Prop Firm News Trading Rules: How the 5-Minute Window Works

High-impact news releases are the moments when a trading account can move the most in the least time — and where prop firm rules are strictest. If you have ever been confused about what you can and cannot do when the non-farm payrolls report or a central bank decision is minutes away, this guide walks through the rule in plain English, with worked examples and a checklist you can use before every session.

Why prop firms restrict trading around news

During a high-impact release, spreads widen sharply, liquidity thins and price can jump many pips in a fraction of a second. On a simulated account the price you can enter at may differ dramatically from the price seconds before the release. That makes fills around the release more a matter of timing luck than skill, which is why most prop firms — InsaneFunding included — restrict new positions around these events instead of banning news trading altogether.

The rule at InsaneFunding, in plain English

• You may not open a new position within 5 minutes before or after a high-impact news release.
• You may keep an existing position open through the release. If you opened a trade an hour before the event, you are allowed to hold it while the news hits.
• Adding to a position counts as opening — any new order inside the window follows the same rule.
• The restriction applies to high-impact events only. Medium-impact events are shown in the economic calendar and are not restricted.

Which events count as high-impact

The exact list changes with the calendar, but the releases that are consistently marked high-impact include:

• US non-farm payrolls (NFP), typically the first Friday of the month
• US CPI and PPI inflation releases
• FOMC rate decisions and statements
• ISM manufacturing and services reports
• Rate decisions from the European Central Bank, Bank of England and other major central banks

Do not rely on memory or on lists from old articles — check the economic calendar before each session. It shows the impact level and the time to each release.

How the 5-minute window works: a worked example

Say a US CPI release is scheduled for 15:30 (all InsaneFunding times are GMT+3):

• 15:24 — you open a new trade. Allowed. You can hold it through the release.
• 15:26 — you want to open a second trade. Not allowed: you are inside the 5-minute window.
• 15:33 — the news is out and you want to open a new trade. Not allowed — the window runs until 15:35.
• 15:36 — you open a new trade. Allowed.
• 15:33 — you want to close the trade you opened at 15:24. Allowed — closing a position is never restricted by this rule.

One detail that saves many accounts: cancel pending orders before the window starts. A buy limit sitting under price that triggers at 15:29 is a new position opened inside the window. A pending order counts as a new position at the moment it fills, not at the moment you placed it.

How to plan a news day

A calm, repeatable routine looks like this:

1. Check the calendar before your session. Mark the high-impact times for the pairs and metals you trade.
2. Decide early whether you will trade the event or sit out. Both are valid choices; the only wrong choice is improvising in the middle of the window.
3. If you hold a position through the release, size it for gap risk. Assume the fill of your stop-loss may be well beyond the printed level, and size so the worst realistic outcome stays inside your daily drawdown limit.
4. Wait out the window. Five minutes either side is not a long wait, and it removes the only rule that can end an account without a single losing trade of your own.
5. Judge the move after the spread settles. Entries taken a few minutes after the window closes are usually better priced than the frantic first seconds.

How news risk interacts with the other rules

• Daily drawdown (6%, measured from the day's equity peak): a position that loses through a news spike counts into your daily drawdown exactly like any other loss. The daily limit is one more reason to size held positions conservatively.
• Maximum drawdown (10%, static): the same held position also affects your overall limit, so the worst-case outcome of holding through news should be estimated against both.
• Consistency rule (no single trade or single trading day above 40% of the phase profit target): a large news-day win is still one day's profit. If one day lands above the cap, it does not help you pass faster — plan spread-out profits instead.
• Weekend holding is not allowed on funded accounts: a Friday-evening release can leave you deciding quickly whether to close. Check the calendar late in the week too, not only in the morning.

Common mistakes that end accounts

• Confusing medium-impact with high-impact events. Check the impact column, not the headline.
• Assuming "around the news" only means just before it — the window runs 5 minutes on both sides.
• Keeping pending orders active through the window.
• Trading a release you did not know was scheduled. Ten seconds with the calendar prevents this.
• Adding to a winner inside the window — it counts as opening.

Pre-release checklist

• [ ] Calendar checked and every high-impact time for the session marked
• [ ] Open positions sized so a gap through your stop stays within the daily drawdown
• [ ] Pending orders cancelled or set to expire before the window
• [ ] No new entries planned within 5 minutes on either side of the release
• [ ] Daily drawdown usage known before the event, not after

The bottom line

News trading is not banned — it is bounded. You can hold a position through the biggest releases of the year; you just cannot open new positions inside the 5-minute window. A quick calendar check each morning and a pre-event plan turn the rule from a trap into a routine. For the full list of evaluation and funded-account rules, see the challenge rules page, and if you are choosing an account size to start with, the pricing page shows the current options.