Quick Answer — Topstep — News Trading Quick Facts
- • No hard news-trading ban — Topstep does not prohibit trading through events
- • Combine: intraday-trailing MLL means a single bad spike can end the account mid-session
- • $50K Combine DLL is $1,000 — one blown news trade can lock you out for the day
- • XFA uses EOD-trailing drawdown — significantly more forgiving on intraday spikes
- • ES and NQ move 10-30+ points in seconds on CPI or NFP — max 3 minis recommended for $50K Combine
- • ZN/ZB (treasuries) move faster and gap more than equity indices — extra caution required
From the trenches: 3+ years on Topstep's $50K Combine with ~$17,000 in payouts via Wise. The strategy stack that works: stay under the 50% consistency cap, target $150+ winning days, max out at 5 minis, and remember the $5,000 first-payout cap on $50K. Strategy framework in my Topstep strategies guide, full firm picture in the Topstep review. Visit Topstep.
Trading news events at Topstep is legal — there is no blackout rule — but the structural mechanics of the Trading Combine make it one of the highest-risk activities you can engage in as a funded trader. The intraday-trailing max loss limit (MLL) and a $1,000 daily loss limit on the $50K account can convert a single bad print into an instant account failure. This article is a framework for surviving news at Topstep, built from 3 years of trading the $50K Combine through dozens of CPI, NFP, and FOMC events.
For the full picture on Topstep's rules, see the Topstep rules overview. The strategies pillar covers a broader range of Topstep-specific trading approaches.
What Topstep Actually Says About News Trading
As of April 2026, Topstep's Help Center confirms no hard news-trading prohibition. The news trading policy page covers the exact Help Center language in detail. The short version: you can trade through CPI, NFP, FOMC, ECB, and BOJ events without violating a rule.
The risk is structural, not regulatory. That distinction matters because it shapes how you manage it.
The Combine's Intraday MLL Is the Problem
On the $50K Trading Combine, the max loss limit is $2,000 — but it trails intraday. Every time your account equity sets a new high, the floor rises with it. If you run the account up $800 during the morning session and then take a $1,500 adverse move on a hot CPI print, you will fail the Combine even though your net loss on the day is only $700.
That dynamic makes news events especially dangerous. The sequence goes like this: good morning session raises your HWM, CPI number lands hot, ES drops 25 points in 8 seconds, account equity falls through the new floor, account fails.
The $50K Combine DLL compounds this. A $1,000 intraday DLL resets at 5 PM CT. At 3 ES minis, a 6-point adverse move costs $900 — right at the edge. At 5 minis (the maximum for a $50K Combine — see maximum contracts guide), a 4-point move is $1,000 and shuts trading for the rest of the day.
I learned the hard way on a CPI print where I had built up a $600 cushion by 8:25 AM CT and was running 4 contracts heading into the 8:30 release. The number came in hot, ES gapped down 18 points in the first 5 seconds, and my account was down $3,600 from the intraday HWM before I could react. Account failed. Not because I broke a rule — because I misunderstood that the trailing floor had already moved to a level that left me no room for a full-sized news move.
The Framework: 3 Minis Maximum on $50K Combine News Days
The math here is straightforward.
| Scenario | Contracts | Point Move | P&L | DLL Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 2 minis | 8 pts | -$800 | 80% of $1K DLL |
| Standard | 3 minis | 6 pts | -$900 | 90% of $1K DLL |
| Max size | 5 minis | 4 pts | -$1,000 | DLL hit — locked out |
| Dangerous | 5 minis | 10 pts | -$2,500 | Combine fail |
Three minis on a $50K Combine means a 6-point adverse move costs $900 — uncomfortable but survivable. With 5 contracts, you are one bad fill away from losing the entire trading day on a 4-point spike.
On FOMC days, cut further to 1-2 minis or go flat entirely. FOMC produces sustained multi-directional moves across 90 minutes of press conference, not a single spike you can fade quickly.
Why XFA Traders Have More Room
The Express Funded Account uses EOD-trailing drawdown instead of the Combine's intraday-trailing MLL. The floor moves at market close, not tick by tick during the session. This is a fundamental structural difference.
On the XFA, a 20-point adverse spike on ES during a CPI print can spike your account equity down significantly, but unless you actually close the trade at the low, the drawdown floor does not move until 5 PM CT. You have the session to recover.
The XFA still has a daily loss limit ($1,000 on the $50K equivalent), so position sizing discipline still applies. But the existential single-print account failure risk is dramatically lower. If you have advanced to the XFA, you can run news more aggressively, still not recklessly, but with more structural cushion.
The Express Funded Account guide covers the two XFA paths (Standard and Consistency) and how drawdown works at each stage.
Event Risk Profiles
Not all news events are equal. Here is how the main events rank for Topstep traders in ES and NQ.
| Event | Typical ES Move | Risk Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| FOMC Rate Decision + Powell presser | 30-60+ pts over 90 min | Extreme | Multi-directional, sustained; sit out or 1 mini max |
| CPI (hot/cold surprise) | 15-30 pts first 60 sec | Very High | Sharp spike + often reversal; 2-3 mini max |
| NFP | 10-25 pts at open, gap risk | Very High | Gap fills are rare; slippage on stops is real |
| ECB / BOJ | 5-15 pts on ES; larger on ZN/ZB | High | Bleeds into equity via rates; primary impact on treasuries |
| PPI / Retail Sales | 5-12 pts | Moderate | Usually faded within 15 min; more tradable |
| JOLTS / Housing | 2-5 pts | Lower | Often ignored by ES; fine at normal sizing |
The consistency rule interacts here too. A single massive winning trade on a news event, say, 40 points on 3 minis for $6,000, could become your best day and constrain the rest of your Combine cycle under the 50% rule. See the consistency rule explainer before running outsized size on news.
ES vs NQ vs Treasuries on News Days
ES (S&P 500 futures) is the most liquid and most tradable through news events. Spreads widen but rarely gap more than 1-2 ticks for fills. NQ moves farther in percentage terms, typically 1.5-2x the ES move, but with similar liquidity. A 20-point ES move often corresponds to a 60-80 point NQ move.
Treasury futures (ZN, ZB) are a different animal. ZN on a CPI print can gap 8-15 ticks with the bid-ask spread blowing out to 3-5 ticks at the number. If you are trading ZN into a CPI release, your fill on a market exit could be 4-6 ticks worse than your stop. Factor that slippage into every pre-trade risk calculation, it is not uncommon to plan a 3-tick stop and get filled 9 ticks away.
ES and NQ are better suited for news strategies at Topstep precisely because the liquidity is deeper and slippage is more predictable. If you want to trade treasury futures through events, reduce contract count further than the equity index framework above.
Three Approaches: Pre-Print, Post-Spike Fade, Straddle
Pre-print positioning
Enter before the number only if you have a strong directional bias backed by recent market structure. Set your stop before the release, not after. At 3 minis, a 6-point stop is $900 risk, which fits inside the $1K DLL. If the stop placement requires more than 6-7 points to make structural sense, reduce to 2 minis.
Do not widen the stop post-release. The news has landed. Either the thesis holds or it does not.
Post-spike fade
Wait 30-90 seconds after the print for the initial move to exhaust itself. Volume drops sharply after the first flush. Look for a failed continuation attempt, a second thrust in the initial direction that prints a lower high (on a down move) or higher low (on an up move). Enter the fade with a 4-6 point stop. This captures mean reversion with lower volatility than the pre-print entry.
The post-spike fade is the lower-risk approach for Combine traders. You sacrifice the maximum gain on the initial move in exchange for knowing direction and reduced volatility.
Straddle setups
Straddles, limit orders on both sides before the number, work better in theory than in practice on futures. The losing side fills with slippage during the initial print. At Topstep, the intraday MLL makes a double-loss scenario (both legs filled, both stopped out) potentially catastrophic. Only run straddles if both legs combined stay inside your DLL buffer with slippage accounted for.
Practical Risk Controls for News Days
TopstepX lets you set a personal daily loss limit below the account hard limit. On CPI days, set a personal DLL at 70-80% of the account limit. This creates a buffer for platform fill delays and slippage, and auto-liquidates you before you hit the hard limit. It is a 5-second setup that has saved accounts.
Do not carry positions into the release unless that is your explicit strategy. Many traders build positions during the pre-market session and then get caught when the number prints against them while they are distracted. If you are not actively managing a trade for the news event, flat is a position.
Drawdown mechanics covers the full intraday vs EOD trailing mechanics in detail. Read it before your first news event on the Combine.
Comparing Topstep to YRM and Apex on News
All three firms allow news trading without a blackout. The structural difference is the drawdown type.
YRM Prop updated its rules on February 1, 2026, confirming news trading is fully allowed with no buffer requirement. YRM's Starter account uses EOD-trailing drawdown (similar to the Topstep XFA), which absorbs intraday spikes better than Topstep's Combine intraday-trailing MLL. The Topstep vs YRM Prop comparison covers the structural differences in depth.
Apex uses a trailing drawdown that locks at break-even and is intraday in its initial phase, comparable to the Topstep Combine structure. The Apex vs Topstep article breaks down how the two firms compare for active traders.
Bottom line: Topstep's Combine is the most demanding drawdown structure of the three for news traders. The XFA evens the playing field.
The bottom line
Topstep does not ban news trading. What it does have is an intraday-trailing MLL and a tight daily loss limit that can punish the same trade a different firm would absorb. Three minis maximum on a $50K Combine heading into CPI or NFP. Flat or 1-2 minis for FOMC. Wait for the spike on high-impact events rather than trading the print blind. If you are on the XFA, you have more room, use it, but respect the DLL.
Three years of Topstep Combines and $17,000 in payouts later, the trades I have regretted most were never the ones where I sat out a news event. They were the ones where I ran full size into a print I thought I had figured out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Topstep allow news trading?
Yes. As of April 2026, Topstep's Help Center does not list a news-trading blackout. You are allowed to hold positions through CPI, NFP, FOMC, ECB, BOJ, and other high-impact events. The risk is structural, not a rule violation: the Combine's intraday-trailing MLL and daily loss limit can end your account on a single spike. Trade news with full awareness of those mechanics.
What is the daily loss limit on the $50K Topstep Combine?
The daily loss limit on the $50K Combine is $1,000. It resets at 5 PM CT. If your account drops $1,000 from the previous session close (or intraday if drawdown locks earlier), trading is suspended for the rest of that day. On a CPI print, ES can move 20+ points in under 10 seconds, that is $1,000 per contract. One full-sized contract held through a bad print can hit your DLL in a single candle.
What is the max loss limit on the $50K Combine and how does it interact with news?
The max loss limit on the $50K Combine is $2,000 from the starting account balance, trailing intraday. It tracks your live equity high-water mark, not the daily close. This means if you have a good day and push your account up, the MLL locks in at a higher floor. A news reversal after an initial spike can hit a freshly-locked MLL before you can exit. Position size down before major events.
Is news trading safer on the XFA than on the Combine?
Yes, significantly. The Express Funded Account uses EOD-trailing drawdown rather than intraday-trailing. The floor moves at market close, not tick by tick. That gives you room to survive an intraday spike and recover within the session without blowing the account. The DLL still applies, so size down, but the existential risk of a single spike killing the account is lower on XFA.
How many contracts should I trade on the $50K Combine during news?
Three minis maximum is the framework used here for a $50K Combine on a high-impact event like CPI or NFP. At 3 ES minis, a 6-point adverse move costs $900, inside the $1,000 DLL buffer. At 5 minis (the Combine max), a 4-point move costs $1,000 and hits the DLL instantly. On FOMC days, reduce further to 1-2 minis or sit out entirely.
Which news events are highest risk at Topstep?
Ranked by historical volatility in ES and NQ: FOMC Rate Decision + Press Conference (highest, sustained multi-directional moves), CPI (sharp initial spike, often reversal), NFP (large gap open on /ES, slippage risk), ECB and BOJ decisions (affects ZN/ZB and currencies more than ES, but can bleed through), PPI and Retail Sales (moderate, often faded quickly). FOMC is the one event where sitting out entirely is defensible even on the XFA.
What is the pre-news positioning strategy?
Enter before the number only if you have a directional bias with a defined stop that fits inside your DLL buffer. Set the stop before the release, not after. A 6-point stop on 3 ES minis = $900 risk, workable. Do not widen your stop post-release to give it room. The news has already delivered its information; the trade thesis either holds or it does not.
What is the post-news fade strategy?
Wait for the initial spike to resolve, usually 30-90 seconds on CPI, longer on FOMC. Look for the first failed continuation attempt as entry. Volume drops sharply after the spike flush; a fade into the new price level with a 4-6 point stop captures mean reversion. This is lower risk than the pre-news entry because you know the direction and the initial volatility has dissipated.
What is the straddle setup and does it work at Topstep?
A straddle places limit orders on both sides of the market before the number, with stops wide enough to not get hit by the initial move, and targets in the direction of the eventual trend. In futures, this is harder than it sounds: slippage on the losing side often exceeds the stop price during the initial print. At Topstep, the intraday MLL makes straddle losses more dangerous than in a standard brokerage account. Use straddles only if your stop risk on both legs combined stays inside your DLL buffer.
How do ZN and ZB treasury futures behave differently from ES on news days?
Treasury futures move instantly on CPI and NFP, often before equity index futures. ZN and ZB gaps are larger and the spread widens dramatically at the print. If you trade ZN on a CPI day and the number surprises, you will fill 2-4 ticks worse than your limit. Factor that slippage into your pre-trade risk calculation. ES and NQ have tighter spreads and deeper liquidity, making them more predictable exits on news even when volatile.
How does Topstep compare to YRM Prop and Apex on news trading rules?
All three allow news trading with no blackout. YRM Prop updated its rules on February 1, 2026 to explicitly confirm news trading is fully allowed with no buffer requirement. Apex similarly has no news ban. The structural difference is drawdown type: YRM uses EOD-trailing on its Starter account, which is similar to Topstep's XFA in terms of forgiving intraday spikes. The Topstep Combine's intraday-trailing MLL is the harshest drawdown structure of the three for news traders.
What is a liquidity gap and how do I handle it at news prints?
A liquidity gap occurs when the order book empties momentarily at the release, and your market exit fills 3-10+ points from where you expected. At the instant of a hot CPI print, the ask on ES may jump from 5200 to 5215 with no fills between. If you are long with a market stop at 5198, you may fill at 5192. Size down so that a 10-point gap exit on 2 minis ($2,000) does not exceed your DLL.
Should I use TopstepX's personal daily loss limit feature on news days?
Yes. TopstepX lets you set your own daily loss limit below the account's hard DLL. On a CPI day, setting a personal DLL of $700 on a $50K account gives you a hard stop at 70% of the account limit, preserving $300 buffer for platform fill delays or slippage. This is a risk management hygiene step, not a substitute for proper position sizing.