FTMO and trading around the news
No restriction during the evaluation. On a funded Standard account, no opening or closing within two minutes either side of a listed release. 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 FTMO, there are no affiliate links on this page, and their own page is linked below.
The rule, in their own terms
- During the evaluation
- The restrictions do not apply during the evaluation process.
- Once funded
- On the Standard account only. Swing accounts have no news restriction at all.
- The window
- From 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after the release of a selected announcement.
- What it costs you
- Breaking the rule may result in termination of the FTMO account.
- Which calendar counts
- A fixed, published list of events per currency. For the dollar that is the Fed decision, non-farm payrolls, unemployment, advance GDP, the minutes and CPI.
Source: FTMO'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
- The rule covers pending orders too: a stop loss or take profit that triggers inside the window counts as a trade.
- Because the list is short and published, you can plan around it exactly rather than guessing what counts as high impact.
- The Swing account exists for people who want to hold through events, and it is the cleanest answer if that is your style.
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 FTMO and news
Can you trade news on FTMO?
The restrictions do not apply during the evaluation process. On the Standard account only. Swing accounts have no news restriction at all.
What is the FTMO news window?
From 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after the release of a selected announcement. A fixed, published list of events per currency. For the dollar that is the Fed decision, non-farm payrolls, unemployment, advance GDP, the minutes and CPI.
What happens if you trade inside the FTMO window?
Breaking the rule may result in termination of the FTMO account.
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