Best Resource after babypips school

Apologies if this topic has already been discussed but there seems to be a bit of a leap of faith between completeing the babypips course, and actually managing a demo account.

Sure there is a wealth of information on Google- but I prefer a structured learning enviroment as I plan to try stick it out for the long haul, and in my opinion bad advice assimilated into your long term memory could make you a bad trader for life :smiley:

Does any recommend such resources.

No faith nor money are required for demo accounts.

There are many systems on this forum. Go for a spin, or two on a demo account.

Hi Drew

To start trading a demo account you need to develope a strategy or system. There are many “systems” available here and on other sites (FF) that have active threads, with traders that will answer questions as they trader ( beware of the B/S ) . IMHO, try some of these and see what fits your style. Don’t think that a good system has to be complicated, often simple is better. As you continue to learn you will adapt to your own style. When you do open a demo account try to keep it “real” , a small starting balance in line with what you are considering investing

best regards
Dave

Hey Pipso I wasn’t mentioning money the “leap of faith was more that of knowledge” which in this case is worth more than money. I went to te “holy grail” section and read up on a few systems, but in my opinion more could be added into babypips in regards too the design and implementation of systems and the time frames thereof.

Please no one think that I am in anyway insulting babypips, it is the most comprehensive content I have found anywhere and am eternally greatful as a newbie to have recieved it.

If you have completed the Babypips School (or even if you haven’t), you should be ready and [B]eager[/B] to tackle your first demo account.

Your next step should be to download the demo platform of your choice and start studying the user guide or tutorial that comes with it. Then, dive in. Not to make professional-quality trades, but to experiment with the functionality of the platform.

Find out how to use the charting package that comes with the platform. Find out how to place a market order, and a stop-order, and a limit-order. Find out how to cancel an order that hasn’t been executed, and find out how to exit a trade that you have entered. Find out how to place stop-loss orders and take-profit orders, and how to change or cancel those orders after they are placed.

Find out all these things by trial-and error. Don’t be afraid of your demo account. You won’t break it. If you manage to lose all the play-money that comes with it, so what? Get a new demo account — they’re free. If your broker’s demo account expires after 30 days, get a new one every month. Even after you open a live account, you will want to keep a demo account for trying new things in a safe setting.

Don’t waste your time doing deliberately foolish things with your demo account, but don’t be afraid to experiment. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Nobody is keeping score on you, except you, yourself.

Until now, all you’ve had is book-learning. Now you need to practice. Try to incorporate what you have studied into your practice on your demo account. That includes money management.

Treat the play-money in the demo account as if it were real money. Risk it intelligently, knowing that some trades will be losers, some trades will be winners, and the object of the game is to make your total winnings MORE than offset your total losses.

Pay attention to your emotions. If you can’t take demo trading seriously, then you need to switch to live trading in a micro account, or a nano account, so that the dimes or pennies that you are risking on your trades are enough to get your attention.

If you observe a tendency to trade recklessly, then you have some serious work to do on your mental and emotional approach to trading.

If you are afraid of losing “money” in your demo account, then you have other issues that MUST be addressed, if you are ever going to become a successful trader.

You’ve completed the School. You should expect to return to the School frequently to refresh your memory, and to pick up those details that you missed the first time through. But, now is not the time to start another school — it’s time to practice what you have learned.

There’s an old saying that ‘Practice makes Perfect’ — well, not necessarily. [B]Perfect practice makes perfect. [/B]

There is so much that you can’t possibly know, until you’ve had some hands-on experience. For instance, some traders swear by indicators, and some traders scoff at indicators. You may think you know your opinion on that issue, but until you actually try trading both ways, you can’t make an informed decision.

Some traders are deep into candlestick analysis, and some traders pay only scant attention to candlestick patterns. What’s your opinion on the value of candlestick analysis? Until you have some experience under your belt, you can’t possibly know.

So, go for it. Jump in with both feet. Make all the newbie mistakes that every other novice trader has made. Ask all the dumb questions that every other newbie has asked. You really can’t skip these steps. They’re part of the learning-curve that you’re on.

At some point, after you’ve had a certain amount of hands-on experience, you’ll be ready for some more book-learning. You’ll know when that time comes; and, when it does, there are some excellent book lists on this forum.

But, for now, get that demo account cranked up.

Awesome advice Clint, I do have a demo account and have done a few trades, but as you rightly summized in your post, I battle to take the Demo seriously, I will definately take your advice and use it to the best of my abilities.

Thanks for putting so much thought into it
Drew

I suggest open a live $200 micro account. Then risk only 0.5% or $1. And don’t ever try scalping. But rather trade on the 30 min to 1 hour time frame. Holding the position for 1-12 hours. Don’t forget to put stops and limits.

Its easy to do well on the demo account because it is play money.And when you win, it will give you the impression that forex is easy. Overconfidence in forex is destructive. Be forewarned.

There is no risk management on demo trading, because essentially there is no risk involved. Its play money. I believe we must learn to manage risk before we can become a good traders. And that is by risking real money.

If you treat the demo account, as the money in there is your whole savings, then you have to apply risk management.

Make your demo account grow during at least 2 to 3 month before risking your own money.

Most important learn by the demo account, not by real capital. If you can not control your feelings with play money, the history tells us that neither can you with real money.