Two stages, two news contracts
During Single Helix or Double Helix evaluation, news is allowed. After funding, a 5-minute window restricts the release. Open a Venasri account with two presets, exam and funded, so the bot that traded NFP in Phase 1 does not repeat it on the first funded morning.
Double Helix daily loss stays 5%, $5,000 on $100,000, against a static 10% maximum. Single Helix daily loss stays 4%, $4,000, against a 6% maximum. The window is an extra rule. It is not a wider loss line. You also still need 3 minimum trading days.
What the slip costs on gold
One standard lot of XAUUSD is about $100 per $1. A $15 spike on 1.50 lots is about $2,250. Add the spread DNA's tight gold quotes still cannot fully erase during CPI, and a planned $1,500 stop can print closer to $2,500. Two of those approach the $5,000 day. The funded window exists so you are not in that candle. The evaluation does not force you out of it.
Equity Guard should flatten near $4,000 on Double Helix before the print if you are already funded, and it should still watch the touch if you are in the exam and choose to hold. Bot Control is where the 5-minute funded pause actually gets switched on.
Midnight can make the news day shorter
If you carry $3,000 of equity above balance into 00:00, the higher-of rule anchors the new day at $103,000 and the 5% hole becomes $5,150 under that anchor, floor near $97,850. A news stop that only gives back the float has already used $3,000 of Wednesday. The evaluation still allows you to be in the trade. The math is worse than a flat midnight.
Weekend holding is permitted on both helixes, so a Sunday open can mimic a release. The funded 5-minute window is about scheduled news, not about every gap. The daily touch covers both. Personal EAs are allowed. A third-party pass bot is not. The cap is 2,000 requests a day, and canceling orders through the print spends that cap quickly.
Rapid profit and a news jackpot
The Rapid Challenge caps the best day at 40% of profit. A funded-style news winner is not the only way to break it. An evaluation news day of $4,200 on a $10,000 target is 42%. The loss line can be fine and the payout cap can still fail. Double Helix itself does not add that 40% sentence. Rapid does.
The split is 80%, or 90% with the add-on, on a 14-day cycle or 7 with the rapid add-on. None of those clocks delete the funded window. Pass the exam while news is allowed, then turn the window on before the first funded CPI. The $449 fee is smaller than one unprotected gold lot.
