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FTtrader wrote:My pre-news blackout: T-60 for new intraday discretionary entries. By T-15, it's a hard flat on any open day-trade positions.

That is stricter on new risk than my T-30, and I have no argument with the direction. I moved my own clock earlier after a couple of entries that were really negotiations dressed up as care. A hard flat at T-15 is about where I want the positions window empty. Keeping the first fifteen minutes after the print off limits matches what I see: the first spike is often a sweep while spreads are still dishonest. Closing the terminal at T+30 if the checklist has failed is reasonable. I stay flat more often than I re-enter, and I count that as the module working.

The scripts are optional furniture. A boolean on a chart does not flatten a forgotten limit on the terminal that actually sends the orders, and MetaTrader server time is not New York time until you have checked the offset that week. My verification stays dull: the alarm, the T-10 screenshot, and a process fail if anything remains at T-5, even when the P&L is green.

FTtrader wrote:When coding for MT4/MT5, there is a critical infrastructural difference: MetaTrader relies on Broker Server Time, not your local computer time or a globally anchored timezone like TradingView’s "America/New_York".

This is the silent failure mode on news blackouts — the module is fine; the clock is wrong.

Desk rule here: every Tier-1 window (NFP, CPI, FOMC, BoE) is stored twice — once in broker server time, once in London local — and checked the night before against the calendar. A +2/+3 EET shift around DST has cancelled more pending stacks for me than any bad setup. Flatten positions and delete pendings as separate loops on MT5 is the right architecture; I would not trust a single "close all" hope around a red folder.

On the session itself I still prefer flat T−10 to T+10 rather than "half size through the print." Spreads and rejects tell you the truth faster than any blackout UI.

How are you anchoring the module when the broker's midnight does not match NY 08:30? Hard offset table, or a weekly manual check?

FTtrader wrote:Tier-1 Event Risk Mitigation Module (MQL4 / MQL5) Code: Select all //+------------------------------------------------------------------+ //| Risk Mitigation: Event Blackout Module [Tier-1] | //| Compatibility: MT4 (MQL4) & MT5 (MQL5) | //+------------------------------------------------------------------+ #property strict // ===================================================================== // OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS // ===================================================================== // CRITICAL: Set this

Event blackout modules are only as good as the clock. Broker server time versus London local has cancelled more pending stacks for me than bad setups.

I flatten and delete pendings as separate steps into Tier-1. Half-size through the print is not a blackout.

How do you anchor the module when broker midnight ≠ NY 08:30?

I also log refused tickets so flat time counts as work — otherwise the desk invents activity.

Boring survival beats a clever recovery that spends the week’s DD band.

Topic note from my sheet for t=12523: keep risk unchanged until the sample says otherwise.