- Most futures prop firms allow news trading — a big contrast with FX/CFD prop firms, where blackout windows are the norm.
- When a restriction exists, it usually applies to the funded account, not the evaluation. Passing freely doesn't mean you can trade news once funded.
- Tradeify, FundedNext, and Apex are the most permissive (Apex allows it directionally — no holding both sides of an event).
- Take Profit Trader, Top One, and My Funded Futures' Pro restrict Tier-1 / red-folder events on funded accounts — you must be flat around FOMC, NFP, and CPI.
- Lucid allows news trading on every plan except its Daily account, which bans it outright.
Can you hold a position through the FOMC decision or the NFP print on a funded account? It depends entirely on the firm — and news trading is one area where the rules differ more than almost anywhere else. Some firms let you trade every release freely; others will close your account if you're holding through a red-folder event, even when you're profitable and well inside your drawdown. Here's every firm's actual news-trading rule as of 2026.
The good news for futures traders: prop firms in this space are far more permissive on news than the FX/CFD world. The catch is that the restriction, when there is one, almost always lands on the funded account, not the evaluation — so you can trade news freely to pass, then get caught out once you're actually being paid.
What counts as "news trading"
News-trading rules are about scheduled, high-impact economic releases — the "Tier-1" or "red-folder" events on the economic calendar: FOMC rate decisions, Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP), CPI inflation prints, and GDP. Some firms also flag instrument-specific events, like Crude Oil Inventories for oil futures or Treasury auctions for bonds.
The rules are almost never about general intraday volatility — they target these specific, calendar-scheduled moments when price can gap violently in a second. If a firm restricts news, it means holding or opening a position in a defined window around one of these releases.
Why prop firms restrict news trading
A high-impact release can gap the market straight through your stop, turning a controlled loss into a much larger one the firm has to absorb. Restrictions protect the firm's risk — and shut down a specific gamble where a trader opens both a long and a short right before a release, closes the loser, and lets the winner run. Because the risk is concrete, breaking a news rule is usually an instant breach, not a warning, on the firms that have one.
Every firm's news-trading rule (2026)
We track each firm's news policy against its own help-center documentation. Because these rules change and firms occasionally add instrument-specific events, always confirm the current restricted-event list before you trade a release.
| Firm | News trading | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Tradeify | Allowed, all accounts | No blackout windows, no restrictions at all |
| FundedNext | Allowed, all accounts | Permitted across every account type |
| Apex Trader Funding | Allowed, all accounts | Directional only — no holding both long and short around an event |
| Alpha Futures | Allowed | Advanced is fully unrestricted; some plans use a short buffer once funded |
| Lucid Trading | Allowed on Pro, Flex, Direct | LucidDaily bans it — flat from 1 min before to 1 min after |
| My Funded Futures | Allowed on most plans | Pro restricts Tier-1 news (FOMC / NFP / CPI) |
| Top One Futures | Allowed | Funded accounts must sit out high-impact (red) events; low/medium are fine |
| Take Profit Trader | Free in the evaluation | Funded (PRO/PRO+): flat around FOMC, NFP, CPI, GDP |
The permissive firms (trade news freely)
Tradeify is the most permissive on this list — news trading is allowed on every account with no blackout windows, no forced flattening, and no contract-size reduction around releases. FundedNext is the same across all account types. Apex Trader Funding also allows it on every account, with one guardrail: you can take a directional position into a release, but you can't hedge both sides of the same event to game the outcome. Alpha Futures' Advanced account is explicitly free of news restrictions; its other plans allow news trading with a short buffer window on the funded side.
The firms that restrict funded accounts
These firms let you trade news in the evaluation but rein it in once you're funded:
- Take Profit Trader — no restriction in the TEST evaluation, but PRO and PRO+ funded accounts must be flat around Tier-1 events (FOMC, NFP, CPI, GDP): out at least 60 seconds before the scheduled release and no re-entry until 60 seconds after. It also restricts instrument-specific events — Crude Oil Inventories for crude, and bond auctions for the 10-year and 30-year.
- Top One Futures — news trading is allowed, but on funded accounts you must sit out high-impact (red) calendar events; low- and medium-impact events aren't restricted.
- My Funded Futures — the Pro plan restricts Tier-1 news (FOMC / NFP / CPI). Confirm the rule on the specific plan you buy, since it varies across their lineup.
- Lucid Trading — unrestricted on Pro, Flex, and Direct, but LucidDaily has a hard news ban: you must be flat from one minute before to one minute after major releases.
How to stay compliant
- Know your firm's exact restricted-event list and the flat window — it's usually one minute before through one minute after the scheduled time.
- On a restricted funded account, be flat before FOMC, NFP, and CPI. Set an alarm for the release and close out early rather than cutting it fine.
- Don't hedge both sides of an event on firms that allow directional news trading (like Apex) — that's the one thing they still ban.
- Check evaluation vs. funded. On most firms the rule only bites once you're funded, so passing with a news trade doesn't mean you're clear afterward.
- Re-verify before big releases. Firms adjust their restricted-event lists, and instrument-specific events (oil inventories, bond auctions) are easy to miss.