Topstep 2026 Verified Guide Updated 2026-10-17 Verified Against Venasri MT5 Engine

Topstep News Trading Rules: Red-Folder Restrictions & Automated MT5 Blackouts

Direct Technical Answer

Topstep permits news trading during the Trading Combine. Live Funded accounts enforce Tier-1 economic-release flattening windows. All positions must be flat before 3:10 PM CT every session and before Friday close. Weekend holding is strictly prohibited. The $100,000 Combine still trails a $3,000 end-of-day maximum and a 50 percent best-day consistency cap on the $6,000 target.

There is no Topstep Swing account. 3:10 PM CT is a flatten, not a suggestion, and Friday is the same flatten plus a weekend ban. Combine news is allowed, which is how traders learn to hold CPI on NQ, then meet Live Funded Tier-1 flatten windows they never practiced. If you wanted 24/7, you wanted Breakout Crypto. If you wanted gold weekends, you wanted FTMO Swing.

Topstep Daily Loss Limit 2% ($2,000 on $100K)

Max Drawdown Model 3% (End-of-Day)

Phase 1 / Phase 2 Targets 6% / 0%

Venasri Guard Cut-Off 1.25% (3s Auto-Flatten)

Activate Free MT5 Protection Open Equity Guard & Kelly Sizing Launch 24/7 MT5 Bot

Topstep News Trading Rules: obsidian vault and brass balance scale representing prop firm evaluation rules and drawdown protection — Topstep News Trading Rules

Balance-Anchored Daily Breach Floor $95,000.00 FTMO / FundedNext / E8 day-start balance basis

Equity-Anchored Rollover Breach Floor $96,900.00 FundingPips / The5ers / Alpha Capital higher-of-equity basis

Venasri Pre-Breach Equity Guard Cut-Off $97,650.00 Auto-flattens MT5 0.75% before firm liquidation

Exact MT5 Lot Size (XAUUSD / EURUSD) & Streak Buffer 2.00 Lots (8.5 losses to guard) $500.00 risk per ticket · 3-second Equity Guard active

3:10 PM CT is the news and weekend story

Every day, including event days, the book must be flat by 3:10 PM CT. New CME session around 5:00 PM CT is not permission to hold from Thursday into Friday night as a 'swing.' Live Funded adds Tier-1 release windows on top. Combine traders who ride FOMC to 3:09 PM CT are practicing a cut-it-close habit Live will not like. Flatten 15-30 minutes early on purpose.

Combine news allowed is not a $3,800 NQ invitation

50 percent consistency: best day cannot exceed half of $6,000, so $3,000. A CPI NQ runner to $3,800 forces extra target dollars ($3,800 / 0.50 = $7,600). News permission plus consistency is the Combine's real news rule. Soft 2 percent daily guidance does not save you if the EOD trail prints $3,000 down from peak close.

Why CME hours beat Prague midnight thinking

Do not convert 00:00 CE(S)T habits onto Topstep. The reset that matters is the afternoon flatten and the EOD trail lock toward $0 buffer at initial. A bot that 'holds through the news blackout' like Venasri's 30-minute FX pause is fine as a filter. A bot that holds through 3:10 PM is finished.

Calendar flatten, then a BestDay lock

Build a 3:10 PM CT flatten alarm that actually closes. Cap session profit near $2,700 on the $100K Combine. start free on Venasri for any MT5 CFD book you run in parallel. Reuse the discipline of Venasri Equity Guard as a dollar cap template, and keep 24/7 MT5 Bot Control off this futures login. It cannot click Tradovate for you.

Equity Guard Circuit Breaker

Watches account equity and can flatten open MT5 positions

Warning: Armed Critical: Armed Auto-Flatten: Active

Behavioral Trade Monitor

Alerts when order flow turns impulsive

Revenge alerts: Clear Stop changes: Locked Rapid edits: Clear

Manual Trade Guard

Active on XAUUSD / EURUSD · News pause available

Stop-loss: On Breakeven: On Partials: On

Verified Answers

Frequently Asked Questions: Topstep News Trading Rules: Red-Folder Restrictions & Automated MT5 Blackouts

Can I hold Topstep positions over the weekend?

No. All positions must be flat before 3:10 PM CT daily and before Friday close. Weekend holding is strictly prohibited on Combine and funded paths in the 2026 matrix.

Can I trade FOMC on a Topstep Combine?

News is permitted during evaluation. Live Funded adds Tier-1 flattening windows. A $3,800 FOMC day on a $6,000 $100K target also fails 50 percent consistency even if you flatten on time.

What time is the Topstep daily flatten?

3:10 PM CT market flatten, with a new CME session around 5:00 PM CT. That is not 00:00 Prague and not 00:00 UTC. Convert your VPS clock.

Does Topstep have a 2-minute news cage like FTMO Standard?

Not on Combine in the same form. The hard time rule is 3:10 PM CT flatten. Live Funded uses Tier-1 economic windows. Do not import FTMO Standard 2-minute language onto NQ.

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