I’ve been paper trading for a little bit now and have never made a losing trade. I’m using the forex.com paper trading software. Is it even similar to the real thing? and how long should I be doing it before depositing money into my account?
thanks
It really depends on your broker. If you start to get profitable, some unscrupulous brokers will freeze the platform, slip you, requote you, etc. Also there’s the factor of psychology to consider. There’s virtually no way to prepare for it except putting real money on the line. I’d say after 3 months of consistent profit by following your trading plan and making justified wins.
You will know when at the precise moment you do not ask others when you should on forums… how’s that for logic?
I’m not trying to be cute… but the fact is, only you can determine that and how much and when you incur real money risk. Never ask any one of us that question… for by doing so you remove the responsibility from you as the Trader and “we” are the responsible parties when you dust your account. This will lead to the classic loser’s cycle and you learning nothing from that, aside for asking us when you should risk real money.
You will know… when you know.
GLGT :57:
Yes if you add in the spread. It is different from trading live as you don’t get any of the emotions paper trading, just keep demoing until you’re comfortable with a system.
I just tried thinkorswim from Ameritrade for paper trading. When you put it a trade, it is executed at the “mark price”, which is the average of the Bid and Ask prices at that moment. When you sell, it’s the same. This removes the impact of the spread from the profit or loss on the trade. Which makes it unrealistic for day traders. Is there a technical reason they do this, or is the “Mark” price the price for “marks”, i.e., suckers? It looks like a giant con game to me.