Prop Firm for Stocks: Trade The Pool, FundedNext and Lux Compared

A prop firm for stocks sells you an evaluation. You pay a fee, trade the firm’s account under its rules, and receive a share of the profits if you pass. But you don’t own the shares at any stage: the account is simulated, a demo, or a set of stock CFDs. This guide compares three firms whose own pages list US stocks: Trade The Pool, FundedNext, and Lux Trading Firm.

It’s written for a trader who already trades forex on a prop account, wants to add large-cap US stocks, and keeps a small cash account at a broker. The checks remain the same outside the US too. Firm terms often change, so check each one on the firm’s own page before you pay.

How we chose the firms

A firm made the list only if its own pages name stock instruments a US trader can use. We read each firm’s terms on 2 October 2026 and compared one named product per firm. FundedNext’s pages carry no dates, so its figures are as read on that day.

Three well-known names didn’t make it. The5ers lists forex, metals, indices, crypto and commodities, and its own Stock Trading menu link sends you to Trade The Pool, its sister brand. E8 Markets offers stocks only as perpetual futures, and its help centre says ‘all accounts are demo’. FTMO does list stock CFDs, including 35 it added in March 2026, but US traders join through a separate company, FTMO US, with its own terms. That deserves its own review.

STOFS chose these firms on the criteria above. None paid to be included, and the links to their sites carry no affiliate tracking.

Check your own broker account first

The pattern day trader (PDT) rule and its $25,000 minimum no longer bind you. FINRA replaced it with intraday margin standards on 4 June 2026, and brokers have until 20 October 2027 to switch over (FINRA Regulatory Notice 26-10). Under the new standard, a margin account must cover any intraday shortfall promptly; there is no fixed minimum balance.

A small cash account was never under the PDT rule. Its limit is settled money: you can only buy with cash that has settled. FINRA’s guide to intraday trading warns that selling a stock before paying for it is ‘free-riding’, and Investor.gov says that can make your broker freeze the account for 90 days.

So, a prop firm solves a size problem. If your cash account can’t carry the position you want, an evaluation gives you more buying power on the firm’s terms. If it can, you’re paying for something you already have.

What you actually trade, and who you sign up with

Read the definitions in a firm’s terms before its sales page. Trade The Pool’s program page says you trade on actual US stock and ETF prices. Its terms say evaluation trading ‘is entirely simulated and is not real’ and ‘we are not a broker-dealer’. FundedNext lists stocks as CFDs. Lux’s rules page runs the evaluation on a demo account; Lux says accounts after the evaluation are placed with its liquidity providers, which still gives you no shares.

Gil Ben Hur, founder of The5ers, whose company also runs Trade The Pool, put it plainly to Finance Magnates in 2025:

“The two-step evaluation has no chance of being A-book. It simply cannot be done.”

Gil Ben Hur, founder and CEO of The5ers, in Finance Magnates, 7 August 2025. A-book means orders go to the actual market.

None of the three names have a financial licence for the evaluation, so treat each as a private contract. On 2 October 2026, none of the brands or companies above appeared on the CFTC’s RED List of unregistered foreign firms, and searches of the FCA’s warning pages found none. A clean search means no warning on file; but it isn’t a licence.

Stock prop firms side-by-side

The table compares one evaluation from each firm. Sizes differ, so read the targets and limits as percentages too.

Sources: Trade The Pool’s program page and program terms; FundedNext’s Stellar 1-Step page, trading objectives and CFD Challenge Terms; Lux’s 1-Step page and rules page.

Targets and loss limits as a share of account size, from each firm’s own pages on 2 October 2026.

If you expect to fail a few times as you learn, the refund and the fee matter most, and the cash refunds at Trade The Pool and FundedNext end once you place a trade. Once you expect to pass, compare the splits, counting FundedNext’s 95% only if you buy its add-on. Our guide to prop firm challenge rules explains static and trailing loss limits.

1. Trade The Pool: the widest US stock list, with an earnings cut-off

Trade The Pool is the only firm here built around US stocks. Its program page offers more than 12,000 US-listed stocks and ETFs, including penny stocks and IPOs, on the TraderEvolution platform. It has no index futures: if you trade NQ or ES, you’d use their ETFs, QQQ and SPY. Its markets page says US citizens can join.

Its earnings policy is one rule enforced two ways. The program terms bar holding a reporting company overnight in earnings season. In practice, the firm liquidates a stock at 3:50 PM ET when that company reports the same night, on day and swing accounts, and swing accounts also have the ticker disabled at the end of that day. Day accounts are closed out 10 minutes before every close anyway.

On report days, plan to be out of that stock by 3:50 PM ET at Trade The Pool. Hold through the report only at your own broker.

Suits: a day trader who is out of a reporting stock by 3:50 PM ET.

Watch for: the 70% split, the lowest here, and a 50% consistency rule on FLEX accounts.

2. FundedNext: stock CFDs beside your forex trades

FundedNext adds a short list of stock CFDs to the same challenge you’d use for forex. Its help centre lists 20: 14 US names such as AAPL, NVDA, TSLA and MSFT, and 6 European ones, all at 1:2 leverage. A help article says it accepts US traders for CFD challenges, and US clients trade on Match-Trader only.

It is also the most relaxed about holding. FundedNext says overnight and weekend holding is allowed on every CFD account, and the Stellar 1-Step challenge is exempt from its news-trading limits. It sets no earnings rule, so ask in writing before you hold a stock CFD through a report. Its Scale-Up route to a 90% share is covered in our prop firm scaling plan guide.

Suits: a forex trader adding a few US large caps to one account.

Watch for: the short stock list and the paid add-on behind the 95% share.

3. Lux Trading Firm: the cheapest fee, with two rulebooks to reconcile

Lux charges £199 for a $100,000 evaluation and returns the fee once you pass; the best deal on paper here. Its October 2024 symbols list includes 228 stocks, among them AAPL, TSLA and NVDA. Every trade needs a stop-loss.

Lux’s site now labels two pages ‘New Trading Rules’ and ‘Old Trading Rules’, and its 1-Step page links to the new one. The new rules set a 6% static loss limit without minimum days; the old rules measure 6% from your highest balance, require 29 trading days, set minimum stop distances for stocks, and refund only 50% of the fee. Neither page has an earnings rule. Ask Lux to confirm in writing that the new rules govern the account you buy.

Suits: a trader who always uses a stop and wants a low fee.

Watch for: the conflicting rule pages and a stock list dated 2024.

The Bottom Line on Prop Firms for Stocks

Buy a stock evaluation only when your own account can’t carry the size you trade. Then pick by how you hold. Trade The Pool fits a day trader who is flat in a reporting stock by 3:50 PM ET. FundedNext fits a forex trader who wants a handful of US large caps in the same account. Lux suits a disciplined, stop-first trader, once it confirms which rulebook applies.

For the trades you want to hold through earnings, split the job: day trade at the firm and keep earnings positions in your own cash account, where you own the shares. Before you pay, check that the firm takes traders from your country, read its fee and refund at checkout, and practise the rules with our guide on how to pass a prop firm challenge. If you trade options as well, see our list of options prop firms in the USA.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I trade actual shares with a prop firm?

Not at these firms. Trade The Pool’s evaluation is simulated, FundedNext’s stocks are CFDs, and Lux’s evaluation runs on a demo account, so you don’t own any shares at any stage.

Do stock prop firms actually pay out?

Some traders get paid, but few. Data from FPFX Tech, reported by Finance Magnates in September 2024, showed 14% of 300,000-plus accounts at 10 prop firms passed, and about 7% of all traders received a payout. Those were mostly forex and CFD accounts.

Can I hold stocks overnight or through earnings?

It depends on the firm. FundedNext allows overnight and weekend holds, Trade The Pool closes stocks reporting that night at 3:50 PM ET, and Lux’s pages don’t say, so ask in writing.

Are prop firm payouts taxed in the US?

Usually, yes. If your payouts count as self-employment income, the IRS rate for self-employment tax is 15.3%, on top of income tax. Our guide to prop firm taxes covers the details; check your own position with a tax professional.

Is a stock prop firm better than trading forex?

It depends on your priorities. Stocks trade in set US hours and react to company news such as earnings, and forex runs 24 hours a day on economic data. Our comparison of forex and the stock market sets the two side by side.