Trading Simulators

Beginner Questions
1

I will now have lots more time to spend on forex trading, and I’m convinced one of the bets ways to be spending this time is by using a simulator, a faster than real time simulator. I’m looking for something easy mostly, I just want to be using it to go through the motions, I’m not worried about the detail, I think that trying to work out if one strategy makes more profits than the other isn’t that productive due to the dynamic nature of the market.

What I want is something where I can go through a few weeks or month’s trading in a day or two, so that I can just establish if a strategy is worth pursuing in reality, and that I can establish a good idea of the frequency of potential setups.

The problem is when I search for trading simulators, Google seems to throw up just standard demo accounts, I know there are a few of these around but I would like to know what your experiences are with them.

2

Look up ForexTester

It’s a simulator which I’ve been using the past month or so and it serves the same purpose you wish it to - to be able to determine whether a strategy is worth pursuing or not.

It does cost some money though, but I think it’s a good investment that will save you money in the long run.

3

Merry, I’ll start by agreeing with you, no better way to learn to trade or check out a manual method than with a sim. If more newbies started this way, I think there would be fewer bad experiences. I have often expressed a wish that more of the posters here would offer at least some indication of how their ideas perform. So many threads tell us what to do, but have no information on results. Even a few bars of, “I walked this through a sim and this is what I found,” would really be helpful.

We can look at sims from a couple or three categories. There are those that are free and those that cost. There are those that are tied to the mt4 platform and data set and those that stand alone and require their own data source. Each has advantages and disadvantages. The major advantage of a sim tied to mt4 is that you can use your custom indicators. Stand-alone sims come with a package of familiar indi’s, but if you want to watch one that is not on the list, no can do unless you want to have it programmed in the sim’s language.

The major disadvantage of sims tied to mt4 is the absolutely lousy data quality. Missing data, bad prints, etc. There are ways to upgrade the mt4 data and fill in the blanks, but they require some effort. Another disadvantage of mt4 sims is that they are forward only. If you see something a few bars back and wish to back up to make a different decision, can’t do it. I’ll say a word about Simple Forex Tester. The word is, “DON’T.” This one is mt4 based and sells for about a hundred bucks. It has the advantages mentioned for using mt4 data, but it runs slowly and support is non-existent. I bought this one, had trouble locating it after install, and put in a question to support same day. A week later and still no response. Fortunately, it was purchased on clickbank, so I got my refund. I never heard from the seller or any support.

The most popular sim is probably Forex Tester 2. This one sells for about $200, but search “forex tester discount” and find fxstreet. They offer a discount of $29. You can also get a free trial period. This is a stand-alone sim, i.e., you can’t put your custom indi’s on the chart. But, it offers a lot of control. It is pretty fast, allows you to set speed, and allows you to back up into the data. Since data does not come from metatrader, you will have some choices on your datasource, including one free option and a couple of datafeeds you will pay for monthly. There is good support on this one, including videos and youtube on how to use it.

There are one or two codesource programs using mt4 data. These are, of course, free. Some of these are difficult to operate, using scripts to enter orders. I am attaching one that is easier to use. I use this one when I need to look at a custom indi, but it can be sloooooooow.

Platforms other than metatrader also offer simulators. I am not familiar with NinjaTrader, but have heard good things about it. When I started trading futures many years ago, I used TradeStation and it is one fine piece of equipment. The problem is that so many ea’s and indi’s have been written for metatrader and can’t be used on another platform without rewriting them. Hope this helps. Good luck.

MT4i - Trading Simulator.zip (86.5 KB)

4

Thank you so much pipwoof, that is so helpful, and I think you’re idea of posting results of a strategy that’s been through a simulator is great, it’s some kind of proof that something might be effective of or not.

Those clickbank guys simply earn from the one’s that don’t bother sending their money back I reckon.

5

Forex tester 2 is a good option.

6

Tried the MT4 one, it’s ok, but I can’t see any way that I can switch timeframes, makes it a bit limited.

Will try FT2 next.

7

Forex tester 2 is the gold standard in forex simulators so far. The ease of access due to similarity with mt4 makes it a platform of choice.
Before settling on this sim, I did my research; watched and read alot of content and luckily found a link that gives you a $50 discount off the $200 price tag. Defnitely something worth sharing: Using Forex Tester 2 to Accelerate Your Learning Curve | 2ndSkies Forex

Good regards fellows

8

I will recommend to you to go with small real account and practice. Which means you are going to execute real trades and you are going to accumulate real experience. Much better option than using simulators.

9

I agree 100% simulators do not give you a complete trading experience they leave out your emotions which is important, and also real time trade fills are different than simulators. Some trading is only good for testing the keystrokes on your computer in learning how to place orders correctly.

10

Actually it is incorrect trading simulators do not cause you to experience emotions. From a neuroscientific point of view (and my degree at the Univ. was in Neuroscience, with a specific focus on human learning an memory), your brain experiences simulators in almost the same fashion as live trading.

There are less emotions, but they are there nonetheless.

There are many professional training programs which have their trainees use simulators.

Air Force fighter pilots, special forces military units do all kinds of ‘simulations’ both virtual and real world with fake paper targets popping up in random locations, air traffic control, golfers use simulators, etc.

The advantage simulators hold, is that you can get more practice rounds in a simulator than you can in a live trading environment. You can use them during the weekends when the market is closed (something you cannot do with a live account).

When the market is not setup for your system - then what? What trades can you execute with a live account? None - unless you want to deviate from your trading plan.

You can also build new skill sets, or work on ones at a far faster pace (since you can control the speed of the price action unfolding in real time - something you cannot do with live trading), using a simulator.

One of my top students did 30,000 live practice trades on the simulator, which he did over several weekends of training. How long would it take to accomplish that only trading a real live account?

Food for thought, but the value and function of simulators is quite high, and allows you to do things that you cannot do during live trading.

I could go into hundreds of more training purposes for them, and explain how from a Neuroscientific perspective it is valuable for building new neural circuits that would be highly useful for training, but the key is to have as many tools as possible.

It would be foolish to not use a simulator when one is available. When done right, it can help your training process immensely.

Hopefully this provides more information on the subject and why it would help to have/use a simulator.

Kind Regards,
Chris Capre

11

Hi MerryTrader. I’m not sure wether I’ll be 100% helpful but l’ll try anyway. In case you want to test yet another platform I wanted to ask you to test a platform I have developed. I am a software developer with special interest on trading. I developed my own Virtual Trading Software from scratch. The Site lets you do virtual trading on stocks from all the world, commodities, indices, CFDs and also Forex. There’s the possibility to challenge friends to trading competitions, etc.

The thing is that the platform I developed is specially focussed for beginners and I’m not sure it will fit your needs. It’s not particularly good for scalping for example but it is perfect for testing other strategies I believe. In case you want to give it a try this is the Site: virtualtrading.com

I’d really appreciate it if you or other readers could give me some feedback on my site (virtualtrading.com). I and kindly ask you to leave here some comments about things you’d change or add in the simulator.

12

Ninjatrader has simulator built in and it’s free to use with a demo account that supports ninjatrader like fxcm or mbtrading.

13

If you search for something out-of-the-box, then prepare to drop a bundle for it. Nobody will entertain your fancy for free. Just use the demo with build-in stuff, it is a great place for practice. Couldn’t be better. If you are clueless about what broker to choose, take Hotforex, best choice for me so far.

15

I’m highly recommend you to try out the [B]FT2[/B] if you still not did it yet. As [B]BPPunisher[/B] said

And I totally agree with him!

16

What do you think about Forex Tester 3?
EDIT: I’ve opened a poll here: 301 Moved Permanently

19

I also was looking for a formula to begin trading. Hopefully in this thread I could find suitable for me. Thank you