Closed without a losing trade: inactivity, news and price-limit rules
The rules at Topstep, MyFundedFutures and Apex Trader Funding that can end a funded account that never hit its loss limit, read on their own pages on 22 October 2026.
9 primary sources, listed at the end of the piece. Sources accessed 22 Oct 2026. How we check
The Sunday email. The week’s releases and earnings with times in ET, posts worth reading, and last week’s closed setups, wins and losses. Free.
- On 22 October 2026, all three firms we read could close a funded account for inactivity, from 7 days to more than 30 days without the required activity.
- Apex’s page, read on 22 October 2026, counts only days with at least $50 of profit toward its activity rule, not days with any trade.
- MyFundedFutures’ page, read on 22 October 2026, bars positions and orders from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after tier-one releases on its Rapid and Pro funded accounts.
- MyFundedFutures and Topstep, read on 22 October 2026, both prohibit trading or holding positions within 2% of a CME price limit.
- Apex’s page, read on 22 October 2026, says holding a position through the market close forfeits the account and its balance.
Some of the most frustrated reviews of prop firms this month come from traders whose accounts were closed without a losing trade: the account was inactive while they travelled, a position was open across a news release, or a contract they traded broke a rule they had not read. These rules are separate from the drawdown and daily loss limits most traders watch. We read them at three firms, Topstep (/firms/topstep), MyFundedFutures (/firms/myfundedfutures) and Apex Trader Funding (/firms/apex), on their own pages on 22 October 2026. This piece sets out what each firm says, in four groups: inactivity, news releases, price limits and the market close, and thin or gapped markets. It does not judge any trader’s case.
The rules side by side
Each firm applies these rules to its funded accounts, and some to evaluations too; plans at the same firm can differ. The table summarises what each firm’s own pages said on 22 October 2026.
| Rule | Topstep | MyFundedFutures | Apex Trader Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inactivity | Express Funded Account may be closed after more than 30 days with no trading | No trade for 7 calendar days can close accounts bought from 25 Aug 2026 | Two days of $50+ profit in every rolling 30 days, or closed |
| News releases | A short restriction around tier-one releases; details by product | Flat 2 minutes either side of tier-one releases on Rapid and Pro funded accounts | Not found on the pages read |
| Price limits | No position within 2% of a price limit | No trading within 2% of a CME price limit | Not found on the pages read |
| Market close | Not covered on the pages read | Not covered on the pages read | Holding through the close forfeits the account |
Inactivity: 7 days, 30 days, or profit that counts
MyFundedFutures moved new evaluation purchases to one-time fees on 25 August 2026, and with that came a new inactivity rule: an account that goes 7 consecutive calendar days without a trade can be closed, simulated funded accounts included. The firm’s page says that because there is no monthly billing to pause, staying active within the 7 days is what keeps the account in good standing, and that traders going on holiday for more than 7 days are asked to tell its support team. We logged this change at /articles/rule-change-myfundedfutures-2026-08-inactivity-7-days. Topstep’s Express Funded Account page says an account with no trading activity for more than 30 days may be closed, and that these accounts cannot be put on hold. Apex’s rule is the one most likely to surprise an active trader. Its performance accounts need at least two trading days with $50 or more of net profit in every rolling 30-day period; days with trades but less profit do not count. Apex sends reminders after 15 and 20 days without two qualifying days, when the account moves to a dormant section of the dashboard. After 30 consecutive days without meeting the threshold, the account is closed, access is removed, any payout eligibility is forfeited, and the page says a closed account cannot be reinstated.
News releases: flat before the number
MyFundedFutures has the most detailed news rule of the three. On its Rapid and Pro simulated funded accounts, no positions or orders, including limit orders, can be open from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after a tier-one release: positions have to be flat by 8:28 for an 8:30 release and can reopen from 8:32. Tier-one releases are FOMC meetings and minutes, the employment report and CPI for every trader, plus EIA reports for energy traders and agricultural reports for agricultural traders. Evaluations and Builder plans are not restricted. The page adds that keeping up with changes to release dates and times is the trader’s responsibility. A position opened before a release and still open at 8:28 breaks the rule, even if the trader did not trade the release itself. Topstep’s economic-releases page says it restricts trading for a short period during tier-one news, and the page it links lists position limits by product and account type during volatile markets. We did not find a single fixed window for its standard accounts on the pages we read. We did not find a news rule on the Apex pages we read.
Price limits and the market close
CME sets price limits on many futures: the furthest a contract can move in a session before trading halts or the limit expands. MyFundedFutures prohibits trading when a product is within 2% of a CME price limit, on both its simulated and real-capital funded accounts. Its page works an example on Nasdaq futures: with a reference price of 18,556 and a 7% limit, trading stops above about 19,483 or below about 17,628. Topstep’s prohibited-conduct list includes holding a position within 2% of a product’s price limit. Apex’s list of prohibited activities includes holding open positions through the market close: the page says traders are responsible for closing all positions before the close and that those who don’t forfeit their accounts and the balances in them.
Thin markets, gaps and brackets
All three firms prohibit strategies that profit from how their simulated markets fill orders rather than from the market itself. MyFundedFutures bars initiating trades to profit from isolated fills in gapped or illiquid markets, using tight brackets to exploit the absence of slippage, and placing several limit orders at one price to manipulate fills. Apex bars any attempt to manipulate the simulation for erroneous fills, including non-directional bracket orders left open on both sides of the market. Topstep’s prohibited-conduct list includes exploiting errors in price display or data-feed delays and trading outside the market’s bid and offer prices. Isolated fills are most common in thinly traded contracts, such as an expiring contract month rather than the main one.
What we checked, and what we did not
Everything above is from the firms’ own help pages, read on 22 October 2026 and linked below. Firms change these rules, and plans at the same firm differ, so the firm’s page for the trader’s own plan is the authority; we record rule changes we confirm at /prop-firms/rule-changes. We chose this topic because closures for inactivity, news releases and contract choice came up at several firms in public reviews this month. We have not checked any individual reviewer’s case. Where the table says a rule was not found or not covered, that means the pages we read did not state one, not that the firm has none.
Sources
- MyFundedFutures: Inactivity Rule, one-time payment model (accessed 2026-10-22)
- MyFundedFutures: News Trading Policy (accessed 2026-10-22)
- MyFundedFutures: 2% Price Limit Rule (accessed 2026-10-22)
- MyFundedFutures: Fair Play and Prohibited Trading Practices (accessed 2026-10-22)
- Topstep: Express Funded Account Parameters (accessed 2026-10-22)
- Topstep: Economic Releases (accessed 2026-10-22)
- Topstep: Prohibited Conduct (accessed 2026-10-22)
- Apex Trader Funding: Inactivity Policy on Performance Accounts (accessed 2026-10-22)
- Apex Trader Funding: Prohibited Activities (accessed 2026-10-22)
Tags: Prop firms · Hidden rules · Inactivity · News trading
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General market information, not investment advice. Figures are from the primary sources listed at the end of the piece, with the date of each.
Note: Articles and community posts on PYE Markets are for educational and informational purposes only and are not financial advice.
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