Demo Trading?

Beginner Questions
1

Hi all, I have recently become a member on this site and began learning to trade forex and am halfway through the school of pips.

Lots of people that I have spoken to have said to trade for a few months using a demo account before using your hard earned money. I understand why this is recommended as you may pick up mistakes you make placing trades while using the demo account so have not actually taken any type of loss in reality.

But also on the other side I have also had people say that it doesn’t help all that much as your never actually taking on real losses or profit, although you may think your learning from it when you start trading with real money things get a bit more serious which actually makes you learn the real lessons.

I can understand the concept behind both of these arguments and can say I will definitely be using the demo trading before I start for real money but was just wondering what other people think to this who have had personal experience from this and thought of using a demo as a waste of time cause it doesn’t get taken as serious as if your using your own money?

2

Definitely use a demo, and wait to be consistently profitable before starting to trade real. Even is it is not real money, you will take good habits, and when it will come to live account, those good habits will help you manage your emotion in times of trouble. And managing our emotion is one of the key to success in forex, along with following your plan.

Another thing is you may wish to pen a demo account first tot try a broker before opening a live account. I am currently holding a demo Mt4 on tickmill, to see what they are worth befroe considering going live. So far, it is very convincing.

3

That really comes down to what you prefer. I am against demo’s as they are useless in my opinion. A waste of time as you are not exposed to trading psychology. If you really need to spend months in a demo to learn how a platform works than you are in the wrong trade. Invest money in your education which in my opinion is done by funding a trading account with a smaller amount of money (I let you be the judge of what that us) and trade, lose and learn. Again, this is my opinion which as you may have found is the minority. Then again, the majority does not really earn money from trading. You need to decide which path you prefer.

4

While it is a good idea to trade demo account, but, I also agree that people don’t take that seriously.

Your best bet would be trade ‘pocket money’ until you begin making money on consistent basis. Don’t get swayed by beginner’s luck if you come across…

5

Okay thanks for all the feedback i think i will go for using demo trading first to get to grips with the broker, then maybe use small amounts when i feel i am making consistent amount of profit before starting with the money i am planning to trade with any other suggestions?

6

Quite safe and wise. Testing the market is what you have to have done first as fast profits you can incidentally make disguise the real picture of Forex trading. As you gain you can abandon basic rules of managing your money and quickly lose away your deposit. That’s the main reason most of newbie traders fail.

7

A demo account is no different than any other tool you use to help you trade; Support lines, Resistance lines, Stochastics, MACD. The all have their purpose which is to help you make better decisions long term. The ones that tell you learn by depositing a small amount and when you lose it this somehow going to help you to learn to be patient and disciplined is flawed; patience and discipline is a learned skill that takes time and it’s different for everyone.

I don’t know what you plan to start with, it doesn’t matter; now imagine losing that starting bankroll 5 or 6 or 10 times, are you still going to be trading? It’s very simple success or failure in the forex for a retail speculator comes down to the decisions you make. Not time frame, strategies, money management, patience, discipline, participating in forums, mentors, coaches but the decisions you make with regard to them. Good decisions get you closer, bad ones put you further back. Think long term and instead of trying to figure out if someone’s elses opinions are right or wrong, gather as much information as you can, list your options and pick the least of the evils. That’s what you need to learn how to do before you put up 10 cents, $10 or 10 million. This is of course only my opinion. One more thing I think you’re on the right road judging from your post. Complete good for gathering information .
Good Luck
Gp

8

If you are new, start with demo account. This is for many reasons, you need to practice without losing any real money and this is only possible if you trade in a demo account.

10

Using demo is never a waste of time you will learn something on a demo account though it is in live account you will feel the heat of the market. It definitely add to your knowledge.

11

When it comes to trading experience, nothing beats live trading. Sure, demo trading does help, but only for a short while…for actual trading experience would suggest that you start with a small account, micro. And remember, demo acc’s tend to vary from live ones…good luck…

12

right thanks for all the help I feel I now know that I should definitely start using a Demo account first! Im still a long way off of even starting that yet as I’m still going through the basics but I’m sure I will eventually get there thanks for all the help!

13

I used demo to try 3 different brokers and 2 different platforms to see what I would prefer, also lets you try different spreads

14

There are pros and cons to both arguments for and against using demo accounts. Without offering opinion I can just relay my own experience.

I spent about 3 months demo trading using loads of different brokers, as much as anything trying to figure out which platform I like best, MT4, cTrader, brokers proprietary platform, etc. I generally made losses on these demo accounts.

About 4 months ago I took the plunge and began to trade live with my own money. For me that really focused the mind, even though I thought I’d been taking the demo trading seriously.

During my live trading I have already had several peaks and troughs in my account balance. But so far I am keeping my head above water, just. (As of right now I have a very modest +1.12% on the balance I started with 4 months ago)

15

using a demo account is always the best approach. This way you can test out the waters and see how stuff works.

16

Until you start making consistent profits on demo, don’t switch to a real account.

17

Nope. trust me it is not a waste of time at all. You get to learn alot this way. First hand. Besides,why the rush? It takes patience to learn forex and gain all the knowledge to be a good trader.