Roundup: Prop news restrictions, how they're enforced and how scalpers plan around them
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 6:29 pm
Roundup: Prop news restrictions, how they're enforced and how scalpers plan around them
News restrictions show up in seven threads on the prop board. Read together, they cover what the rules actually say, the traps hidden in them, and the practical habits people use so they don't sit out half the week.
The rule is rarely as simple as it sounds
The two-minute window thread lists the variants, and they're genuinely different rules:
Another reply raises a point I hadn't seen discussed much: what counts as "high impact" depends on which calendar the firm uses, and calendars disagree about what's red. A Fed speaker might be red on one and orange on another. Find out which calendar your firm references.
The London open problem
The "sit out half the week" thread is the core complaint. London open is where many scalpers make their money, and UK morning prints, red USD releases at 13:30 UK and vague FAQ wording turn the best windows into a minefield. The answer that thread and its replies settled on was mapping the week's restricted windows against your playbook on Sunday night. The goal isn't to sit out by default, it's to know exactly which minutes are off limits so the rest of the session is usable.
One clock, not two
The FTMO alignment thread makes a neat point. If you already flatten Tier-1 releases from fifteen minutes before on your own account, and the firm's blackout is timed differently, take whichever is stricter and use it on both. Keeping two different news clocks in your head is how mistakes happen.
Don't sneak the edge
The consistency-with-your-edge thread is firm on this. If your edge is post-news reversion and the firm bans it, you don't adapt by finding a loophole. You shelve that edge for the challenge and write a reduced playbook in advance: same pairs, same session, same stop maths, minus the banned hour. Usually that means open-drive and mid-morning continuation only, with fewer tickets.
Make it physical
Two separate threads arrived at the same habit: a printed weekly strip of only the Tier-1 times that hit your pairs, taped under the monitor with blackout start and stop highlighted. Both say phone and platform alerts weren't enough because they're easy to dismiss when a setup looks good. One describes opening a trade two minutes before a release after clicking past an alert. Paper on the bezel is harder to ignore.
Which calendar does your firm use for its news rule, and have you ever found it disagreed with yours on what was high impact?
Threads this pulls from
News restrictions show up in seven threads on the prop board. Read together, they cover what the rules actually say, the traps hidden in them, and the practical habits people use so they don't sit out half the week.
The rule is rarely as simple as it sounds
The two-minute window thread lists the variants, and they're genuinely different rules:
- An open/close window, usually 2 to 5 minutes either side, where you can't open or close anything. Trades opened earlier may stay open.
- Profit exclusion, where trading is allowed but profit made inside the window gets removed from the payout.
- A full ban on certain events like NFP, CPI and FOMC, sometimes central bank speeches too.
- Funded-stage only, so the evaluation was free to trade news and the funded account isn't.
Another reply raises a point I hadn't seen discussed much: what counts as "high impact" depends on which calendar the firm uses, and calendars disagree about what's red. A Fed speaker might be red on one and orange on another. Find out which calendar your firm references.
The London open problem
The "sit out half the week" thread is the core complaint. London open is where many scalpers make their money, and UK morning prints, red USD releases at 13:30 UK and vague FAQ wording turn the best windows into a minefield. The answer that thread and its replies settled on was mapping the week's restricted windows against your playbook on Sunday night. The goal isn't to sit out by default, it's to know exactly which minutes are off limits so the rest of the session is usable.
One clock, not two
The FTMO alignment thread makes a neat point. If you already flatten Tier-1 releases from fifteen minutes before on your own account, and the firm's blackout is timed differently, take whichever is stricter and use it on both. Keeping two different news clocks in your head is how mistakes happen.
Don't sneak the edge
The consistency-with-your-edge thread is firm on this. If your edge is post-news reversion and the firm bans it, you don't adapt by finding a loophole. You shelve that edge for the challenge and write a reduced playbook in advance: same pairs, same session, same stop maths, minus the banned hour. Usually that means open-drive and mid-morning continuation only, with fewer tickets.
Make it physical
Two separate threads arrived at the same habit: a printed weekly strip of only the Tier-1 times that hit your pairs, taped under the monitor with blackout start and stop highlighted. Both say phone and platform alerts weren't enough because they're easy to dismiss when a setup looks good. One describes opening a trade two minutes before a release after clicking past an alert. Paper on the bezel is harder to ignore.
Which calendar does your firm use for its news rule, and have you ever found it disagreed with yours on what was high impact?
Threads this pulls from
- News Trading Restrictions at Prop Firms: The Two-Minute Window and Its Variants
- News Restrictions and Other Hidden Rules in Funded Programs
- News blackout on FTMO: aligning with your IC Markets habits
- News trading bans on prop: how to stay consistent with your edge
- Prop news blackouts vs London open, how do you not sit out half the week?
- Apex: news ban calendar glued to monitor
- Challenge best practices: news calendar glued to the monitor