👀 FTMO posts record revenue, but profits fall 59%

Hi everyone, another week is upon us and the markets are open, so let’s get into it.

FTMO has released its 2025 numbers and despite posting record revenue of around $423m, profits took a huge hit. Net profit fell 59% to $37.5m, taking margins from 28% in 2024 to just 8.9% last year.

One of the most interesting numbers was payouts, with FTMO saying the amount it expected to pay traders ended up 82% higher than forecast, with the huge gold bull run towards the end of the year cited as a major factor as traders piled into the move. The firm described 2025 as probably its toughest test in recent years, while also admitting the performance of its newly acquired OANDA business has not been entirely ideal.

FTMO says 2026 has started much stronger, with the company also launching FTMO Futures in beta last week.

📢  Firm Announcements

• Tradeify launched its new Rewards Center, adding levels, missions and rewards across the platform. Traders can earn XP and gems through trading, journaling, lessons and Discord activity, with gems redeemable for discounts, reset credits and merch.

• My Funded Futures officially launched MyFundedPerpetuals, a new prop offering for perpetual futures. The existing MFFU futures business remains unchanged.

• FundedNext added 20 CFD stock symbols across all active accounts, including Apple, NVIDIA and Tesla, available on MT5, MT4, cTrader and MatchTrader.

• GOAT Funded Trader and GOAT Funded Futures completed their platform merge, bringing Forex and Futures under one login and dashboard with unified payouts, analytics and rewards.

From Payout Junction, here are the firms that paid out the most over the last 7 days 🏆️.

🔥 Monitor prop firm payouts LIVE on Payout Junction - https://payoutjunction.com.

🕜 Red Folder News

Here are this week’s red folder news events. The biggest event of the week comes on Wednesday with the Fed’s latest interest rate decision at the FOMC.

After hotter than expected inflation data last week, traders are now pricing around an 85% chance of a 25bp rate hike. That puts the Fed on a very different path to President Trump, who has repeatedly pushed for lower interest rates.

📈 Markets

Sideways chop and uncertainty

Another flat, choppy week for equity markets and sentiment is becoming increasingly fearful. Events in the Middle East, oil back above $100 and the US 10 year yield pushing towards 5% are all weighing heavily on markets.

The mid-September fake out

Wednesday’s interest rate decision feels like a big one, both for markets and politically. With a rate hike now heavily priced in, it could provide the volatility needed for the annual September fakeout and a sweep of the lows before the usual Q4 strength kicks in. Chart shows S&P 500 seasonality on a 20 year lookback.

Hedge Funds massive tech buying

Hedge funds have net bought tech stocks in 10 of the last 11 trading sessions, with the recent pace of long buying the largest since June ’25. There was also plenty of talk towards the end of the week around AI safety, and with a possible rate hike on the table this week, these guys might be sweating.

Oil back over $100

The escalation cycle in the Middle East continues to worsen and is becoming increasingly difficult to contain, with Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen now openly trading strikes and the Bab al Mandab Strait under threat. $100+ oil is not sustainable for the global economy, so something will eventually have to give. It’s just not clear what that will be yet.

Gonna be an interesting week. Have a good one!

Last day of Tradeify’s 50% off all accounts sale, check their plans here and use code PAY for 50% off.

London Prop Trading Expo

The London Prop Trading Expo returns on 23 and 24 October at Old Billingsgate, with more than 64 speakers, 39 exhibitors and up to 4,000 traders expected across the two days.

There’ll be live trading, trader education, industry panels and plenty of prop firms in attendance. If you’re heading along, use code PAYOUT for 50% off tickets.

Find out more here

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