Review
Trade The Pool: In-Depth Review
General Company Information
Trade The Pool (TTP) is a funding firm that has carved out a specific niche in the competitive world of proprietary trading: the U.S. stock and ETF market. Founded by the experienced team behind The5ers, a renowned prop firm in the Forex space since 2016, TTP inherits a foundation of credibility and operational experience that sets it apart from many emerging companies.
The company’s mission is articulated around the concept of a “Limited Risk Trading Platform.” Under the leadership of its CEO, Michael Katz, a trader with over 17 years of experience, the firm promotes a philosophy where a trader’s skill and strategy should be the sole determinants of their success, not the limitations of their personal capital. This approach, called the “Traders First Approach,” seeks to eliminate the traditional barriers and personal financial risk that retail traders face.
The company’s structure is supported by a team with direct market experience. In addition to Michael Katz, figures like Gil Ben Hur, founder of The5ers and TTP, and Yaniv Greif, responsible for technology and operations, bring deep knowledge of trading and risk management. The company operates with offices in Ra’anana, Israel, and London, UK. The connection to The5ers is not merely anecdotal; it represents a strategic decision that allows Trade The Pool to leverage an already established reputation and infrastructure. This suggests a higher degree of stability and reliability in an industry where longevity is often a challenge.
Funding Programs: Day Trading
Trade The Pool structures its offering around two main trading styles: Day Trading and Swing Trading. Within each style, traders can choose between two different evaluation models: FLEX and MAX. This section focuses on the programs designed for Day Trading.
The FLEX and MAX models are designed to attract different trader profiles, functioning as a filter based on operational style and pressure tolerance. The FLEX program, with a higher entry cost, offers an unlimited evaluation period, allowing traders to operate without time pressure and wait for the most favorable market conditions for their strategy. However, it imposes stricter consistency rules in the funded phase.
On the other hand, the MAX program is more economical and is aimed at traders who are confident in their ability to achieve targets quickly and under pressure. It sets a 60-day time limit to complete the evaluation. As a trade-off for this requirement, the consistency rules for withdrawals in the funded phase are more lenient, which is a significant incentive. This dual design allows the firm to manage risk not only through loss limits but also by indirectly selecting the type of trader who accesses its capital.
Day Trading FLEX Accounts Table
| Buying Power (Intraday) | Buying Power (Overnight/Extended) | Price | Profit Target | Daily Pause | Maximum Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $800 | $59 | 6% | 2% | 4% |
| $25,000 | $4,000 | $120 | 6% | 2% | 4% |
| $50,000 | $8,000 | $285 | 6% | 2% | 4% |
| $100,000 | $16,000 | $545 | 6% | 2% | 4% |
| $200,000 | $32,000 | $1,475 | 6% | 2% | 4% |
Day Trading MAX Accounts Table
| Buying Power (Intraday) | Buying Power (Overnight/Extended) | Price | Profit Target | Daily Pause | Maximum Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $800 | $47 | 6% | 1% | 3% |
| $25,000 | $4,000 | $97 | 6% | 1% | 3% |
| $50,000 | $8,000 | $230 | 6% | 1% | 3% |
| $100,000 | $16,000 | $435 | 6% | 1% | 3% |
| $200,000 | $32,000 | $1,100 | 6% | 1% | 3% |
Funding Programs: Swing Trading
For traders whose strategies require holding positions beyond a single day, Trade The Pool offers Swing Trading programs. The fundamental feature of these programs is the ability to hold trades overnight and even over the weekend, which is essential for capturing medium-term price movements.
An important rule specific to this style is that to hold a position overnight, the stock must have an average daily volume of at least 500,000 shares over the last 14 days. This rule aims to ensure that positions are held in assets with sufficient liquidity, mitigating the risk of extreme gaps or lack of counterparties.
As with the Day Trading programs, traders can choose between the FLEX and MAX models. The FLEX model for Swing Trading has no time limit to reach the target, while the MAX model sets a 100-day deadline. Both programs have a 15% profit target and wider loss limits than their Day Trading counterparts, acknowledging the greater volatility inherent in swing trading.
Swing Trading FLEX Accounts Table
| Buying Power | Price | Profit Target | Daily Pause | Maximum Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $87 | 15% | 3% | 7% |
| $10,000 | $420 | 15% | 3% | 7% |
| $20,000 | $670 | 15% | 3% | 7% |
| $40,000 | $1,240 | 15% | 3% | 7% |
Swing Trading MAX Accounts Table
| Buying Power | Price | Profit Target | Daily Pause | Maximum Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $69 | 15% | 3% | 7% |
| $10,000 | $297 | 15% | 3% | 7% |
| $20,000 | $447 | 15% | 3% | 7% |
| $40,000 | $800 | 15% | 3% | 7% |
Funded Phase and Scaling Plan
Once a trader successfully passes the evaluation phase, the transition process to become a funded “Stock Star” begins. This process includes a review of their trading activity by the company’s risk department, passing an identity verification process (KYC/AML), and, in some cases, an interview with the CEO before signing the contract and receiving the funded account.
The profit split for funded traders can go up to 80%. For Day Trading programs, the split is 70% for the trader and 30% for the firm.
Trade The Pool offers a dynamic scaling plan known as “Pump.” This system is designed to reward consistent profitability. Each time a trader on a funded account, such as the Flex program, reaches a 10% profit target, the firm increases both their buying power and their daily loss limit (Daily Pause). For example, on a $200,000 account with a $4,000 Daily Pause, upon reaching the target, the buying power could increase to $210,000 and the Daily Pause to $4,400.
This scaling model is particularly valuable. By increasing not only the available capital but also the daily risk margin, it provides the trader with greater operational flexibility. This allows them to manage larger positions or withstand greater volatility without breaking the rules, creating a positive feedback loop that encourages sustainable, long-term growth.
Trading Rules
Trade The Pool’s framework of rules is detailed and designed to manage the firm’s risk and filter out certain trading styles. It is crucial for applicants to fully understand these rules before starting an evaluation.
Fundamental Risk Rules
Risk management is the pillar of TTP’s model. The two main rules are the Daily Pause and the Maximum Total Loss.
The Daily Pause is the loss limit that a trader cannot exceed in a single trading day. If the account’s equity falls below this threshold, the account is automatically closed. The percentages vary depending on the program (1%, 2%, or 3%).
The Maximum Total Loss is the maximum drawdown allowed on the account. This rule has a dynamic behavior: initially, it is a fixed percentage of the starting capital, but once the trader generates a profit equivalent to three times their Daily Pause, the Maximum Loss limit is anchored to the initial account balance. This creates a safety cushion, allowing the trader to risk only the profits earned without jeopardizing the initial capital of the funded account.
Consistency and Quality Rules
Beyond loss limits, TTP imposes rules that seek to ensure the quality and consistency of trading.
The Best Trade Ratio rule stipulates that a single trade cannot account for more than a certain percentage of the total profit target (50% for FLEX, 30% for MAX during evaluation). This discourages strategies based on a single “lucky shot.”
Additionally, there are trading quality rules: each position must have a minimum duration of 30 seconds and generate a minimum profit of 10 cents per share for its gains to be considered valid. These rules have a direct implication on the trader’s strategy: they effectively prohibit high-frequency scalping and arbitrage strategies that seek minimal gains on very fast trades. Therefore, traders whose operations are based on these techniques should be aware that their style is not compatible with TTP’s model.
Market Restrictions
There are specific prohibitions related to market events. It is forbidden to hold positions overnight in stocks that are about to report earnings. There are also restrictions on opening positions in stocks experiencing extreme volatility movements (8% in 4 minutes) or those with very low trading volume.
Account Policies
Finally, there are administrative policies to consider. FLEX program accounts have an inactivity rule that requires at least one trade every 14 days to remain active. As for copy trading, only manual copying of trades between accounts is allowed.
Deposits and Withdrawals
To access the evaluation programs, traders must pay a one-time fee. Trade The Pool offers a wide variety of payment methods for this fee, including credit and debit cards, cryptocurrencies, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. The evaluation fee is non-refundable once trading activity has begun on the account.
Once a trader is funded and generates profits, they can request profit withdrawals. The withdrawal policy allows for a payment request every 14 days, provided a minimum profit of $300 has been accumulated. The available methods for receiving the funds are bank transfer, cryptocurrencies, and, in some cases, credit card.
It is important to note that FLEX program accounts have a consistency rule for withdrawals: the trader must have had at least three profitable trading days, with a gain of at least 0.5% of the buying power on each of those days, within the 14-day cycle to be able to request the payout. This rule does not apply to MAX program accounts in the funded phase.
Technical Aspects
Trading Platform
Trade The Pool uses the Trader Evolution platform, a professional-grade software designed for active traders. The platform offers advanced tools such as market depth (Level 2), Super DOM (Depth of Market) for order execution, and customizable market scanners. A mobile app is also available for trading on the go. Despite being a robust platform, some user reviews in app stores note that it can be somewhat “clunky” or unintuitive and report technical issues like indicators resetting.
Broker and Execution
A key point that differentiates TTP is that traders operate with real stocks, not Contracts for Difference (CFDs). This means that trades are executed on the real market. The company does not specify a single broker but indicates that execution conditions on funded accounts depend on its liquidity providers, mentioning Interactive Brokers as an example. It is important to note a discrepancy in a press release from TraderEvolution which described TTP’s offering as “more than 3000 CFDs,” which contradicts the firm’s primary communication.
Leverage (Buying Power)
Leverage at Trade The Pool is expressed as “Buying Power.” There is a crucial difference between the buying power available for intraday trading and the buying power for holding positions overnight or in extended hours, with the latter being significantly lower. Traders must manage their exposure according to these changing limits.
Commissions and Spreads
The official Trade The Pool website does not transparently detail its commission structure. However, reliable external sources indicate that the commission is $0.005 per share, with a minimum of $0.75 per trade. No official information is provided about the spreads or slippage that traders can expect.
Available Instruments
The range of assets is one of the firm’s strong points. Traders have access to over 12,000 stocks and ETFs from the U.S. markets. This includes the ability to trade penny stocks and to short-sell stocks on their Initial Public Offering (IPO) day, a rare feature.
Distinctive Features and Support
Automation with SignalStack
One of Trade The Pool’s most innovative features is its integration with SignalStack, a platform that allows for the automation of trading strategies without needing to write code. Traders can set up alerts and strategies on charting platforms like TradingView or TrendSpider, and SignalStack automatically converts them into executed orders on their TTP account.
This tool democratizes access to algorithmic trading, which has traditionally required programming knowledge. By offering this capability, TTP positions itself as an advanced technological ecosystem, attracting a more systematic and sophisticated trader profile that seeks to execute their strategies with precision and without manual intervention.
Additional Tools and Benefits
Upon purchasing an evaluation program (except for the smallest account sizes), traders receive free access to a selection of professional-grade analysis tools. They can choose between Trade-Ideas, TrendSpider, or Bookmap. Additionally, subscriptions to journaling and analysis platforms like Tradersync and Tradervue are included.
Restricted Countries
Trade The Pool does not offer its services to residents of certain countries due to regulatory restrictions. The list includes, among others, Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Crimea, Cuba, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Customer Support
Customer support is available via email (Help@TradeThePool.com) and a live chat on their website. The hours of operation are Sunday to Thursday from 07:00 to 17:00 GMT, and on Fridays from 07:00 to 12:00 GMT.
Strengths of Trade The Pool
- Exclusive specialization in the U.S. stock and ETF market.
- Trading with real stocks, not CFDs, which provides a more direct market experience.
- Absence of the PDT (Pattern Day Trader) rule, a significant advantage for U.S. traders with small accounts.
- Day Trading and Swing Trading programs tailored to different operational styles.
- FLEX (no time limit) and MAX (with time limit and lower cost) evaluation models for different risk and confidence profiles.
- A scaling plan that rewards consistency by increasing both capital and daily risk limits.
- Access to an ecosystem of professional trading tools included with the evaluation.
- Innovative integration with SignalStack for strategy automation without the need to code.
- Backing and credibility derived from its parent company, The5ers, an established firm in the industry.
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