Alpha Capital and trading around the news
Free to trade news during the evaluation. On a funded account, no new trades and no closing within five minutes either side. This is what their own help page says, read on 23 September 2026, with what it means in practice underneath.
We are not affiliated with Alpha Capital, there are no affiliate links on this page, and their own page is linked below.
The rule, in their own terms
- During the evaluation
- During the evaluation phases you can trade freely during all news releases.
- Once funded
- You may not execute new trades or close existing ones on the targeted instruments inside the window.
- The window
- 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after.
- What it costs you
- It counts as a soft breach, and profits earned are not eligible for a performance fee.
- Which calendar counts
- The widest definition of the six: an event counts as high impact if at least one of Myfxbook or Forex Factory calls it that.
Source: Alpha Capital's own help page, read on 23 September 2026. Firms change these rules without announcing it, so check theirs before you rely on ours.
What trips people up
- Because either calendar can make an event count, more releases fall inside the rule here than at firms with their own fixed list.
- The restriction is on the targeted instruments, so a pair that holds neither currency of the release is not affected.
Knowing the window is not the hard part
Knowing which release lands on which currency, and when, is. A rule about five minutes only helps if you saw the event coming that morning.
MacroSetup flags every high-impact release for both currencies in a setup, with the time, before the session starts. This week's events for the eight majors are public on the calendar page, and what the research does with them is on the page for prop traders.
The other firms
The windows run from two to ten minutes, and what happens afterwards runs from nothing to a closed account. Worth reading before you pick your next challenge.
Questions about Alpha Capital and news
Can you trade news on Alpha Capital?
During the evaluation phases you can trade freely during all news releases. You may not execute new trades or close existing ones on the targeted instruments inside the window.
What is the Alpha Capital news window?
5 minutes before to 5 minutes after. The widest definition of the six: an event counts as high impact if at least one of Myfxbook or Forex Factory calls it that.
What happens if you trade inside the Alpha Capital window?
It counts as a soft breach, and profits earned are not eligible for a performance fee.
How do I see which releases are coming?
This week's high-impact events for the eight majors, with the times, are public on our calendar page. Members also see them on every setup that holds one of the two currencies. This week's calendar