Best Prop Firms for News Trading (2026) — Fully Verified Policies

Fully allowed on ALL plans — challenge and funded. No buffers, no split penalties, no add-ons. Only standard strategy prohibitions apply (latency arbitrage, straddling).

Rulebook (effective June 2026) explicitly permits opening, holding and closing positions around all scheduled and unscheduled news — all account types, challenge and funded.

No news trading restrictions on challenge or funded. EAs, weekend holding and martingale are also explicitly permitted.

Official rule tables show News Trading Allowed in both evaluation and funded across One-Step, Two-Step, Instant, Flex and Futures programs.

News trading allowed — marketed as 'no hidden rules'. Weekend holding also permitted.

Fully unrestricted news trading on challenge and funded accounts — explicitly marketed as a differentiator on their official blog. No dedicated news restrictions.

Allowed by default on all news and economic events. Occasional restrictions (announced via the client dashboard) apply a +/-5-min no open/carry window to specific events — rare by the firm's own account.

Normal strategies (trend, breakout, reversal) are valid even when they coincide with a release. Straddling, double-sided pendings and gap exploitation are prohibited; the firm advises avoiding +/-2 min around high-risk releases.

No news blackout on any account. The only news-related restriction is 'news hedging' — opening opposing positions within 5 minutes of major releases.

Challenge & Verification: fully allowed — FTMO's own blog says you can ignore the news rule during evaluation. Funded Standard: no open/close within +/-2 min of high-impact news on affected instruments. Swing accounts: fully exempt.

Evaluation: fully allowed. Funded: profits from trades opened/closed within 5 min before/after high-impact news count at a 40% split (News Reward Share Rule). Losses count at 100%.

Per their T&C: no opening or closing trades within 2 minutes either side of Red Folder news (Forex Factory) on all accounts — including TP hits; profits generated in the window void the challenge. Instant accounts are exempt.

E8 Signature, Pro and Zero: no news restrictions either stage. E8 One: phase 1 unrestricted, but the funded stage strictly prohibits trading +/-5 min around high-impact events (includes SL/TP fills and pending orders).

High Stakes: holding trades over news is allowed, but executing orders within a 2-min buffer of high-impact events is prohibited.

5-minute buffer around high-impact news (plus FOMC) on funded accounts; challenge phases unrestricted. Profits generated inside the window may be voided.

Phases 1 and 2: fully unrestricted. Funded: 10-min window (5 before/5 after) — no opens, closes, or SL/TP fills. Soft breach: profit from the trade deducted, account NOT breached. Trades open 48+ hours are exempt (swing-trade TP protection).

News trading is allowed, but avoid opening, closing (TP, SL or manual) or adding to positions within 3 minutes either side of high-impact news or speeches — applies to ALL programs (Ability Challenge, Ability One, FTP Instant), not just funded.

+/-2 min window around high-impact news: you can hold existing trades, but not open new ones during the restricted period.

Allowed in all phases. On funded accounts, profits from trades within 5 minutes either side of red-folder news are capped at 1% of the initial account balance — anything above is removed.

Evaluation (both steps): unrestricted. Funded: 3-minute cool-off — no opening or closing trades within 3 min before or after a high-impact release.

PRO plans have zero news restrictions at any stage. Standard plans allow free news trading during challenges but apply funded-stage restrictions — the exact windows are not published, so confirm with support before trading news on a funded Standard account.

Free during the challenge. Funded and Instant accounts require the News Add-On — without it: 1st violation = warning + split cut to 50%; 2nd violation = hard breach.

News trading allowed during evaluation. On funded accounts, a 5-min buffer applies around high-impact events unless the News Add-On is purchased.

Modular add-on system: news trading is restricted by default and must be purchased as an add-on (same system as weekend holding, on-demand payouts and split upgrades).

Challenge accounts: news trading is only allowed with the add-on. The restriction blocks executing, modifying or closing trades within 5 minutes either side of red-folder macroeconomic events. Instant Standard accounts are also restricted.

Evaluation: ZERO restrictions — hold and manage trades freely through news; only deliberately exploiting news is prohibited (closure risk). Master: 10-min window (5 before/5 after) blocks opening/closing on affected currencies — a soft breach (profits deducted, account not closed). Trades open 5+ hours before the event are exempt (5-hour rule).

Strictly prohibited on BOTH challenge and funded for Lightning, Dual Step Intraday, Nexus and Bolt — a +/-2-min no-activity window where even SL/TP hits mean immediate breach and profit forfeiture. Bolt is stricter (+/-5 min) with no add-on escape. The News Add-On (checkout, Lightning/Nexus only) lifts all restrictions; Dual Step Swing allows news by default.

A +/-3-minute window around high-impact news is listed as a Prohibited Trading Activity on BOTH challenge and funded accounts — violations risk account closure, not just profit deduction.

CFD 1-Phase: news trading is not allowed during evaluation by default (a configurator add-on at purchase can enable it). The funded stage is always restricted — no trading from 10 minutes before until 5 minutes after an event; trades inside the window risk being voided.

Evaluation: no news limits. Funded: you can hold trades over news, but cannot open OR close trades within 6 minutes before and 6 minutes after a high-impact release (12-min window). Profits from trades opened and closed inside the window are not counted — the account is NOT breached.