US Core Retail Sales (m/m)
Mid-month · 08:30 ET
Consumer spending at the register, ex-autos in the core reading. The US consumer is the engine of GDP, so a strong or weak print shifts growth expectations directly.
Watch revisions: last month's number is revised alongside the new print, and the pair together can tell the opposite story from the headline alone.
What it measures
Census Bureau's estimate of receipts at retail stores; the control group (ex autos, gas, building materials, food services) feeds directly into GDP models.
- Core / control group m/m — the GDP-relevant number
- Prior-month revision — released simultaneously and frequently the real story
Why the economy cares
The most direct monthly read on the US consumer, who carries roughly two thirds of GDP. Consumption holding up is the difference between a slowdown and a recession narrative.
How it maps onto the chart
Beat → growth-positive, usually USD-firm; miss → cuts get priced faster. Reaction sits in the same ~1.2x band as the other 8:30 second-tier: real but disciplined. Watch the print + revision as one composite.
Price behavior around the release
Before
Standard 8:30 compression, lighter than CPI/NFP days.
During
Headline plus revision parsed together — a beat with a big downward revision regularly produces the counter-intuitive move.
After
Fades are common unless the print lands on a live growth-scare narrative, in which case indices carry it further than FX.
Who lets you trade it
News-trading policy of every firm in our verified catalog, read off the firm's own pages. Details and per-program exceptions live in the firm's rules.
| Firm | Policy | Window | If violated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Capital | Restricted (funded) | ±5 min | Profit removed |
| Apex Trader Funding | Allowed | — | — |
| AquaFunded | Allowed | ±5 min | Profit share reduced |
| Atlas Funded | Restricted (funded) | ±5 min | Profit removed |
| Blue Guardian | Restricted (funded) | ±5 min | Profit removed |
| BrightFunded | Restricted (funded) | ±5 min | Profit removed |
| Bulenox | Allowed | — | None |
| E8 Markets | Allowed | — | — |
| Earn2Trade | Allowed | — | None |
| FTMO | Restricted (funded) | ±2 min | Account breach |
| Funded Trading Plus | Allowed | — | None |
| FundedNext | Allowed | ±5 min | Profit share reduced |
| FundingPips | Restricted (funded) | ±5 min | Profit removed |
| FXIFY | Allowed | — | — |
| Lucid Trading | Allowed | — | — |
| MyFundedFutures | Restricted (funded) | ±2 min | — |
| Take Profit Trader | Restricted (funded) | — | — |
| The5ers | Allowed | — | — |
| Topstep | Allowed | — | — |
| Tradeify | Allowed | — | — |
Policies verified 2026-08-22 and re-checked weekly. Restricted usually applies to funded accounts only — evaluations are commonly exempt; open the firm's rules for the exact split.