Traders who want to trade stocks with a prop firm usually meet one of two products: stock and index CFDs on a forex platform, or stock perpetuals, exchange contracts that track a share price, carry funding and trade around the clock. Both give price exposure without buying shares, but they behave differently around the market close, at weekends and on earnings days.
This guide explains what a stock perpetual is, how it differs from shares and CFDs, which risks are specific to it, how to size single stocks against index funds, and how stock perps fit QATS TradFi evaluations.
What a stock perpetual is
A stock perpetual is a futures contract with no expiry whose price follows a listed share or fund, such as NVIDIA, Tesla, Apple, the S&P 500 fund SPY or the Nasdaq-100 fund QQQ. It is quoted in USDT and traded on an exchange order book. Like a crypto perpetual, it uses periodic funding payments between longs and shorts to stay close to the price it follows.
You never own the shares. There are no shareholder rights, and the contract can sit slightly above or below the stock at any moment. What you get is long or short exposure to the price, on margin, in a market that keeps trading after the stock exchange has closed.
Shares vs CFDs vs stock perpetuals
| Shares | Stock CFDs | Stock perpetuals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you hold | The shares themselves | A contract with a broker | An exchange perpetual contract |
| Trading hours | Exchange hours, plus extended sessions at some brokers | Usually follow the exchange session | Around the clock, weekends included |
| Cost of holding | None, unless bought on margin | Overnight financing set by the broker | Funding between longs and shorts |
| Price source | The stock exchange | Broker or liquidity-provider feed | Exchange order book, kept near the stock by funding |
| Going short | Needs a borrow | Built in | Built in |
| Shareholder rights | Yes | No | No |
The stock perpetual lineup on QATS
QATS TradFi evaluations include 33 perpetuals. The equity side covers 16 US stocks (NVDA, TSLA, GOOGL, META, SNDK, MU, INTC, CRCL, MSTR, AAPL, MSFT, AMZN, AVGO, PLTR, COIN, HOOD), 5 index funds (QQQ, SPY, IWM, EWJ, EWY) and 4 leveraged ETFs (SOXL, SOXS, KORU, TQQQ). The evaluation is simulated on Binance or Bybit market data, depending on the instrument.
Stock perpetuals sit on TradFi accounts only; a Crypto evaluation does not include them. Use the My plan filter in the instrument selector to see the symbols allowed on the account you are trading.
Risks specific to stock perpetuals
- The underlying closes. The perpetual trades around the clock, but the stock trades from 09:30 to 16:00 New York time. Outside those hours, and at weekends, the book is thinner and spreads are wider.
- Weekend and overnight gaps. A position held through the weekend meets Monday’s opening price, which can be far from Friday’s close.
- Earnings days. Results come four times a year, before or after the New York session, and a move of several percent in minutes is normal on those days.
- Basis. The perpetual can trade above or below the stock, most of all while the exchange is closed.
- Leveraged ETF decay. Funds such as TQQQ and SOXL target three times one day’s move; over weeks the result drifts away from three times the index.
- Funding. A crowded long or short pays to stay open, as on crypto perpetuals.
Sizing single stocks vs index funds
Single stocks usually move further than the indices that contain them. SPY often moves around one percent on a normal day; a stock such as NVIDIA or Tesla can move several times that, and more on its results. Use the same formula as on any perpetual: position value = dollar risk ÷ stop distance, with the stop set from the instrument’s recent daily range.
Example on a $25K TradFi account risking 0.5% ($125): with a 1% stop on SPY the position is worth about $12,500; with a 3% stop on a single stock, about $4,167. Same dollar risk, a third of the size. Check the amount and margin shown under the size control before you submit.
Correlation hides size. NVIDIA, QQQ and SOXL all carry heavy exposure to chip makers; long all three is close to one large bet on the semiconductor trade.
How to trade stocks with a prop firm inside QATS TradFi rules
QATS TradFi evaluations use a 6% profit target, an end-of-day trailing maximum loss that stops trailing at the starting balance, a 50% consistency rule and 2 minimum trading days, with no separate daily cap during the evaluation. The risk day rolls over at 17:00 Chicago time, which is an accounting boundary, not a trading halt.
The 50% rule is worth planning around if you trade earnings: to pass, your best day must be no more than 50% of total profit, so a single big earnings win means you need more profit on other days. Pricing starts at $85 a month for the $25K account with free funded activation, or $59 a month plus a one-time $149 activation fee charged only after you pass.
A checklist for trading stock perps on a prop account
- Mark earnings dates for every stock you trade, and decide in advance whether you hold through them.
- Prefer New York hours, when the perpetual follows a live stock price and books are deepest.
- Size weekend holds for a gap, or flatten before Friday’s close.
- Count related positions, such as NVDA, QQQ and SOXL, as one exposure.
- Check the funding rate before a multi-day hold.
- Rehearse the plan on the free sandbox account, which has virtual funds and the same server-side risk checks.
Frequently asked questions
01Can you trade stocks with a prop firm?
Yes. Forex prop firms commonly offer index CFDs and sometimes single-stock CFDs, and firms built on perpetuals may offer stock perpetuals. On QATS, US stocks, index funds and leveraged ETFs are available as perpetuals on every TradFi evaluation size, $25K–$150K.
02What is a stock perpetual?
A futures contract with no expiry that tracks a share or fund price, is quoted in USDT and uses funding payments to stay near the stock. It gives price exposure, long or short, without owning the shares.
03Can I hold stock perpetuals overnight or over the weekend?
The perpetual trades around the clock, and the 17:00 Chicago rollover on QATS TradFi accounts is an accounting boundary, not a trading halt; check the terminal for any restriction on your account. The stock market itself is closed at weekends, so size any weekend hold for a gap at Monday’s open.
04Are stock perpetuals the same as CFDs?
No. A CFD is a contract with a broker, priced from the broker’s feed and usually charged overnight financing. A stock perpetual is an exchange contract traded on an order book, with funding between longs and shorts, and it trades around the clock.
Educational content, not investment advice. QATS evaluations and initial funded accounts are simulated; payouts depend on eligibility, verification and the applicable agreement.