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High-Impact News

High-Impact News (Red Folder)

Risk management

Definition

Timed economic releases that sharply move the market within seconds: Fed interest rate decisions (FOMC), Consumer Price Index (CPI), and the Employment Report (NFP). In economic calendars, they are marked in red, hence the nickname Red Folder. Some prop firms prohibit being in a position around them.

Detailed explanation

During such news events, the spread widens, liquidity momentarily disappears, and a seemingly safe stop is filled far from its intended price. Therefore, the rules focus on a one or two-minute window before and after the release. The rules differ not only between firms but also between the evaluation and funded account within the same firm: many firms permit news trading in the evaluation and restrict it in the funded account. We have compiled each firm's news policy in the economic news tracker.

An example from the prop world

At Take Profit Trader, in the funded account, it is forbidden to hold a position or open order from one minute before to one minute after a CPI release. A trader with a pending stop in the market must also cancel it.

How it works at the firms on this site

Based on the rules listed on our firm pages. Rules get updated, so check the firm's page before buying.

Take Profit Trader (TPT)

Allowed in the evaluation. In the funded account, it is forbidden to hold open positions or orders from one minute before to one minute after FOMC, NFP, and CPI.

Lucid Trading

In a funded LucidDaily account, you must be Flat from one minute before to one minute after a Red Folder event, and a violation is a Hard Breach. There is no restriction in the evaluation.

Top One Futures

In the funded Elite ACCESS, trading operations are forbidden from 2 minutes before until 2 minutes after an announcement.

Topstep

Trading during news is allowed at all stages, without obligation to close positions, but without compensation for Slippage.

FTMO Futures

Allowed at any stage, but concentrating trading around news releases in a pattern that deviates from your regular trading is prohibited.

Funded Futures Family

You are allowed to trade during all Tier 1 events, without having to close positions.

מעקב החדשות הכלכליות

אירועי T1 וחוקי המסחר בחדשות לכל חברה

News trading policy

This is a risk management rule in funded trading accounts that prohibits traders from opening, closing or modifying active positions within a set time window (usually a few minutes) before, during and after the release of major high-impact economic events (Tier One).

Slippage

The difference between the price at which you wanted to enter or exit and the price at which the order was actually filled. It mainly occurs with market and stop orders, during sharp movements, news, and hours of low liquidity.

New York Time (ET)

The time zone where almost all prop firms write their rules: closing time, daily reset, and news windows. For most of the year, Israel is 7 hours ahead of New York. For a few weeks a year, when both countries change clocks on different dates, the difference drops to 6 hours.

CME price limit

The maximum range a futures contract is allowed to move in a session before the exchange halts or limits its trading. Some prop firms prohibit trading when the price is close to the limit, within 2% of it.

End-of-day (EOD) trailing drawdown

End-of-day drawdown (EOD Drawdown) is a trailing maximum loss limit rule in which the loss threshold moves up only once a day, based on the closing balance. At most firms, however, the threshold itself is enforced in real time, so touching it during the trading day fails the account.

Intraday trailing drawdown

This is a risk management limit calculated continuously in real time throughout the trading day. It tracks the account's peak balance (including realized profits and unrealized profits from open positions), so the loss threshold always rises together with the peak balance while keeping a fixed distance, but never goes down; crossing this threshold at any moment (even for a single second) causes immediate failure or closure of the account.