News trading rules at prop firms
A news rule bans trading inside a window around a high-impact economic release, usually a few minutes before and after. Almost everything else varies between firms: which events count, how wide the window is, whether it applies in the evaluation or only on the funded account, and whether the penalty voids the trade or ends the account.
It is the rule that ends the most accounts through ignorance, because the trader breaks no risk limit: they open an ordinary position in the wrong minute.
To go deeper into each part of this calculation: News rule · FundedNext Futures rules (Rapid and Legacy) · Drawdown calculator
What the rule actually bans
It is not trading on the day of the news: it is holding a position, or opening and closing one, inside a short window around the exact release time. The firms' rationale is that the move in that instant does not come from analysis, it comes from thin liquidity and a wide spread — the result is noise, not skill.
Published windows tend to be symmetric and short. Lucid, on LucidDaily, requires being flat from one minute before to one minute after high-impact USD news, and treats a violation as a hard breach — the account ends. Other firms use wider windows and softer penalties.
The difference almost nobody reads: evaluation versus funded
Many firms apply the rule only once the money is theirs. FundedNext Futures is explicit about it: tier 1 news is allowed in the evaluation and not allowed on the sim-funded account. In other words, the trader passes the test trading one way and, the next day, the same trade ends the account.
That is when the rule costs the most, because the habit is already formed. It is worth rereading the contract on approval day, not on purchase day.
What counts as high-impact news
Firms usually lean on an economic calendar and its impact label — typically the ones marked red. The usual suspects are interest rate decisions, employment reports, consumer inflation and gross domestic product, in the time zone of the market you trade.
The detail that changes the risk: the rule usually covers the pair or contract affected by the announcement's currency, not the whole market. A USD release reaches anyone trading US indices and dollar pairs; the exact list belongs to the firm, and some publish the calendar they use.
How to stay safe without stopping
The practical path is to treat the window as a calendar appointment: flatten before, wait, come back after. Pending orders also count at several firms — leaving a stop entry armed inside the window can trigger exactly there.
And remember the indirect effect: even where no rule exists, the spread widens and slippage grows. The drawdown calculator helps you see how much of the daily limit one such move consumes before you decide it is worth it.
FAQ
Does the news rule apply during the evaluation?
It depends on the firm. FundedNext Futures, for example, allows tier 1 news in the evaluation and bans it on the sim-funded account. Check the contract for the phase you are in, not the one you already passed.
What happens if I break it?
It ranges from voiding the trade's result to closing the account. On LucidDaily the firm classifies it as a hard breach, which means closure. Other firms issue a warning or discard the trade's profit.
Does a pending order count as trading the window?
At several firms, yes: if the order triggers inside the window, the trade happened there. That is why the practical advice is to cancel pending orders before the time and re-arm them after.