Stay Sharp, Stay Flat: Navigating Apex’s News Trading Restrictions in Taiwan

trading-strategies | 05-08-25

In the world of fundedfutures trading, strategy alone isn’t enough—timing is everything. Apex Trader Funding empowers traders with the opportunity to prove themselves through evaluations that reward discipline, not guesswork. One key rule traders must respect?No trading during high-impact news events. It’s a rule often overlooked, yet it can make or break your path to a funded account.

This guide explores how Apex applies its news-related restrictions, how to time trades accordingly, and how traders in Taiwan can adapt using tools from the Apex trading platform, including advanced futures strategies and real-time compliance tools.

Understanding the Apex News Restriction Rule

Apex Trader Funding has a clear-cut policy:trading is prohibited during high-impact economic announcements. This applies to both evaluation and funded accounts on platforms likeTradovate,Rithmic, and NinjaTrader.

Pro Tip: Sync Your Calendar with Taiwan Time

Always convert U.S. economic release times to Taiwan Standard Time before planning your trades. Use automated alerts to avoid last-minute surprises.

Apex restricts trading:

• 2 minutes before and after a scheduled high-impact news event
• Appliesonly to instruments impacted by the event (e.g., USD news affects NQ, ES, YM)
• Enforced duringboth evaluation and Performance Account (PA) stages

Violating this rule may lead to:

• Loss of funded status or evaluation reset
• Trade data being flagged by Apex’s time-stamped system
• Disqualification from ongoing trader funding payout programs

Why This Rule Exists: Risk Meets Volatility

High-impact news releases—such as Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP), Consumer Price Index (CPI), FOMC decisions, or GDP reports—can trigger extreme price swings in futures markets. These swings are often driven by low liquidity, high-frequency algorithms, and reactionary trades.

• Low liquidity and spread widening
• High-frequency trading strategies
• Emotionally driven reactions from retail traders

Warning: Even One Mistake Can Reset Your Account

A single trade during a restricted news window can result in a reset or disqualification. Use “flatten all” hotkeys and platform alerts to prevent costly errors.

Apex enforces this rule to:

• Promote strategic thinking over luck-based gains
• Ensure fairness among traders competing in evaluations
• Reduce platform slippage caused by erratic news-time volatility For traders in Taiwan, this rule should be viewed as a protective measure, especially when building long-term consistency with algorithmic trading or volume profile trading.

Timing Matters: Using Calendars to Stay Compliant

Avoiding news-related violations requires planning, not just instinct. Traders should actively check economic calendars and time their sessions accordingly. Staying compliant with Apex’s news rule requires more than just intuition—it demands proactive planning. Traders should review Apex’s built-in economic calendar available via the dashboard, or refer to reliable resources like ForexFactory and Investing.com. Filtering for “red-flag” or high-impact events ensures you’re only monitoring news that matters. Additionally, trading platforms like Tradovate and NinjaTrader allow users to set automated alerts 3–5 minutes before scheduled announcements, giving traders enough time to flatten positions and avoid rule violations. Creating a daily habit of checking the calendar and setting alerts ensures long-term consistency and discipline.

Best Practices:

• Start your day with a review of upcoming economic releases
• Convert U.S. release times to Taiwan Time for session planning
• Mark all high-impact events and set calendar notifications
• Flatten or avoid trading 2–3 minutes before news hits

For those exploring TAIFEX futures strategies, combining economic calendar awareness with order flow analysis becomes even more critical.

“Your edge isn’t in predicting the news—it’s in preparing for it.”

Strategy Adjustments Around News Windows

Complying with the news restriction rule doesn’t mean missing all opportunities—it means adapting your futures trading strategies around risk zones with precision. These adjustments are especially critical for traders usingday trading software on volatile events and evaluating with performance-based capital goals in mind.

Here’s how to adapt effectively using advanced futures strategies:

Trade Earlier or Wait It Out

Close any positions well ahead of a news event. After the 2-minute post-news period, wait for price stabilization before reentering. This aligns with risk management in day trading, reducing slippage and protecting account status.

Reduce Position Size

If uncertain, scale down exposure or avoid entries altogether. Use automated exit tools via NinjaTrader or Tradovate to manage trades safely. These tools complement scalping strategies and help refine your approach using live market data analysis and volume profile trading. 📈 Strategy Insight: News Volatility = No-Trade Zone

Avoid chasing momentum immediately after news events. Let price stabilize before entering — it’s often thesecond wave that’s more tradeable.

Avoid Immediate Post-News Entries

Price action following news can be misleading. Allow time for volatility to normalize before assessing market direction again. This window is ideal for developing quantitative trading models and backtestingoptions on futures strategies based on the market’s new structure.

By structuring trades around these high-volatility windows, you reinforce consistency and discipline—key traits Apex evaluates when offering funded futures trading accounts. These adjustments also align with advanced derivatives Taiwan and domestic index strategies for traders navigating international markets.

Platforms That Help You Stay Compliant

Apex’s supported platforms provide built-in tools that support clean trading:

Tradovate

• “Flatten all” hotkey
• Custom news alerts
• Useful for options on futures strategies and discretionary entries
   

Rithmic

• Preferred for order flow analysis and Rithmic data source application in Taiwan futures high-frequency trading
• Ideal for visualizing volume surges during economic releases

NinjaTrader

• Custom script support
• Effective for traders automating advanced derivatives Taiwan setups

WealthCharts

• Great for identifying trend shifts post-news
  Use in conjunction with Apex to avoid volatile entries

Combining these platforms with Apex’s tools gives you structure without limiting your strategy—especially if you're exploring futures spread trading techniques in Taiwan.

How News Impacts the Futures Market

It’s important to understand that news doesn’t just create volatility—it reshapes the structure of price behavior for hours afterward. Understanding news behavior leads to better futures trading strategies. High-impact events cause:

Immediate Impacts:

• Price spikes in both directions (often within seconds)
• Spread widening, especially in ES and NQ
• Unpredictable fills and execution delays
  Scalpers who trade indices like the E-mini S&P 500 during quieter periods often rely on fast-reacting tools. Incorporating the best indicators for scalping E-mini S&P 500, such as VWAP, CCI, and order flow heatmaps, can provide an edge—especially when paired with platforms like NinjaTrader or Rithmic.

Longer-Term Effects:

• Shifts in market sentiment
• Breakout setups forming from consolidation zones
• Trend reversals driven by unexpected data
  
  Recognizing this helps traders apply trading psychology tips—avoiding reactive trades and sticking to developing a consistent trading plan (pdf). This is why Apex’s rule exists—it reduces unnecessary evaluation failures caused by unpredictable behavior that even seasoned traders struggle with.

The Psychology of Staying Flat

One of the biggest hurdles for traders is the urge to trade through excitement. High-impact news creates tension and FOMO (fear of missing out). But real skill lies inhow to control emotions while trading.

Taiwanese traders alike benefit when they shift mindset:

• From reactionary to strategic
• From impulse-driven to rule-driven
   
• From chasing volatility to building consistency
   

Staying flat shows discipline—and Apex rewards that. Especially for traders building careers with trader funding payout models, patience often pays more than participation. Learning to sit on your hands for 4–5 minutes might save your entire account—and signal to Apex that you’re a long-term trading partner.

“Discipline is what separates a professional trader from a reactive one.”

Insight for Traders in Taiwan

Most U.S. economic events occur during Taiwan’s evening hours, offering local traders a unique scheduling advantage. This natural time zone alignment gives those trading with Apex Trader Funding the flexibility to plan around high-impact announcements like CPI and FOMC without disrupting their core sessions.

For traders applying TAIFEX futures strategies or involved in advanced derivatives in Taiwan, this buffer supports better timing and clearer execution windows. It’s also the perfect opportunity to incorporate order flow analysis of Taiwan futures, leveraging quieter pre-news periods for data review and setup.

This scheduling advantage helps traders:

• Refinefutures trading strategies without pressure
• Use tools like Rithmic data source application in Taiwan futures high-frequency trading
• Optimize trades using trading psychology tips and reduce emotional reactions to market noise

By aligning with the U.S. news cycle, Taiwanese traders can confidently maintain their trading structure, build compliant habits, and work toward consistent funding evaluation milestones. This rhythm also supports smarter planning usingdeveloping a consistent trading plan pdf or tools likeWealthCharts for Taiwan futures market microstructure analysis—giving Apex participants a distinct edge.

FAQs: Stay Ahead of News Compliance

 Which prop firm has the most flexible rules?

The most flexible prop firms typically offer simple evaluation steps, lenient rules around news trading, no restrictions on trading styles like scalping or algorithmic trading, and a variety of supported trading platforms. Flexibility also means allowing traders to use automated systems, trade during key sessions, and scale their accounts with minimal restrictions.

Apex Trader Funding stands out in this space by offering a one-step evaluation, allowing news trading outside restricted windows, and supporting platforms like Tradovate, NinjaTrader, and Rithmic. Its approach to trailing drawdown transparency, multiple account scaling, and payout consistency makes it a strong option for traders seeking fewer limitations and clearer rules.

 What futures markets can I trade with Apex?

You can trade major U.S. futures contracts, including ES, NQ, YM, RTY, and even commodities. These align well with advanced futures trading strategies and are supported across Tradovate, NinjaTrader, and Rithmic.

 How can I backtest an algorithmic trading strategy for futures?

To backtest effectively, traders often use tools like NinjaTrader’s strategy builder, which allows for rule-based testing without coding. This helps simulate how your strategy would have performed under historical market conditions. It’s a key step when refining quantitative trading models. Apex Trader Funding supports the use of such tools during evaluations, giving traders the flexibility to test and optimize strategies before going live.

 How to use Tradovate for Taiwan advanced futures arbitrage strategies?

To execute Taiwan advanced futures arbitrage strategies, traders can use Tradovate’s depth of market (DOM) to track bid-ask dynamics and identify short-term pricing inefficiencies. Combining this with spread overlays and custom alerts allows for precise entry and exit timing. Tradovate’s tools make it easier to monitor correlated instruments and optimize arbitrage execution during fast-moving sessions.

Can I Trade Personal and Live Accounts at the Same Time?

Many prop firms allow traders to manage both personal and funded accounts, provided risk is controlled separately. It's important to avoid trade duplication across accounts and to follow platform-specific rules on simultaneous trading. At Apex, traders are permitted to operate both account types, as long as they manage exposure independently and avoid mirrored trading that violates evaluation or funding guidelines.

Final Takeaway: Plan Around the Calendar, Not Against It

The “No Trading During High-Impact News” rule might seem restrictive, but it’s actually a signal of Apex’s professional approach. It’s designed to help traders succeed by removing unnecessary risks and promoting structured discipline.

High-impact news rules aren’t a burden—they reflect the discipline expected from professional traders. For those in Taiwan, aligning daily strategy with Apex’s economic calendar and platform tools makes compliance second nature. Whether you trade via Rithmic, Tradovate, or NinjaTrader, Apex gives you the infrastructure to trade smart—not fast. If you’re ready to explore evaluation accounts with powerful platform integrations, check out the options on the Apex Trader Funding website. Use copy code to avail current discounts available and start your path to funding today.

If you're looking to scale your journey using structured trading techniques backed by performance-based trading programs, now’s the time to start.

Get Started with Apex in Taiwan

Ready to test your trading discipline? Apex Trader Funding offers evaluation accounts starting at $25K with access to Rithmic, NinjaTrader, and Tradovate platforms.

• Sign up for a $25K Rithmic evaluation
• Explore Tradovate funding options
• Test WealthCharts for market microstructure analysis

Use COPY code to avail current discounts available on Apex Trader Funding.