The Intelligence Desk
Intelligence
Research, rules, payouts, firm analysis, and prop trading insights — built by traders, for traders.
Publications
Newsletters, digests, and the flagship yearly report.
Monthly Intelligence Brief
PTC's monthly brief. No issue has been published yet.
Brief Archive
Published briefs, ordered by publication date.
Quarterly Digests
Per-quarter overview of industry events and firm changes.
Yearly Industry Report
The flagship annual prop trading industry report.
Prop Intelligence
Current developments across firms, rules, payouts, and regulation.
Prop Intelligence
The live feed of meaningful prop firm developments.
Rule Changes
Tracker of rule and policy updates across major firms.
Industry Shifts
Structural moves in the prop trading industry.
Payout Intelligence
Payout speed, reliability, and denial signals.
Firm Health Signals
Leading indicators of firm stability or risk.
Guides
Evergreen explainers built around how prop firms actually work.
Rules That Catch Traders Off Guard
Hidden consistency rules, time limits, and lot-size traps.
Why Accounts Get Blown
The real reasons funded accounts fail.
How Prop Firms Actually Work
Challenge model, payouts, and the broker-backed vs. simulation question.
Red Flags & Hidden Rules
What separates a real firm from a soon-to-collapse one.
Drawdown Deep Dives
Static vs. trailing, daily vs. max, equity vs. balance.
Challenge Difficulty Analysis
How hard is each challenge — really?
Position Size, Margin & Exposure
Effective leverage, margin schedules, and real buying power.
Tools
Practical, interactive calculators and comparison tools.
Firm Checker
Search a firm and get rules, payouts, and risk indicators.
Drawdown Calculator
Static or trailing — see safe position size and remaining DD.
Challenge Analyzer
Estimate difficulty and pass probability for any challenge.
Payout Comparison
Compare firms side-by-side on payout terms.
Position Size & Margin Calculator
Max lot size, margin used, effective leverage.
Featured
The most-read pieces across the Intelligence desk.