“News Filter” Is Not an Answer: Three Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Gold EA

When I read an EA description that says “stops on news,” I want to know what actually stops. Does the robot stop opening trades? Does it close positions already open? Which announcements count as news, and how long does the pause last?

For a trader comparing gold EAs on the Market, “news filter” can look like a simple yes-or-no feature. Two products both have it, so that box is ticked. But those two words do not describe a trading rule. A news filter needs three answers: which events, what window, and what happens to new entries and open positions.

Which events count?

“News” is too broad to tell me when an EA will pause. A filter might select announcements by currency, importance level or event name. A description needs to explain the selection before I can judge whether it matches the releases around which I want to avoid opening trades.

The useful question for the seller is: “Which events trigger the filter with the default settings?” If the answer is only “important news,” I still need to know what “important” means in that filter. I also want to know whether I can change the selection.

When does the pause start and end?

“Around the release” is not a usable time window. A pause beginning two hours before an announcement is a different rule from one beginning five minutes before it. The end matters just as much: the scheduled release time alone does not tell me when entries resume.

I want two numbers: minutes before and minutes after. I also want the description to distinguish default settings from fixed behaviour. That lets me compare the actual pause and decide whether the available settings fit my requirements.

What happens to trades?

This is where “stops on news” can be especially misleading. Blocking new entries and closing existing positions are different actions. A trader who reads “pause” as “no open exposure” could misunderstand a filter that only prevents fresh entries.

I therefore treat this as two separate questions: “Can the EA open a new trade during the pause?” and “What happens to a position that is already open?” An answer to the first does not answer the second. Without both, I cannot tell what the filter changes in practice.

A concrete example: Gold Storm PRO

In my Gold Storm PRO, an Expert Advisor that trades XAUUSD (gold), those three answers are:

• Events: by default, three US (USD) releases—CPI and PCE for inflation, and Nonfarm for jobs.
• Window: by default, 120 minutes before the event until 5 minutes after it, a total of 125 minutes. The minutes are settings.
• Behaviour: during the pause, the EA opens no new entries. The pause does not close open positions; they are managed as usual.

Figure 1. The default news pause: 120 minutes before the event and 5 minutes after it. No new entries; open positions are managed as usual.

The settings let you configure the impact level, currencies, event keywords, and minutes before and after to match your own rules or a prop firm's rules.

Figure 2. The news filter settings: minutes before and after, impact level, currencies and event keywords.

The calendar-based news filter works in live trading only. The MetaTrader calendar is unavailable in the Strategy Tester, so a Strategy Tester run does not test this live calendar filter. Keep that distinction in mind when evaluating the demo.