MyFundedFutures News Trading Policy 2026: What's Allowed

News trading at prop firms is one of the most misunderstood areas in funded futures. Some firms ban it outright. Others allow it but with position restrictions around the release window. MFFU's position is more permissive than most: they don't have a blanket news trading ban.

That flexibility is real. But "no ban" doesn't mean "no risk." The way MFFU's two drawdown types interact with high-volatility news events is different enough that your approach should change depending on which plan you're on.

I've traded ES, NQ, and GC through FOMC, NFP, and CPI on MFFU accounts. Here's what the policy actually is, and what the practical risk looks like.

Learned the hard way: I've been trading MyFundedFutures for over two years — passed somewhere between 15 and 20 evaluations, pulled out more than $20K, and broken enough rules along the way to know exactly which ones trip traders up. This is based on live experience across multiple account sizes, not help docs.

The MFFU rules changed significantly in July 2025 when they replaced Starter/Expert with Core, Rapid, and Pro plans — drawdown types differ per plan. I broke down every rule that matters in my complete MFFU rules overview. For the absolute latest, check MyFundedFutures' website or their help center.

The Official Policy: No Ban on News Trading

MFFU does not prohibit trading during scheduled economic news releases. You can be in a position at 8:30 AM ET when the NFP number drops. You can enter a trade 30 seconds before a Fed rate decision. There's no mandatory flat requirement.

This contrasts with firms that have explicit news trading windows — typically 2-5 minutes before and after the release — during which you cannot enter new positions. MFFU doesn't operate that way.

What MFFU does enforce: standard risk rules that apply at all times, news or not. Your drawdown floor is what it is. Your daily loss limit (on certain plans) applies. Position size limits per plan apply. If you blow through your drawdown limit on a news spike, the account is closed — the news event doesn't provide any protection or exception.

The policy is permissive. The mechanics are not forgiving.

Core and Pro: News Trading with EOD Drawdown

On MFFU Core and Pro accounts, the drawdown floor only moves at end of day based on your closing balance. This is the most important fact for news traders to internalize.

What it means in practice: if you enter a position before an NFP release and the trade goes against you by $800 intraday, your drawdown floor has not moved. If you close the position at a $800 loss, your balance is lower and the floor moves down at EOD — but the floor didn't move during the session, and it never moves against you (only up, never down).

This creates a specific advantage for Core and Pro traders during news events: you can absorb intraday drawdowns on news without triggering a floor breach, provided your balance at market close is above the floor level.

The math for a $50K Core account: starting buffer is $1,500. If you lose $900 on an NFP trade and the account closes at $49,100, your floor moves to $49,100 × 0.97 = $47,627 at end of day — same as if you'd had a normal $900 loss on any other day. No special penalty for news volatility.

The risk: if a news trade goes badly enough to bring your EOD balance below the floor, the account breaches. With a $1,500 buffer on $50K Core, a single $1,500 or larger loss can breach the account if you're not above the floor going into EOD.

Rapid: News Trading with Intraday Drawdown

This is where news trading gets genuinely dangerous with MFFU accounts.

MFFU Rapid uses intraday trailing drawdown at 4%. The floor moves in real-time based on your highest intraday equity peak, including unrealized gains from open positions.

Here's the news trade scenario on Rapid that destroys accounts: you enter a position before the release, the market spikes in your favor by $2,000 (your unrealized P&L goes +$2,000), then reverses and you exit at breakeven or worse. Your floor has moved up by $2,000 even though your final balance didn't change. You now have a tighter buffer — not through any mistake, but through normal news volatility.

This is called a "whipsaw" in news conditions, and it's especially common on FOMC days where initial reactions reverse. On Core or Pro, the EOD structure means this scenario is neutral — the floor doesn't move intraday. On Rapid, that same sequence permanently reduces your buffer.

Practical rules for Rapid traders in news environments:

• If you're in a profitable position before a major release, consider taking it off before the announcement
• If you have unrealized gains going into a high-volatility window, those gains have already moved your floor
• Don't average into positions during news events — the initial spike might look like your entry but the reversal can eat your now-tighter buffer quickly
• News scalping (very short hold, small size, defined max loss) is the only way to manage Rapid accounts around releases without meaningful floor erosion risk

Which Events Actually Matter

Not all economic releases create equal volatility. The events worth adjusting your approach for:

Tier 1 — High impact, plan accordingly:

• Non-Farm Payrolls (first Friday of month, 8:30 AM ET)
• FOMC Rate Decision (8 meetings per year, 2:00 PM ET)
• CPI (Consumer Price Index, monthly, 8:30 AM ET)
• GDP (quarterly, 8:30 AM ET)

Tier 2 — Elevated volatility, be aware:

• PPI (monthly, 8:30 AM ET)
• ISM Manufacturing / Services
• Retail Sales
• JOLTS Job Openings

Tier 3 — Usually manageable, proceed normally:

• Weekly claims
• Housing data
• Regional Fed surveys

ES and NQ move hardest on Tier 1 events. GC reacts most to CPI and FOMC. Crude oil is sensitive to EIA inventory data (Wednesdays, 10:30 AM ET). Your reaction protocol should be calibrated to the specific instrument and event, not just "news is news."

How to Manage Open Positions Around Releases

If you have an open position going into a scheduled release, you have four options:

Close before the release. Cleanest. You eliminate news risk entirely at the cost of whatever remaining potential the trade had. This is the right move on Rapid accounts when you're holding unrealized gains.

Set a hard stop and hold. Let the market decide. Your stop defines your maximum loss. On Core/Pro accounts with EOD drawdown, this is viable if your stop is sized within your buffer tolerance. On Rapid, your stop needs to be tight enough that even a whipsaw scenario doesn't kill your floor.

Reduce size before the release. If you're running multiple contracts, cut to one. You stay in the trade with less exposure. Useful when you want to hold direction bias through news but limit the damage if you're wrong.

Hold flat and trade the reaction. Close your position before the release and re-enter on the post-release move once the initial spike has resolved. You miss the first 10-20 ticks but avoid the most dangerous window. This works well for FOMC where the initial reaction often reverses within 15-30 minutes.

Position Sizing Around News

The standard position sizing rules don't change for news events, but the effective risk per tick increases because spreads widen and slippage is higher around releases.

On ES, a normal 1-2 tick bid-ask spread can widen to 3-5 ticks during high-impact news. A 10-tick stop during normal hours is roughly $250 on 2 contracts. During an NFP print, that same 10-tick move can happen in milliseconds — you may not exit at your intended stop.

For MFFU accounts, the practical adjustment:

• Size down by 25-50% during Tier 1 events
• Widen your stops proportionally to account for slippage
• Or don't enter at all — there will be another trade

The buffer you have is the buffer you have. News events don't grant exceptions. Size accordingly.

Overnight Positions and Pre-Market Releases

MFFU allows overnight positions on Core and Pro accounts. Most major US economic releases come at 8:30 AM or 10:00 AM ET — after the pre-market session opens.

If you're holding overnight positions through a major release (common for swing trades in GC or ES), the intraday risk on the open applies. Core and Pro accounts handle this well — any intraday loss before EOD doesn't move the floor. Rapid accounts holding through a release that opens with a significant gap against you can take a floor hit.

The standard risk management advice applies: if you wouldn't hold a position through a high-impact release in a live account, think carefully before holding it in a funded account where the floor loss can end your account rather than just reduce your balance.

How Other Firms Compare

Most competitor prop firms fall into one of two categories on news trading: full ban (you must be flat X minutes before and after the release) or no restriction.

Topstep's TopstepX doesn't have a news trading ban but the mandatory platform eliminates access to news-based order flow tools. MFFU's Rithmic connection supports ATAS and NinjaTrader, which give you actual order flow context around news events.

Firms with explicit news trading bans typically do it to reduce their sim-funded risk exposure — large news moves can blow through funded account buffers quickly, which costs the firm money on payouts. MFFU's no-ban policy is a competitive differentiator, particularly for traders who build systems around news momentum.

The trade-off for that freedom: you need to understand how your drawdown type interacts with high-volatility events. The firm won't protect you from a bad news trade. The rules apply.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does MFFU ban news trading?

No. MFFU doesn't prohibit trading during scheduled economic releases on Core, Rapid, or Pro accounts. You can enter, hold, or exit positions during news windows. The firm's standard risk rules — drawdown limits, position size limits — apply at all times regardless of market conditions.

Can I hold positions through NFP on MFFU?

Yes. MFFU allows holding positions through Non-Farm Payrolls. On Core and Pro accounts with EOD drawdown, intraday NFP volatility doesn't move your drawdown floor — only your end-of-day balance matters. On Rapid accounts, any unrealized gain during an NFP spike moves your floor even if you end up breakeven or lower.

What's the risk of news trading on MFFU Rapid accounts?

The intraday trailing drawdown on Rapid is the primary risk. If your position goes favorably during a news spike and then reverses, the floor has moved up even if your balance didn't change. This permanently reduces your buffer. Whipsaw events during FOMC or NFP are the most common Rapid account killers related to news.

Does MFFU Core's EOD drawdown protect you during news spikes?

Partially. The floor only moves at end of day — so intraday volatility during a news event doesn't directly move your floor. However, if a news trade ends your session with a large enough loss to breach the floor at EOD, the account still closes. The EOD structure gives you the session to recover, but doesn't give unlimited protection.

Which MFFU plan is safest for news traders?

Core and Pro, because of the EOD trailing drawdown. The floor only moves at end of day regardless of intraday volatility. Rapid's intraday trailing drawdown makes news events more dangerous — any intraday equity peak (including unrealized gains) moves the floor permanently.

What news events cause the most risk on MFFU accounts?

Non-Farm Payrolls, FOMC rate decisions, and CPI are the highest-impact events for ES and NQ. GC is most sensitive to CPI and FOMC. These events create the widest spreads, highest slippage, and fastest moves. Size reduction or flat positioning before these events is standard risk management for funded accounts.

Can I enter a new position right before an economic release on MFFU?

Yes, MFFU doesn't prohibit it. Whether it's a good idea depends on your plan type and your buffer. On Core/Pro with a healthy buffer, entering before a release is a position sizing decision. On Rapid, entering before a release means your floor can move against you even if the trade goes your way initially.

What is MFFU's drawdown policy during market gaps?

Gaps at the open (Sunday night open, post-news gaps) are treated the same as normal market movement. MFFU's drawdown rules don't distinguish between gap losses and intraday losses. On Core/Pro, a gap down from a prior position that opens below your stop is a loss that counts toward your EOD balance. On Rapid, if you had a position that gained before the gap and then reversed, the floor moved with that gain.

Should I use stop orders or mental stops during news on MFFU?

Hard stop orders. Mental stops during news events are unreliable because execution speed matters and news spikes can move faster than manual reaction time. Set a hard stop at your maximum acceptable loss before the release and let it execute. On MFFU, there's no partial breach scenario — if you breach the drawdown, the account closes.

Is automated trading allowed during news events on MFFU?

MFFU permits automated trading through Rithmic-compatible platforms like NinjaTrader. If your system runs through news events automatically, that's permitted. Verify your system's behavior during high-volatility events before running it on a funded account — many retail systems have issues with fills and slippage during news that perform fine in backtests.