Lumen Futures

Blog

Market notes, program updates, and the occasional look behind the curtain at how a futures funding firm actually runs.

• Getting Started
• Markets & Contracts
• Risk & Psychology
• Platforms & Tools
• Funded Trading
• Rules & Regulation

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  Funded TradingSeptember 7, 2026

  How Are Prop Firm Payouts Taxed?

  Where a firm pays a trader as an independent contractor, the payout is nonemployee compensation reported on Schedule C with self-employment tax on top, not a Section 1256 gain carrying 60/40 treatment.

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  Risk & PsychologySeptember 6, 2026

  Can You Lose More Than You Invest in Futures?

  In a futures account carried by a US broker, the deposit is not a floor: federal rules require the customer to be told they may lose it all and still be liable for whatever the account is short.

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  Platforms & ToolsSeptember 5, 2026

  Sim Trading vs Live Trading: What Changes When the Order Leaves

  A simulated order is filled by software and never reaches a market, while a live futures order in a US market is executed on a CFTC-designated exchange and has to be cleared.

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  Rules & RegulationSeptember 4, 2026

  How Are Futures Taxed? Section 1256 and the 60/40 Rule

  Futures traded on a US exchange fall under Section 1256, which splits every gain 60% long-term and 40% short-term regardless of holding period and marks open positions to market at year end.

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  Rules & RegulationSeptember 3, 2026

  Does the Pattern Day Trader Rule Apply to Futures?

  The pattern day trader rule is a FINRA margin requirement for securities margin accounts at broker-dealers, so it does not govern a futures account — and FINRA is replacing it for securities anyway.

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  Getting StartedSeptember 1, 2026

  Day Trading Margin vs Overnight Margin in Futures

  Overnight margin is the exchange requirement for carrying a futures position through the close; day trading margin is a lower number your broker offers you, and it disappears before the session ends.

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  Markets & ContractsAugust 31, 2026

  When Do Futures Contracts Roll Over?

  Equity index futures roll on a fixed quarterly schedule, and CME sets the roll date as the Monday before the third Friday of March, June, September and December.

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  Markets & ContractsAugust 31, 2026

  Micro E-mini vs E-mini Futures: What Actually Changes

  A Micro E-mini S&P 500 contract is one tenth the size of the E-mini and matches it on everything else, which makes the choice between them a position-sizing decision.