When is flat time?
| Platform | Flat time | Trading reopens |
|---|---|---|
| Rithmic | 4:15 pm ET | 6:00 pm ET, Sunday to Thursday |
| Tradovate | 4:45 pm ET | 6:00 pm ET, Sunday to Thursday |
The platform is chosen at checkout and sets your flat time for the life of the account. Both times are US Eastern and follow US daylight saving changes.
What happens at flat time?
Any open position is closed at market by the platform’s auto-flat process. Working orders are cancelled. The account is not failed and there is no fee: flat time is a deadline, not a rule breach. The closing price is the market price at that second, which during a fast close can be worse than a limit you would have chosen.
When can you trade again?
At 6:00 pm ET, Sunday to Thursday, when the CME Globex session opens. There is no trading between flat time and 6:00 pm ET, and no trading from the Friday flat time to the Sunday open.
What about CME holidays?
On CME early-close days the flat time moves earlier to match the exchange schedule. The dates and times are listed on the platform pages and shown in the trader dashboard ahead of time. Full-day CME holidays have no session.
Does flat time apply to Live accounts?
Yes. Live accounts have no swing allowance: 4:45 pm ET on Tradovate, 4:15 pm ET on Rithmic, every weekday. See the Live program.
Common mistakes
- Working from a local time zone and missing the ET deadline by an hour after a daylight saving change.
- Relying on the auto-flat as an exit strategy on a fast close.
- Leaving an algorithm running that enters new positions after 4:00 pm ET; see bots and algos.
Sources
- CME Group, Globex trading hours: the weekly open, the daily maintenance break and the holiday calendar.
- Rithmic and Tradovate publish their own risk cut-off times in their platform documentation; the flat times above follow them.
Simulated accounts until Live. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss.