What Are Weekend Holding Rules?
Most prop firms—including KorabKash—have rules about holding positions over the weekend. In simple terms: you cannot leave open trades (long or short) when the market closes on Friday, and you must flatten all positions before the close of the New York session.
This means if you're trading forex or indices on Friday afternoon (WAT time), you need to close your trades before 1 AM Saturday morning. No exceptions, no "just one more trade." The rule applies to every funded account, whether you're on a $1,000 challenge or a $400,000 account.
Why does this matter? Because weekend risk is real. Geopolitical events, central bank announcements, or economic shocks can happen between Friday close and Sunday open—and your position will gap against you with no chance to exit.
Why Prop Firms Enforce This Rule
Weekend holding rules exist for three solid reasons, and understanding them helps you trade smarter within them.
Gap risk is the biggest one. When markets are closed, they don't trade. If something significant happens—a surprise political announcement, a banking crisis, a major earnings miss—the market opens Monday at a completely different price. A position you thought was a small loss could wake up Monday as a 5% or 10% loss. That's catastrophic for a trader, and it's catastrophic for the prop firm's capital too.
Liquidity disappears. Over the weekend, forex spreads widen dramatically. If you're trapped in a position and need to close it Monday morning, you'll face much worse pricing than you would on a normal trading day. The prop firm wants to protect its account equity—and frankly, it wants you to avoid the emotional hit of a bad Monday open.
Risk management discipline matters.** Prop firms use these rules to enforce a culture of daily risk closure. If you're holding over the weekend, you're not managing your risk properly. You're hoping. And hope is not a strategy. The rule forces you to make deliberate decisions about every trade before the week ends.
How This Affects Your Strategy
Weekend rules force you to think differently about your trading plan. If you're used to scalping the London open or day trading the NY session, you can still do that. But if your edge relies on holding trades for days or weeks—a swing strategy, for instance—you need to adapt.
Here's what it means in practice: your trades need to be completed within a single week. If you open a swing trade on Monday expecting to hold until Wednesday, that's fine. But if it doesn't hit your target or stop by Friday afternoon, you must close it. You don't get to carry it into the next week.
Many Nigerian traders find this frustrating at first because they're used to holding winning trades in hope of bigger moves. But the rule has a hidden benefit: it forces discipline. You can't "let winners run" into a gap risk. You must define your exits clearly.
If you trade during the London/NY overlap (usually 1 PM to 8 PM WAT), you have plenty of volume and volatility to work with—and you can close all positions within the same day if you want. Scalpers and intraday traders rarely feel the weight of this rule.
The Specific Rules at KorabKash
On KorabKash accounts, the rule is clear: no open positions at the close of the New York session (5 PM EST / 10 PM UTC). For Lagos time, that's 1 AM Saturday morning. All trades must be closed by then—no exceptions, no partial positions left "just in case."
This applies to all challenge types: 2-Step, 1-Step, and Instant Funded. It doesn't matter if your account is at the start of a challenge or you're already funded and scaling. Weekend holding is not allowed.
You can track your trades in real time on your dashboard, so there's no ambiguity about when you need to close. The system will show you your open positions, your drawdown, and your consistency score (on applicable account types)—all in one place.
What Happens If You Hold Over the Weekend?
If you break the weekend holding rule, your account will be flagged or closed. Different firms handle this differently, but KorabKash treats it as a violation of account terms. You lose your challenge or your funded account, and you won't get a payout.
This is not a gray area. It's not something you can negotiate or appeal. The rule exists to protect account equity, and if you bypass it, the firm has no choice but to close the account. This is why it's critical to set calendar reminders for Friday afternoon—especially if you trade late in the evening WAT and might lose track of time.
How to Trade Smart Within These Rules
The best traders don't see weekend rules as a limitation—they see them as a structure. Here's how to adapt:
Set a Friday cutoff time. Don't trade after 12 PM WAT on Friday (or earlier if you need buffer time to manage your positions). This gives you hours to close any open trades before the NY close.
Plan your entries and exits around the week. If you're a swing trader, open your positions early in the week so you have time to reach your target or cut your loss by Friday.
Use intraday strategies if you like longer holds. Instead of holding a single trade for days, consider opening and closing similar trades within each day. You get similar directional exposure without the weekend gap risk.
Know your broker's exact close time. You think the NY session closes at 5 PM EST? Double-check with your broker. Some platforms close marginally earlier. You don't want to be caught flat-footed.
The Bigger Picture
Weekend holding rules aren't unique to prop firms—they're part of how financial risk is managed globally. Hedge funds, investment banks, and professional traders all manage weekend risk carefully. Prop firms just enforce it more strictly because the account isn't yours yet. You're proving yourself with someone else's capital.
Once you're comfortable with the rule, you'll realize it actually improves your trading. You're forced to be clear about your decisions. You can't hide behind a "letting it ride" mentality. Every trade must have a plan, and every plan must close before Friday night.
If you're considering a prop firm challenge or already funded, read our FAQ for more details on account rules, or start a challenge to test your strategy within a structured environment. Weekend holding rules aren't a punishment—they're part of trading like a professional.