When do you know you ready to go from demo to real trading?

Yeah I agree with most of the replies here, you are ready for a micro account. Oanda is the best for small accounts, you can fund it with as little as you want. Fund it with any small amount you wont lose any sleep over losing and you're on your way.

LOL
I am an ultra super super expert according to your definition bravado!!

Best analogy ever!

It also reminds you that you have stomach and that you head can ache. Every pip added to your drawdown is like a small nuke going off inside of you.

BTW, why the sudden pack of Demo x Live threads today?

Hmm... Good pont SJ and I actually doubt that there are many FT Traders here that don't have some sort of Dummy Acct for running new shi# through the mill.

I discovered this by accident.

I was reading "Getting Started in Currency Trading" by Archer and
Bickford, and I read one chapter which described a trade that netted
the trader $60,000...in 36 hours.

That was not a typo. Read the book yourself if you don't believe me.

I still remember where I was when I read that chapter. I was in
an Outback steakhouse, idly reading the book, two days before
Christmas. I think I swore out loud, I'm not sure. It was a
coup de foudre, as the French say -- a bolt from the blue. I was
dumbfounded that it was possible for someone to make a trade
that would gross them a year's salary in less than two days.

(It's a year's salary because in 2006, before the meltdown, the
Census said that an average American family raked in $43,201/year.
And here, traders were making off which $60,000 in less than two days.)

And there are other examples. In the article I've attached, an
800-pip movement is described, which was predicted using the
Gartley Curve. (A handy tutorial, probably stolen from this forum,
is also attached.) The biggest move I've witnessed so far was
a 300-pip drop in the euro/yen in 2008. It was possible.　

So, I think you should put in some money immediately and develop
a strategy and proper money management -- no more than 2%
of your balance in any one trade, and no more than 6% at a time.

you are ready to go live when, being ruthlessly honest with yourself and trading a demo of NO MORE EQUITY THAN YOU INTEND TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH, you can make 8 out of 10 successful trades.

but first, being ruthlessly honest, did you demo a 50k account when all you have is $300 to open ? If you did, youve lied to yourself by using an account with a tremendous cushion for margin built in, and before you go live, work another demo for a week or so with the CORRECT equity amount, or you will blow yourself up immediately.

while merit to going live with a small account exists, the smaller the account the BIGGER the chance of just blowing it for little reason.

BUT, to lie to yourself will leave you graveyard dead faster than you can ever imagine ---- WHY do you think the brokers OFFER $50K demos ?

only YOU are watching YOU --- so be honest to at least yourself !

enjoy and trade well

mp

There is no difference between the demo and the life account it is just that we attach so much emotions to live account and little to no emotions to the demo. People loss on demo ,if you do no have a good trading strategy you will get a demo account blown out. I have heard some people make statements like:" that result can only be produced on demo" but I disagree with them if the same strategy that produced the result is applied to a live account it will produce the same result. The problem with people is that they abuse demo accounts because they can produce multiple demo accounts at no cost but if you really know what you are doing and you really want to move forward in this business open just 3 demo accounts and see them as live accounts .try to create that mindset that whaever treatment you are given these 3 accounts that is the same result that you will produce on your live account. maintain these two demo accounts for a period of 3 to 4 months just develop that decipline that if this demos get blown up I will not have anyother ones again. You will see that the real discipline and learning will come out in you and you will not want to take any silly risk on the accounts even if they are demo. Open a demo of about the amount you want to fund in your account, do not start with 50k when in real life you do not have in mind to fund an account of 50k,write out the details for the demo, have a log book for the demo and do not let the number of demo account you will open in those 3months be more than that 3. With this you will see that you are facing reality and getting yourself ready for real life. If those 3 account cant survive more than a week something is wrong. Then you go back to do your maths, do more learning ,more of equity management learning.write down your growth process.Develop a mindset that your trading real money even if it is demo.If they cannot survive open another 3 just like that.

Stage 2 .If you are able to maintain a demo that survived a period of 3month with consistent profit ,you are ripe for stage 2.while you are still on your demo....open a micro account of say $10 to $50 in real money and start using that same strategy you were using on those demo ,but you have to do a lot of calculation as to your lot size because it is a micro account so that everything is in proportion. Practice this for a long time .You can decide to have say 5 micro accounts . Its real money but you can afford to loss them . Trade them and trade them to a level you can make your first withdrawal, get to a level where you stop trading a demo account except you want to use them to test a strategy or system. Trade this micro account with all seriousness ,do not despise a little beginning. God always supports the humble.When you see that your mind is now mature then you can go live with atleast $500 for a start and see how you can grow it Big

When you go live apply all what you have learnt during this processes -not going live and trying to use a different principle----it will produce a different result.

When you the feel of the market. You learn how to listen and hear the market. And you constantly start gaining profit, you are ready. But it's just like being in love, only you know when it happens ;]

I'm half way there, but it was only $25.00

This. More than anything else anyone has said in this thread, this.

The biggest problem with demo trading is that you almost never learn proper money management. We remember our huge successes (doubling an account in just a few days) but not our huge losses (wiping out a demo account the day before starting the doubling) on our demo accounts. It's a little different on a live account.

My first time going from demo to live, I thought I was the best in the business. I could do no wrong. It took me less than 6 weeks to run my $500 account into the ground. For a little while, I gave up, then friends and my boss at work convinced me to get back into it. I spent more time on demo practicing proper money management then opened a smaller live account and I've been profitable since.

So yeah, it almost does seem true that you're not a real trader until you've blown up an account.

If you think you've got a feel for the market, your currency pairs whisper to you as you look at the charts, and you think you're going to make a living off of forex, take $50 or so and start a small account at Oanda. Trade penny pips for a while and see how you do. Practice good money management and don't be afraid to try something new if you see an opportunity.

Just don't give up when you blow that first account.

IMO, if you have learned how to use the broker's software and you understand order types, you should then go live at the micro level. Slowly increase trading with successes.

So you think; if anyone knows how to use mt4 trading platform, it’s enough? No, it’s not! Traders need to make sure their own trading skill if they want to be a good performer in the live.

Learning how to use the actual trading software is the very first and very small step towards learning how to trade. It's essential, but not nearly enough.

can you please elaborate how to use actual trading software ?

I generally wait until I can easily double my account in demo mode with a few trades without losing all in multiple trials before implementing any strategy in real. No matter how much it takes and it may take years. It is important to manage your losers wisely too.

I think it is a very good rule of thumb: You produce doubled accounts like cookies, then try. Otherwise, improve your skills and wait.

before some years ago ,
demo was the first choice for newcomer,
but time has changed right now ,
beginners kick off live trading instead of demo , but result not actually.

If you have consistent profits on demo for a considerable period of time one may try trading on a live account.

You'll know that you are ready to cross over from demo trading to real account trading if you are satisfied with your demo performance. Some brokers also offer a limit on the amount of time you should trade on demo. It's all about your understanding and self assessment

According to the statistics, demo performance is not usually similar to the one on a real account.

Perhaps, but starting off with a live account is even less of a good idea, in my opinion. The demo account is a crutch helping people to learn to walk before they learn to run.