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How Long To Paper Trade

  • #1
  • First Post: Aug 3, 2014 9:13pm Aug 3, 2014 9:13pm
Hello all,

I am paper trading. I set a goal for myself to not go live until I am consistently producing $500 profit per week for 2 months. AND my loss per trade does not exceed $125.

I have strict rules and a simple method I follow.

So that I feel the emotions (pressure) of trading a real account, I informed about 4 friends and my wife that I will send them a screen shot of my Demo Account balance per day, so they see how much money I gain/loss.

I have traded a real account before and loss money (about $4k) for many different reasons, mainly undisciplined, now I want to start over, this time with paper.

I just want to know if what I am doing is good. I am very serious about trading with real emotions, this is why I am showing friends daily my balance...

When would you recommend a newbie going live with real money? Or should the answer be whenever the trader feels he/she is ready? Is there a certain criteria?

Thanks.
  • #2
  • Aug 4, 2014 12:56am Aug 4, 2014 12:56am
At least three months, and then I would switch to a micro accoun for another three months.
  • #3
  • Aug 4, 2014 2:06am Aug 4, 2014 2:06am
Quoting goodoboy
Hello all, I am paper trading. I set a goal for myself to not go live until I am consistently producing $500 profit per week for 2 months. AND my loss per trade does not exceed $125. I have strict rules and a simple method I follow. So that I feel the emotions (pressure) of trading a real account, I informed about 4 friends and my wife that I will send them a screen shot of my Demo Account balance per day, so they see how much money I gain/loss. I have traded a real account before and loss money (about $4k) for many different reasons,...
Trading on a demo for a million years won't fix that problem.
Real is what counts and it only counts when the stake is meaningful i.e. money you CANNOT afford to lose
  • #4
  • Aug 4, 2014 2:19am Aug 4, 2014 2:19am
When you are so convinced of yourself and your system, that you can't wait to just go rob the market.
  • #5
  • Aug 4, 2014 3:50am Aug 4, 2014 3:50am
Dont set nominal targets like 500$ or 1000$, thats bullshit, instead measure it in %, because its scalable.So a 20% gain on 1$ is .20 cents, while on a million dollar its 200.000$, you should be able to get those returns on both of the account sizes.

Besides if you start with 4000, dont expect 500$/month because monthly profit may vary, thats a 12% gain/month, which only experienced traders like me can make

But still even if you make 10%, you need atleast 15000-30000 in your account to make that consistently and to encompass variance in the month-by-month returns.

The mere fact that you lost 4000, is also a sign that you have much bigger problems than not making 500$/month, so i would fix those before focusing on these if i were you.
"There's a sucker born every minute" - P.T. Barnum
  • #6
  • Aug 4, 2014 4:21am Aug 4, 2014 4:21am
Quoting goodoboy
Hello all, I am paper trading. I set a goal for myself to not go live until I am consistently producing $500 profit per week for 2 months. AND my loss per trade does not exceed $125. I have strict rules and a simple method I follow. So that I feel the emotions (pressure) of trading a real account, I informed about 4 friends and my wife that I will send them a screen shot of my Demo Account balance per day, so they see how much money I gain/loss. I have traded a real account before and loss money (about $4k) for many different reasons, mainly undisciplined,...
hy am newb can u teach me about making profit
  • #7
  • Aug 4, 2014 7:03am Aug 4, 2014 7:03am
A great suggestion is to review your trades in blocks of say 10 or 20 at a time and ensure you have an edge over that "block" of trades. Do this for a set time period, say 6 months and I think you're probably ready to put a toe in the water.

The great thing about reviewing your trades in blocks is that you remove the "edge with a random distribution of winners and losers" issue, you just review your block rather than reviewing on a trade by trade basis. This should be beneficial for a few obvious reasons.

A micro-account should be the next step from there, practising the money management rules you plan on using on an eventual larger account.
  • #8
  • Aug 4, 2014 7:55pm Aug 4, 2014 7:55pm
Thank you all for responding

So what should my goals be if not to make $500 per week?

Should it be a weekly +% return?
  • #9
  • Edited 1:06am Aug 5, 2014 12:46am | Edited 1:06am
Quoting goodoboy
Thank you all for responding So what should my goals be if not to make $500 per week? Should it be a weekly +% return?
Don't have a goal in such terms. Just do all you can to keep the account positive. And it must be real money and significant (money you cannot afford to lose)
  • #10
  • Aug 5, 2014 1:07am Aug 5, 2014 1:07am
Quoting goodoboy
... When would you recommend a newbie going live with real money? Or should the answer be whenever the trader feels he/she is ready? Is there a certain criteria? Thanks.
I think everything you have set in place looks fine.
Trading is a very individual thing.
As you have traded live before, you know what is ahead.
You will know when it is time to go live. That is your call - nobody elses.
I would set an amount that you are prepared to risk per trading session and stick to that rather than set profit targets.
Profit will come when the market allows it.
Trading happens in the head. Get your head right and you will be fine.
Take advice only from people you trust and who are supportive of your goals.
Well done so far.
H
  • #11
  • Aug 5, 2014 4:38am Aug 5, 2014 4:38am
Quoting goodoboy
Thank you all for responding So what should my goals be if not to make $500 per week? Should it be a weekly +% return?
Start with a weekly +5% target, but also dont force it, if you made only 3% just let it be, dont try to force trades just to reach the goal, the goal is only a framework to see your target, but its not a "must".

If you can consistently gain weekly returns around 5%, then you can set a higher goal.
"There's a sucker born every minute" - P.T. Barnum
  • #12
  • Last Post: Aug 5, 2014 7:20pm Aug 5, 2014 7:20pm
Quoting Aich
{quote} I think everything you have set in place looks fine. Trading is a very individual thing. As you have traded live before, you know what is ahead. You will know when it is time to go live. That is your call - nobody elses. I would set an amount that you are prepared to risk per trading session and stick to that rather than set profit targets. Profit will come when the market allows it. Trading happens in the head. Get your head right and you will be fine. Take advice only from people you trust and who are supportive of your goals. Well done...
Thank you alot for your advice. I am staying paper til I am fully ready and have made consistent weekly profits. I owe this too myself. I was fooled into started out with real money and not really discipline or did I trust my method, nor did I keep a good journal to monitor stats or winning percentages. I want do that again. I would Never advise someone to start trading with real money until they prove to they are profitable weekly and following their rules.
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