Success with demo account - what about a Live?

You get better fills with a Demo account. I entered the same trade in Demo and with Real Money. I got filled right away with the demo while the real money did not. This is a craft that you need to learn; “Assume every trade will against you from the start” Now can you tolerate the loss, if not then trade smallers. I’ve stopped doing Demo accounts because of the inflated EGO I get . Trade small learn the craft you can always trade bigger.

You are implying if you learn an assumption that you can deal with it and act accordingly.

Won’t happen. Your behavioural patterns won’t change. Therefore you still won’t be able to cut it when required.

Now can you tolerate the loss, if not then trade smallers. I’ve stopped doing Demo accounts because of the inflated EGO I get . Trade small learn the craft you can always trade bigger.

You are fooling yourself.

No behaviour modification is happening here. Still the same emotional responses.

One of the best advice i have got on this forum.

This guy just tell the truth. I may print this post and read every day for a while.
Good job.

Of all aspects of trading, I think psychology is the one area that is the most under appreciated. As many here have stated, one can have a great plan, but if you can’t stick with it, it all goes out the window. The deer in the headlight syndrome, so to speak.

There is a lot of excellent reading material available, some of which has alredy been mentioned on this forum. Personally, I recommend anything by Brett Steenbarger. He has a number of excellent books. The book by Alexander Elder, Trading for a Living, is very good. Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas is also very good.

Happy Trading!

V

Books of theory are of no use if A.C.T.I.O.N. is not taken.

You can fill your headspace with all the theory you like…in the end it comes down to required behaviour that any given situation while in a trade [U][I]demands[/I][/U].

Trading isn’t suited for people who are undisciplined, lazy, disorganized and fearful. That applies to their psychology and their mental state as well.

Unless above behaviour is identified, accepted, dealt with and modified no successful trading over any length of time will be forthcoming.

The sooner people get that fluff out of their headspace that successful trading can be archieved without serious commitment to [B]all[/B] aspects of trading the higher the probability that they make it into the 5% group.

People have to begin the process where they are. Did you ever wonder why most professions begin with an extensive study of THEORY in the beginning before delving into practical application? Trading is no different.

I think you are right. I’ve asked the question why can you demo trade but not live a lot and got some very insightful answers but still can’t completely ‘crack it’.

First time I went live I lost £300 in around half an hour.

Some spread betting firms allow you to bet with really low amounts of money like 10 pence per pip and when I started using that amount of money I didn’t lose so badly but was never going to make very much either.

Anyway, in the last year or so I came to the conclusion that I would never be able to over come this psychological barrier and now limit myself to system trading, trading a purely mechanical system.

A good trade for me is following the trading rules to the letter - a bad trade for me is not following the trading rules to the letter. I don’t pay attention to the outcome of any one trade, the only thing I worry about is did I follow the rules. This is the only way I’m able to trade. Don’t know if it’s good or bad but I have come to accept it.

Anyway, in the last year or so I came to the conclusion that I would never be able to over come this psychological barrier and now limit myself to system trading, trading a purely mechanical system.

A good trade for me is following the trading rules to the letter - a bad trade for me is not following the trading rules to the letter. I don’t pay attention to the outcome of any one trade, the only thing I worry about is did I follow the rules. This is the only way I’m able to trade. Don’t know if it’s good or bad but I have come to accept it.

That’s not the point…good or bad.

Sounds like you have accepted a certain behaviour of yours, dealt with it and adjusted to it.

You didn’t go as far as behaviour modification…but then…who knows…what the future might have in store for ya. :smiley:

Did I say anything to the contrary…?

Trouble is most people haven’t got a clue where they are when they start trading.

Did you ever wonder why most professions begin with an extensive study of THEORY in the beginning before delving into practical application?

Did you ever wonder why most professions with an extensive study of THEORY in the beginning have a high drop out rate before they even get to the practical application…?

Trading is no different.

Ever cared to find out how many ’ wannabees “exTrader” ’ and Trading Drop Outs there are…?

Just look around here…on this board.

I think what cas is more or less getting at is that reading books or theory and never learning to apply said theory, that is actually trading, is more or less useless.

I’m sure like lots of people do, before I traded live I read dozens of good and not so good books on trading that had lots of theory. Most of them made trading seem cut and dry, do this, this happens or even easy.

The leap from reading books/theory, to applying it and actually doing what you read successfully is a big leap. And, IMO, the most important part of learning to trade is actually trading live. I’ve personally learned more from live trading and learning from my mistakes than most of the dozens of books or posts I’ve read.

First hand experience beats the stink out of reading or being taught theory.

This is true. As a medical professional, I spent many hours in text books, then under the close supervision before being allowed to practice. Even after all of that, learning never stops. BUT, and my only point is, that you have to start somewhere. Yes, many are clueless to begin with. Many stay that way. But in time they will either make it or they won’t. Graduating to live trading is like getting that diploma. Thats when the real work begins. If one start live trading too soon, one is paying an excessively high tuition. IMO, demo trading should go on at least a year.

V;)

What is your position size? What is your stop loss?

Don’t you know when to get out [B]before [/B]you enter the trade and place your stop loss accordingly?

I don’t agree with, “demo trade for a year.” Demo trading is useless past learning the platform and developing an edge, IMO & IME.

IMO, once you think you have an repeatable edge that is proven over a decent sample size, you are simply wasting time by continuing to demo. I’ve demoed several methods and edges that worked very well on demo, the hit rate live changes dramatically sometimes, compared to demo, for many different reasons.

Endless demoing won’t ever guarantee live success, no matter how good you did in demo.

I think demo trading is useful in helping to define and then refine a trading style that is suitable. The longer a successful style or method or whatever you want to call it is established, the more trust the trader will have in it. It is a learned behavior.

It may be that your style was already well defined before you started trading Forex, so maybe only a few weeks is all you needed just to learn the platform. I will grant you that there mey be a vast difference between demo and live, but most of it probably has to do more with psychology than how quickly your trades are getting executed.

The thing that appeals to me most about trading is that it truly is an individual endeavor. After you have taken it all in, studied, tested, demoed for a while (however long you need), it all comes down to you. We all come with different backgrounds and skill sets. Like any other learned skill, some are better, or more gifted, than others.

Talking about yourself here…?

What’s it like in that ‘little black box’ of yours…?

Ever thought about chosing the same path on your trading journey…?

Sounds like it worked for you before on a previous journey of yours. :slight_smile:

I’ve thought about it. I plan to go fulltime into trading in about 2 years so that I can devote more time to it. Do you have anyone in mind?

Like someone else mentioned, demo is good for developing a strategy and a necessary edge. Many new traders seem to do well in demo. When there’s real money on the line though, the psychological effect is huge! Because the psychological effect is so huge, even trading a live $20 account isn’t the same as trading a demo $100,000 account.