Trading a scheduled release on a funded futures account is allowed on Cycle, Clear and Direct accounts and on every evaluation. A funded Stream account must be flat from one minute before to one minute after a red-folder release. The rule is the easy part. The hard part is execution: through CPI, non-farm payrolls or an FOMC decision the spread widens, the book thins and stops fill far from their price. The plan below is about surviving that, in micros, on a 100K Cycle.
Which releases are we talking about?
| Release | Time (ET) | Contracts most affected | What the book does |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPI | 8:30 am, monthly | ES, NQ, GC | thin, several-tick spread for seconds |
| Non-farm payrolls | 8:30 am, usually the first Friday | ES, NQ, GC | same, often two-directional in the first minute |
| FOMC statement | 2:00 pm, eight times a year | everything | fast repricing, then a pause |
| FOMC press conference | 2:30 pm, same day | everything | a second move, often larger and slower |
The rule page defines red-folder releases as the high-impact scheduled US events flagged red on the standard calendar; these four are always on it. The market drivers article covers what each one moves and why.
Where do the rules differ by account?
| Account | Evaluation | Funded |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle | allowed | allowed |
| Clear | allowed | allowed |
| Stream | allowed | flat from one minute before to one minute after |
| Direct | no evaluation | allowed |
On a funded Stream account the window is a hard breach, the same category as the Max Loss Limit: the account is failed, not paused. A resting buy stop that fills at 8:29:40 is inside the window even if the position is closed by 8:30. The practical rule is a calendar filter: flat and no working orders by 8:28, nothing new before 8:31:30. Everything below applies to the accounts where trading through is allowed.
Why do most news losses come from stops, not direction?
Because a stop order is a market order in waiting. When its price trades, it is sent to the book and fills at the best available price. In a normal session that is a tick away. In the second after a print the best available price can be twenty or thirty ticks away, because the resting orders that usually sit at every tick have been pulled. Three things follow:
- The stop level is a wish. The fill is decided by the liquidity at that second.
- The whipsaw takes out both sides. The first move after a print often reverses inside a minute; a trader who had the direction right at 8:35 was stopped at 8:30:05.
- A wider stop in a smaller contract survives what a tight stop in a large contract cannot. The dollar risk is the same; the probability of being stopped by noise is not.
That is why the plan is written in micros, with a stop that is wide for the market rather than cheap for the account.
A release-day plan on a 100K Cycle
A Cycle 100K starts with a $3,000 Max Loss Limit and a $1,800 Daily Loss Limit. With a 10% rule, the risk per trade on a fresh account is $300. Compare a 40-tick stop (10 ES points) in micros and in minis, with 20 ticks of slippage on the stop, which is unremarkable through a print:
| 6 MES | 2 ES | |
|---|---|---|
| Planned risk, 40-tick stop | $300 | $1,000 |
| Slippage, 20 ticks | $150 | $500 |
| Actual loss | $450 | $1,500 |
| Share of the Max Loss Limit | 15% | 50% |
| Share of the Daily Loss Limit | 25% | 83% |
The micro position was planned at 10% of the room and lost 15%: over budget, survivable. The mini position was planned at a third of the room and lost half of it in one trade, on a day that has a second release at 9:30 am. The position sizing article has the general method; the release-day version is simply “one size smaller than you think, one stop wider than you like”.
The timeline for an 8:30 am release:
| Time (ET) | Action |
|---|---|
| Evening before | Mark the release; decide in advance whether you trade the print or the second move |
| 8:00 am | Reduce to micros or flat; cancel resting orders you do not want filled at any price |
| 8:29 to 8:31 am | No orders. Watch the first move and the spread |
| 8:31 to 8:45 am | The reversal window. Entries in micros only, with the wide stop, one position |
| 9:30 am | Cash open: a second event. Recompute the room before it |
| After | Back to normal size only when the spread has been one tick for several minutes |
The second move is the one to trade. The first is a repricing that happens in a book you cannot trust; the second, from about 8:31, happens in a book that is filling back in, and the print is known.
What about FOMC afternoons?
FOMC is two events forty minutes apart, and the second is often the larger. A trader flat at 2:00 pm and long at 2:20 pm is holding into the press conference at 2:30 pm, which can undo the statement move. On end-of-day accounts nothing forces you out until flat time at 4:15 pm ET on Rithmic or 4:45 pm ET on Tradovate; on a funded Stream account the press conference is on the calendar too, so check whether your calendar flags it red before assuming the window is over.
Evaluation and funded accounts are simulated until the Live stage, and futures trading carries a substantial risk of loss, more so in the minute after a print than at any other scheduled time. The Daily Loss Limit is measured on open equity on every account, so the numbers above are not theoretical: a bad fill counts the moment it happens. Sizes and limits for every account are on the pricing page.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, release schedule: CPI and Employment Situation dates, 8:30 am ET.
- Federal Reserve, FOMC meeting calendar: statement at 2:00 pm ET and press conference at 2:30 pm ET.
- CME Group, E-mini S&P 500 and Micro E-mini S&P 500 contract specifications: tick values used in the sizing table.
Simulated accounts until Live. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss.