FundingPips News Trading: The 5-Hour Rule Most Traders Miss

FundingPips has one of the more complicated news-trading rule sets because the answer changes depending on the model and the stage of the account.

The short answer is:

Yes, news exposure is possible on several FundingPips programs, but deliberately trading the news is restricted, and the Master Account has a specific five-hour rule that can affect whether profits count.

FundingPips also has a Zero model with much stricter restrictions, where positions cannot be opened, closed or held around restricted high-impact news.

That is why simply searching:

"Does FundingPips allow news trading?"

does not give you the full answer.

You need to know which account model and which stage.

The quick FundingPips news-trading breakdown

FundingPips uses its own Economic Calendar on the dashboard as the official source for identifying restricted events.

The first thing to understand: evaluation is different

For the standard 1 Step Flex, 2 Step Standard, 2 Step Flex and 2 Step Pro models, FundingPips states that there are no restrictions on holding trades during news events in the Evaluation Stage.

But there is an important second sentence:

Purposely trading news in both the Evaluation and Master phase is prohibited and can lead to account closure.

That distinction is easy to miss.

It means:

You can be in a position when news happens.

It does not mean:

You can deliberately open and close positions around every major release to exploit the volatility.

Those are treated differently.

So can you hold EURUSD through NFP?

During the Evaluation Stage of the standard FundingPips models, yes, holding trades during news is allowed.

But FundingPips defines deliberately opening or closing positions around high-impact news to exploit the resulting volatility as purposely trading news, which is prohibited.

That makes the trader's intent and execution important.

The five-hour rule on Master Accounts

This is where FundingPips becomes particularly interesting.

For the Master Account on the standard models, trades opened or closed around restricted high-impact news can have their profits deducted.

The normal high-impact news restriction is:

5 minutes before the news

through

5 minutes after the news.

For restricted speeches, the window runs from 10 minutes before the speech begins to 10 minutes after it ends.

But there is an exception.

The 5-hour rule

If a trade was opened 5 hours or more before the high-impact event, it is excluded from the restriction.

If that trade closes inside the restricted window, the profits still count.

That is a very important detail.

Example: You open EURUSD five hours before CPI

Imagine CPI is scheduled for 8:30 AM.

You open EURUSD at 3:00 AM.

That is more than five hours before the event.

If the trade remains open through CPI and eventually closes during the restricted news window, FundingPips says the profit remains valid under the five-hour rule.

Now change the example.

You open EURUSD at 7:00 AM.

CPI is at 8:30 AM.

You are only 90 minutes early.

The trade closes during the restricted window.

FundingPips says the profits from that affected trade can be deducted.

And importantly, it is not just the tiny portion of profit earned during the news window.

The full profit of the affected trade can be deducted.

That is the sort of rule a trader could easily miss.

What if you partially close?

FundingPips also states that closing any partial order affects the entire order and triggers a news-trading flag.

So you do not want to assume:

"I'll just close half during the news and leave the other half."

The rule can still affect the order as a whole.

Which currencies are affected?

FundingPips' current policy lists affected announcements by currency.

For USD, this includes releases such as:

• Non-Farm Payrolls and employment

• Unemployment

• PMI and ISM

• CPI

• PPI

• GDP

• Federal Funds Rate and FOMC

• Jobless Claims

• JOLTS

• Average Hourly Earnings

• Selected Treasury auctions

• Certain housing data

• Speeches

Similar categories are listed for EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, CHF and JPY. Crude Oil Inventories are also listed for oil instruments.

The official FundingPips Economic Calendar is the source traders are told to use for identifying restricted events.

FundingPips Zero is different

FundingPips Zero has a much stricter policy.

For restricted high-impact news, no position may be opened, closed or held within the restricted window on the affected currency.

The current rule states that this window is:

10 minutes before

through

10 minutes after

high-impact news.

For speeches, the restriction runs from 10 minutes before the speech begins until 10 minutes after it ends.

FundingPips describes a violation of the Zero news rule as a hard breach on the relevant Master Account.

So a FundingPips Zero trader cannot think:

"I'll just hold through CPI because holding is allowed on the other models."

It is not the same rule set.

But knowing the rule still leaves another question

Suppose you are trading EURUSD into NFP.

You know the trade is permitted.

Then NFP comes out.

EURUSD jumps.

You now have a massive candle.

What actually happened?

Was the number stronger than expected?

Did the unemployment rate change the interpretation?

Did average hourly earnings surprise?

Did Treasury yields move?

Did the dollar strengthen across the board?

Did other USD pairs react the same way?

Did the market reverse after the first move?

The FundingPips rule can tell you whether the trade is permitted.

It cannot tell you what the market did with the information.

This is where fundamental context becomes useful

A news release is not automatically the reason for every market move.

The market reacts to the difference between:

what was expected

and

what was actually delivered

It also reacts to what the release means for future policy.

That is why a trader investigating a large move should look beyond the headline.

For a deeper framework, see How to Understand Why a Market Moved.

For a broader explanation of how related markets can help explain a move, see What Is Cross-Market Analysis?

Example: EURUSD after NFP

Imagine NFP comes out significantly stronger than expected.

The first reaction is a sharp EURUSD sell-off.

A trader looking only at the EURUSD chart sees:

Huge bearish candle.

A trader looking slightly deeper might investigate:

US labour data

→ stronger economic outlook

→ changed rate expectations

→ Treasury yields rise

→ US dollar strengthens

→ EURUSD falls

But even that is not always the full story.

The market could have already priced in a strong payroll number.

Maybe the unemployment rate moved differently.

Maybe wages surprised in the opposite direction.

Maybe another headline hit simultaneously.

Maybe the initial move reversed because traders focused on another part of the release.

The interesting part is understanding the reaction function, not simply naming the event.

How Echelon fits into this

This is exactly the type of research EchelonEdgeAI is designed to simplify.

Instead of starting with:

"What news happened today?"

you can start with:

"Why did this candle move?"

You can then investigate the relevant fundamental context around that move, including:

• Recent economic developments

• News

• Related markets

• Currency conditions

• Positioning

• Broader market context

The point is not to turn the platform into a signal generator.

The point is to make the investigation faster.

That distinction matters because many technical traders do not need another system telling them where to buy or sell.

They need to understand what is happening behind the chart they are already using.

That is the idea behind Echelon: Fundamental Analysis for Technical Traders

A simple FundingPips news workflow

Step 1: Identify your exact model

Do not assume another FundingPips model has the same rule.

Step 2: Check the official FundingPips calendar

FundingPips specifically identifies its own dashboard calendar as the official source for restricted news.

Step 3: Know whether you are in Evaluation or Master

The rules change between stages.

Step 4: If you are on a Master Account, know the five-hour rule

A trade opened at least five hours before the event can still have its profit count if it closes during the restricted window.

Step 5: Do not confuse holding with deliberately trading the news

FundingPips explicitly prohibits purposely opening or closing positions around restricted news to exploit the resulting volatility.

Step 6: After the move, investigate it

Do not stop at:

"NFP made EURUSD fall."

Ask:

What changed in the market's expectations?

That is where the real analysis starts.

FAQ

Can you hold trades through news with FundingPips?

On the 1 Step Flex, 2 Step Standard, 2 Step Flex and 2 Step Pro Evaluation stages, holding trades through news is allowed. However, purposely trading news is prohibited.

What is the FundingPips 5-hour rule?

On the applicable Master Accounts, a trade opened at least five hours before a high-impact news event is excluded from the restricted-window profit deduction, even if it closes during the restricted period.

How long is the FundingPips Master news restriction?

For high-impact news, the restricted window is five minutes before through five minutes after the event. For restricted speeches, it is ten minutes before the speech begins through ten minutes after it ends.

Can I trade news with FundingPips Zero?

FundingPips Zero has stricter rules. Positions may not be opened, closed or held during the restricted window around applicable high-impact news, with a ten-minute window on either side.

Does FundingPips use Forex Factory for its news rules?

FundingPips states that its own Economic Calendar on the dashboard is the official source for identifying restricted news events.

Final thoughts

FundingPips is a good example of why a trader should never rely on a one-line answer to a prop-firm rules question.

The model matters.

The stage matters.

The timing of the trade matters.

And sometimes the five-hour timing of your entry matters more than the fact that the trade was simply "open during news."

But once you've worked out whether the trade is allowed, there is still another question worth asking:

What actually caused the market to move?

That is where the news calendar becomes the beginning of the analysis, not the end.