine print usually sits on the same page.
TL;DR
- Rules differ by firm, product and stage. The same firm can allow news trading in an evaluation and restrict it on a funded account, or the other way around.
- Typical restrictions use a window of 2 or 5 minutes either side of a high-impact release. Check whether it covers opening, closing, holding, or all three.
- Windows run on server time, usually UTC. Confirm your platform clock before a release.
- Save the exact rule text and the date you read it. Help pages, terms and plan-specific exceptions can conflict.
- Profirms charges a one-time fee, never a subscription or activation fee, and you keep 90% of every payout from the first payout. Our accounts are simulated.
Table of Contents
- What a news trading rule actually covers
- How common are news restrictions?
- The five ways firms write the rule
- Why the clock matters as much as the rule
- Worked example: one release, three rulebooks
- Losses still count: news and drawdown
- Weekend holding rules
- Evaluation versus funded: where traders get caught
- A pre-trade checklist for any news rule
- How Profirms approaches the rules
- Pick the account that fits your style
- FAQ
- Sources
What a news trading rule actually covers
A news trading rule limits what you can do around scheduled, high-impact economic releases. Think US nonfarm payrolls, CPI inflation prints and central bank rate decisions. The firm usually publishes a list of events, or a rule such as "high-impact on the economic calendar", and a time window.
Research from PropFirm X-Ray notes that news-trading permission may differ between evaluation and funded stages, and that restrictions can apply before, during or after named events. That one sentence holds most of the traps:
- Stage. Evaluation and funded accounts can have different rules.
- Timing. Before, during and after a release can be treated differently.
- Event definition. "High-impact" may mean a specific list, a calendar color, or the firm's own judgment.
- Instrument. Some rules apply only to instruments affected by the release, such as US index futures on a US data release.
- Consequence. The penalty ranges from a warning to profit removal to a breach.
How common are news restrictions?
A review of the rules pages of 32 prop firms, published by Trading Lookup in October 2026, found that 13 state a news-trading rule. Of those, 7 restrict trading around high-impact news on at least one account type, usually funded accounts, with windows of 2 and 5 minutes either side of the release. The other 19 firms' pages did not say anything on the subject.
Two lessons follow. First, silence is not permission. A firm that does not mention news may still judge trades after the fact. Second, the restriction most often arrives after the evaluation, when you hold a funded account and real payout eligibility is at stake.
Another comparison guide makes the same point about the stage question: some firms allow news trading in challenges but restrict it on funded accounts, or the reverse. Always verify both.
The five ways firms write the rule
Most rules fall into one of these patterns. When you read a rulebook, match it to one before you trade.
| Pattern | What it means for you | Main risk |
|---|---|---|
| No restriction | You may trade through releases | Hidden review: trades can still be judged afterward |
| Open/close ban in a window | No new entries or exits for X minutes either side | A stop or target that fills inside the window may count |
| Holding ban | No open positions in the window | Swing trades held through a release |
| Profit exclusion | The trade is allowed, but profit from the window is not counted | Your profit target or payout is lower than you expect |
| Funded-only restriction | Free in evaluation, limited once funded | A change in behavior after you pass |
A comparison of 16 firms by MacroSetup says the rule is about a window of minutes and that a stop or take profit filling inside the window counts at most of those firms, whatever you meant by it. That matters for anyone who sets protective orders and walks away. A stop is not a manual decision, but the rulebook may not care.
A rules roundup from PropFirmRefer adds that some firms ban opening or closing in a window, while others strike the profit afterward. Those are different penalties, and they call for different habits.
Why the clock matters as much as the rule
Windows are measured in server time. According to PropFirmStats, the buffers (2, 5 or 6 minutes either side) are counted on the platform's server clock, which is usually UTC. Their example: a 2-minute buffer around a 12:30 UTC release means no trading from 12:28 to 12:32 server time.
That creates a practical routine:
- Find the release time on the calendar in your own time zone.
- Convert it to the platform's server time.
- Write down the start and end of the restricted window.
- Check whether your stops and targets could trigger inside it.
- Decide before the release whether to be flat.
US daylight saving changes shift the gap between New York time and UTC, so the conversion changes twice a year. Do not assume last month's offset still applies.
Worked example: one release, three rulebooks
Suppose nonfarm payrolls prints at 8:30 a.m. New York time. In the summer, that is 12:30 UTC. You are long a micro index futures contract with a stop and a target resting in the market.
- Rulebook A: 2-minute open/close ban. Restricted from 12:28 to 12:32 UTC. Your position can stay open, but if the stop fills at 12:31, the exit may count as a violation.
- Rulebook B: 5-minute holding ban. Restricted from 12:25 to 12:35 UTC. Being in the position at 12:25 is the problem, even if you place no new orders.
- Rulebook C: profit exclusion. You may trade, but profit earned in the window is not counted. A strong move through the print could leave your balance unchanged for eligibility purposes, while a loss still counts against your drawdown.
The same trade, three outcomes. That is why the sentence "news trading is allowed" tells you almost nothing. You need the window, the actions covered, and the penalty.
Losses still count: news and drawdown
Even where news trading is permitted, a release can produce fast, wide moves and slippage. The trade that is legal under the news rule can still breach a separate loss limit. The JoinProp guide makes the point directly: a permitted trade can still have reduced eligible profit or breach a separate loss rule.
So read the news rule next to the drawdown rule. Three things to check:
- Is the max-loss floor fixed, or does it trail your equity?
- Is the drawdown measured at end of day, or on every tick?
- Does floating profit raise the floor before you close the trade?
Our guide to the five core risk controls that trip traders covers these in more depth, and risk math for three drawdown types shows how position size interacts with each.
Weekend holding rules
Many readers who search for news rules also want to know whether they can hold over the weekend. The logic is similar: the risk is a gap. Markets that close Friday and reopen Sunday can open far from the last price, and a firm that cannot control that exposure often restricts it.
What to look for in the rulebook:
- Is overnight holding allowed at all? Some programs require flat by the session close.
- Is weekend holding treated separately from overnight? The rule may say Friday close only.
- Does the rule differ by instrument? Futures, CFDs and crypto trade on different schedules. Crypto trades on weekends, so the question looks different there.
- What is the consequence? A forced close, a lost profit, or a breach.
- What about holiday sessions? Early closes and holiday gaps can surprise you.
A weekend gap also interacts with the news calendar. A Sunday-evening headline can move the open before you can react. If you hold, size the position for a gap that skips your stop.
Evaluation versus funded: where traders get caught
The most common surprise is a change in rules at the moment you pass. You trade one way for weeks, then the funded account carries a restriction you never ran into. Before you buy, compare the two rule sets side by side and note every difference.
The discipline here is documentation. PropFirm X-Ray recommends that you save the exact rule version and access date before trading a release, because independent databases find conflicts between help pages, terms and plan-specific exceptions. The controlling document and the exact product name matter. A screenshot with a date takes ten seconds and can settle a dispute.
A trading journal habit helps too. Log the release, the window, whether you were flat, and why. When one rule breach can end an account, your own records are the cheapest protection you have.
A pre-trade checklist for any news rule
Before you pay for any account, answer these questions from the official rulebook, not from a forum post or a social media thread:
- Which events are restricted, and where is the list?
- How many minutes before and after?
- Does it apply to evaluation, funded, or both?
- Does it cover opening, closing, holding, or all of them?
- Does a stop or take profit that fills in the window count?
- What is the penalty: warning, profit removal, breach?
- What clock does the window use?
- Is weekend or overnight holding allowed on this product?
- Does the rule change on instant funded or daily payout versions?
- When was the page last updated, and have you saved a copy?
The same discipline applies to fees and payouts. Our checklist on what to verify before paying a prop firm and the guide to reading payout thresholds follow the same logic: read the controlling document, then decide.
How Profirms approaches the rules
We keep the rules we publish simple, and we put them where you can read them before you buy. What we can state plainly:
- One-time fee. Profirms charges a one-time fee. There is no subscription and no activation fee.
- 90% of every payout. You keep 90% of every payout from the first payout.
- A floor that never trails intraday. The max-loss floor does not trail intraday. Our end-of-day drawdown locks the threshold at the previous day's close, so you can recover losses within a single session.
- No consistency rule and no minimum trading days.
- Simulated accounts. Evaluation and funded accounts are simulated. We are not a broker, and we are not regulated.
Trading involves risk of loss, and nothing here promises profit. For the exact rules on a specific product, including how trading around releases and holding positions are handled, read the rulebook for that product before you buy. Futures rules are in the Profirms rulebook, CFD accounts have their own CFD rules, crypto has crypto rules, and the help center answers account questions. Every order is fully refundable until your login is delivered, so you can read the terms with the order in place. The refund policy has the details.
Pick the account that fits your style
If you trade around scheduled releases, or you want a rulebook with no consistency requirement, start with the account type that matches how you trade. Published one-time prices on the pricing page:
| Account | One-time price |
|---|---|
| 25K Eval | $40 |
| 50K Eval | $60 |
| 100K Eval | $100 |
| 25K Daily | $60 |
| 50K Daily | $90 |
| 100K Daily | $150 |
| 25K Funded | $220 |
| 50K Funded | $330 |
| 100K Funded | $449 |
CFD and crypto accounts are listed on the same page, from the 5K CFD 2-Step at $39 to the 25K Crypto Instant at $189. Pick a size, read its rulebook, and check out when you are sure. Profirms charges no monthly fee, and our guide to what to check before buying a funded account with no monthly fees explains how to confirm that for any firm.
FAQ
What is considered news trading?
News trading means opening, closing or holding positions around scheduled high-impact releases such as payrolls, CPI and rate decisions. Firms define it through an event list or a calendar rating, plus a time window. Read the definition in the rulebook, because it varies.
Can I hold a trade through news if the firm allows holding?
Not always. Some firms separate holding from opening and closing, and a few restrict all three in the same window. Look for the wording on stops and take profits too, since a fill inside the window may count as a violation at many firms.
Do news rules apply to both evaluation and funded accounts?
Usually, but not always. Some firms allow news trading in challenges and restrict it on funded accounts, or the reverse. Compare the two rule sets before you buy, and save a dated copy of each.
What time zone do news windows use?
Windows are typically measured in platform server time, which is often UTC. A 2-minute buffer around a 12:30 UTC release covers 12:28 to 12:32 server time. Check your platform clock before the event rather than relying on your local time.
Are weekend holding rules the same as news rules?
No. They are separate rules about gap risk, though both sit in the same rulebook. Check whether your product allows weekend holds, which instruments are affected, and what the penalty is.
Sources
- PropFirm X-Ray: Prop-firm news trading rules
- Trading Lookup: Which prop firms allow news trading? 32 checked
- Prop Firm Match: Prop firms that allow news trading
- PropFirmStats: Best prop firms for news trading
- MacroSetup: Prop firm news trading rules, 16 firms compared
- PropFirmRefer: Prop firm news trading rules
- JoinProp: Prop firms that allow news trading, rules by account
Recommended
- Traders: 7 Checks Before You Pay a Prop Firm, Plus a Real Evaluation
- Prop Firm Rules: The Five Core Risk Controls That Trip Traders
- Prop Firm Fees Explained: What Getting Funded Really Costs
- Pass a Prop Firm Challenge: Risk Math for 3 Drawdown Types
Risk disclosure: Trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. Profirms runs simulated evaluation and funded trading programs, is not a broker-dealer or futures commission merchant and does not provide investment advice. Hypothetical or simulated performance results have inherent limitations, and no representation is made that any account will achieve profits or losses similar to those shown. Past performance is not indicative of future results.