> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.glitchexecutor.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# News blackouts

> Each prop firm's news-trading rule, the standard ±2 minute window interpretation, and how Glitch Executor's news-lockout filter enforces it across cBots, EAs, and live monitoring.

The news-blackout rule is the single most common cause of unforced disqualification. Operators don't intend to trade news; they have an unrelated position open when CPI prints; the rule fires; the account is gone.

## Rule shape across firms

| Firm                | Window      | Rule on holding through release | Payout-review interpretation          |
| ------------------- | ----------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| FundingPips Zero    | ±2 min      | Banned                          | Strict — disqualification             |
| FTMO Phase 1        | (permitted) | Allowed                         | "Dominant source" review at payout    |
| MyForexFunds        | ±2 min      | Banned                          | Strict                                |
| Apex Trader Funding | ±2 min      | Banned (soft)                   | Triggered on size-anomaly trades only |
| The5ers High Stakes | ±2 min      | Banned                          | Strict + consistency review           |
| GetLeveraged Turbo  | ±2 min      | Banned                          | Strict                                |

FTMO is the only firm in the supported set that explicitly permits holding through high-impact news. Even FTMO applies a "dominant source" review at payout — strategies whose dominant profit source is news entries can be disqualified.

## What counts as "high-impact"

The de facto standard across firms is the Forex Factory red-folder classification:

* **Tier 1** (always counted): NFP, CPI, FOMC, ECB rate decisions, BoE rate decisions, GDP, unemployment claims (when treated as primary).
* **Tier 2** (variable): PMI manufacturing, retail sales, durable goods, unemployment claims (when secondary).
* **Tier 3** (rarely counted): housing starts, building permits, consumer confidence.

Some firms publish a calendar; most defer to Forex Factory's red-folder definition.

## Implementation: how Glitch Executor enforces it

The Strategy IR includes a `schedule.newsLockoutMinutes` parameter (default 5). When compiled to cBot or EA, the generated code:

1. **Fetches the Forex Factory calendar** at strategy start + once per trading day.
2. **Filters for red-folder events** in the next 24h.
3. **Blocks new entries** within ±N minutes of any matched event.
4. **Flattens open positions** that would be holding through the window, T minus N minutes before the release.
5. **Re-opens trading** T plus N minutes after.

The default 5-minute buffer covers all six firms safely (strict letter is ±2; the buffer accommodates calendar drift, slow position-close on fast moves, and the rare event-moved-by-60-seconds case).

## Affected currency, not affected pair

Most firms' news rules apply to the **currency** of the event, not the pair. A USD CPI release affects EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY — every pair containing USD. It does not affect EURGBP.

The Glitch Executor IR supports per-currency filtering: a strategy on EURGBP can stay active during USD CPI but flatten during ECB. The conservative default flattens everything during top-tier events (NFP, FOMC, CPI) and uses per-currency filtering for tier-2.

## Calendar source reliability

A news-aware EA depends on the calendar source. Failure modes:

* **Calendar API down at release time** — the EA defaults to "no filter" and the operator is exposed.
* **Holiday-shifted events** — events that move (Bank of Japan announcements, in particular) may not be in the cached calendar.
* **Tier-shift** — Forex Factory occasionally re-classifies an event between yellow and red; cached calendars miss the change.

Mitigation: refresh the calendar daily, not weekly. The Glitch Executor IR refreshes at strategy start + at 00:00 UTC every day.

## What this rule is NOT solving

It's not solving "I want to trade news intentionally." That use case requires FTMO Phase 1 specifically (the only firm that permits it) plus careful attention to the "dominant source" payout review. See the blog post [News-lockout EAs: the firms that ban them and the workarounds that hold up](https://glitchexecutor.com/blog/news-lockout-eas-firms-that-ban-them-workarounds).

See related: [EA / cBot policy](/concepts/ea-rules), [Firm Mode overview](/concepts/firm-mode), [strategies](/concepts/strategies).