Don’t fail a challenge on a rule you could have checked

Marlin is an independent financial intelligence platform covering Forex, Gold and Oil. We provide market analysis, trading tools and transparent broker reviews — focused on helping traders understand markets, not on signals or hype.

Traders in forex, gold and oil, including those using prop firm accounts, who want sourced research and tools instead of signals: a US release calendar with times in your local time, position size and drawdown calculators, FTMO and FundingPips rules side by side, and WTI with EIA data. Traders in Australia can start on the Australia page (/australia/).

WTI Intelligence (/intelligence/wti/) tracks the Marlin Score for WTI and the weekly EIA petroleum report, and the EIA report explained (/analysis/eia-inventory-data-explained/) shows how to read crude stocks, Cushing and refinery use, with links to EIA's own schedule. Pages state their sources and dates.

No. All content is educational and for informational purposes only. Trading involves risk, and you should do your own research or consult a professional before making financial decisions.

Yes. Some links are affiliate links, but affiliate relationships never determine our conclusions or cause us to hide a product's downsides. We disclose every partnership.

Gold (XAU/USD), oil (WTI and Brent), forex (the majors and the US dollar) and the macro data that connects them — interest rates, inflation, jobs data and Treasury yields — plus the trading tools, brokers and prop firms traders use.

Marlin is written and operated by Volodymyr Kravchenko, an independent market researcher. His areas of work are listed on the author page. Marlin does not present its authors as licensed financial advisers, and nothing on the site is personal advice.

Analysis starts from official data and documentation such as central banks, statistical agencies, exchanges and provider websites. Facts are separated from analysis and opinion, sources are cited and dated, and anything that could not be verified against a current source is marked VERIFY CURRENT DATA. See the methodology page for details.

Some links to brokers, prop trading firms and trading tools are affiliate links: if you sign up through them, Marlin may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This does not change what we write or hide a product's downsides. See the affiliate disclosure for the full explanation.

After you pass the evaluation, a funded account pays a share of the profit you make, on a schedule the firm sets (first payout waiting period, minimum days, a limit on one day's share of profit and a minimum payout can all apply). The rules differ by firm and by programme and change, so read the payout rules on the firm's own page and check them on the comparison page. VERIFY CURRENT DATA before you pay for a challenge.

A one-time evaluation fee that grows with the account size, and some firms refund it with the first payout. Fees and offers change often. The cost calculator turns a fee, your pass rate and the number of attempts into an expected cost; treat the result as an illustration, not a forecast.

Eligibility depends on the firm: age, country and sanctions restrictions, identity checks and the platform and markets allowed all differ. The firm's terms are the only authority, so read them before you pay. Marlin does not decide who is eligible.

No. We are not a signals service. We explain what is happening in markets and why, and provide tools to help you analyse them — but we never tell you to buy or sell.