Topstep’s current economic-release guidance directs traders to restrictions around Tier 1 news events. Its risk-adjustments page, checked October 16, 2026, sets a ten-minute window for new positions in specified SIM products, with separate limits for micro contracts. Traders need to distinguish a new opening order from a position already held before the window.
A ten-minute window applies around the release
The official risk-adjustments page describes a window running from five minutes before a Tier 1 announcement until five minutes after it. Its examples include CPI, the FOMC rate decision and press conference, and the employment report.
For the mini contracts listed in that section, including ES, NQ, RTY and YM, new opening transactions are blocked during the window. Micro contracts have size-dependent opening limits. These are account and product rules, so a limit for one contract should not be applied to every instrument on the platform.
| Product group | Current published treatment during the window |
|---|---|
| Listed equity-index and metals minis | New opening transactions blocked |
| MES, M2K, MYM, MNQ and MGC | Account-size limits apply |
| Micro copper (MHG) and micro silver (SIL) | Separate, lower micro limits apply |
| Existing energy and metals positions | May be held and managed if opened before the five-minute cutoff |
| Orders that reduce or close a position | Take-profit and stop-loss brackets are accepted |
Rules checked October 16, 2026. Source: Topstep’s risk-adjustments page. Labs challenges and special account types have additional restrictions on the same page.
Existing positions and pending orders are different
Topstep explicitly permits energy and metals positions held before the five-minute cutoff to remain open and be managed through the news window. That wording does not provide a blanket exemption for every product. Traders should read the rule for their exact account and instrument.
A pending order is not an open position. Topstep says pending orders will not fill during the window and that new pending orders intended to execute inside it cannot be placed. Bracket orders that reduce or close an existing position are accepted. TopstepX enforces the restrictions automatically, according to the firm.
That distinction matters when preparing a trade before a release: an order waiting for its entry price does not have the same treatment as an already filled position. The site’s news-trading explainer covers why firms’ evaluation and funded-stage policies must be checked separately.
Volatility limits can also apply outside news windows
The same official document contains temporary, product-specific position limits for volatile energy and metals markets. Those limits are separate from the ten-minute Tier 1 window. The page also warns that an Express Funded Account’s scaling plan can produce a lower permitted position than the headline product ceiling.
Topstep’s Economic Releases page now refers readers to the Tier 1 restrictions. It also says losses caused by slippage do not qualify for account adjustments. A trading-hours check therefore needs both the exchange schedule and the firm’s own risk settings; an open market does not establish that a particular order is permitted.
