DislikedNowhere does it states that demo trading will help a trader become profitable.Ignored
DislikedIt is a well know fact, demo acct feeds are not reliable nor correct and in most cases, delayed.Ignored
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DislikedNowhere does it states that demo trading will help a trader become profitable.Ignored
DislikedIt is a well know fact, demo acct feeds are not reliable nor correct and in most cases, delayed.Ignored
DislikedThe other use for demo accounts is exploring new markets, new niches.Ignored
DislikedDEMO trading is an easy way screw up your Psyche.
Somewhere along the lines, traders have been mis-lead or mis-informed about DEMO trading. Nowhere does it states that demo trading will help a trader become profitable. There are signs that indicate demo's true purpose ... which is to educate a trader on the inter-workings of a specific trading platform. That is all demo trading is good for. In fact, most brokers set time limits on demo accounts because of that fact. Not to be used for analytics, not to be used for strategy testing.
Traders...Ignored
DislikedThat too, although someone else mentioned about there being a mandatory quote delay for some markets. I suppose that wouldn't really matter as long as the feed is reliable and the only difference is it's 20 mins behind.
Seems odd though, why do they have that delay on demos, anyone know?Ignored
DislikedThe stock exchanges are more than happy to supply real-time quotes, but you have to pay for them. Thus the free quotes the exchanges supply are delayed 20 minutes....sort of a marketing ploy to get you to buy real time quotes and to keep those that ARE paying happy (since no one is getting them for free and he is charged).Ignored
DislikedYou are an extraordinary trader, being able to make those kind of pips without ever using a demo or backtesting a strategy, but you must realize that everyone will not be a prodigy like you, so recommending they jump in live without knowing anything would be disasterous for most.
Congratulations on the pips...I assume you are trading full sized lots? (since anything less wouldn't be worth bragging about....)Ignored
DislikedIf you are able to convince yourself that demo is real and that blowing your account means you have to sell your car (or whatever) then that is quite impressive.Ignored
DislikedAre you suggesting the best way to learn how to trade is to put yourself into a financially stressful situation?
How does trading with pennies make you feel like your going to have to sell your car?
If you can't make a profit with monopoly money then what chance do you have with pennies?
I take it your largely a discretionary trader.
For how long have you been profiting consistently?Ignored
DislikedIt's dead simple. Nothing extraordinary about it. Right now if you average in short positions on e/u, g/u and make a promise to your self that you will not close them, no matter what, for at least a month or two, you can probably make the same going the other way. While most people around here are in and out of the market daily I just sit back and wait...and wait and wait. Waiting is the hard part.
Now, back to the theme of this thread. The psychological difficulty. The waiting while you see your pips go +200, them +400, then the market closes...Ignored
DislikedYes, that is exactly what I am saying. I am saying you need to take out a second mortgage, cash in your life savings. Lay it all on the line. Then just sort of see what happens because now you have nothing to lose. And if it doesn't work out you can kill yourself. That is the plan. So what are you waiting for?
Yes, you obviously 'get it'...........NOT!Ignored
DislikedNow, back to the theme of this thread. The psychological difficulty. The waiting while you see your pips go +200, them +400, then the market closes for the weekend and it's in the back of your mind...then monday and you see it go down to +300....my god I should sell and lock in my profit.....but you wait and it goes to +700 a week later. That psychology....you cannot learn to do that on demo or backtesting because there is no emotion when it's not real money. And controlling those emotions is the (IMHO) secret sauce of trading successfully.Ignored
Disliked"Plan the trade, and trade the plan."
If you had a strategy and a trading plan, and confidence in it and your ability to trade it then you wouldn't need to fight the emotional demons you've described, you would simply trade the plan, relaxed and confident in the knowledge that when it was extensively tested on demo it proved successful. Job done, without any need to suppress your emotions, fight psychology, or unnecessarily put money at risk.
In order to find a solution you first need to identify the problem!Ignored
Disliked
HOWEVER, there is a phase where you first start trading REAL money, where you WILL stress and you WILL be tempted to pull out of a trade before a strategy can be fully executed. Even if you demo your strategy successfully, you will not gain complete confidence in that strategy until you have repeatedly done it successfully with real money.Ignored
DislikedIn that case you haven't developed sufficient confidence in yourself and/or your strategy, or the required level of discipline, in order to avoid impulse trades.Ignored
DislikedThe mind cannot distinguish between what is real and that which is vividly imagined. To the extent that athletes who meditated upon jogging actually experienced physiological changes and improved performance as compared to a control group. There is no flaw in the exercise of demo trading, it only comes down to attitude; the point being - if you're going to do it, take it seriously.Ignored
DislikedWhat pipmutt says...
The physical exercise metaphor for trading is moronic, a better metaphor would be juggling chainsaws, one better learn to juggle tennis balls first.Ignored
DislikedGive me a break. Seriously, pal, will ya? You expect anyone to believe that you go from testing your strategy on a demo account to going live with that same strategy with 10k, or 50k or whatever amount of money might be a lot to you, and don't break a sweat.Ignored
DislikedA strategy is not fully validated until you are putting down your FULL capital on a live account, so there is always that period of uncertainty...despite your demo testing.Ignored
DislikedA second thing to understand is that no strategy is flawless. Your strategy could be good for 2009 but terrible for 2011. So to speak with this uber God like confidence in any strategy is a foolish mistake.Ignored
DislikedYour analogy is completely wrong. A doctor can kill a patient. You cannot equate that will blowing a $100 account.Ignored