How long should I demo before going live?

[fibo_trader]

You will probably get many contrary replies to what I'm about to say (possibly along the lines of you won't know what trading is until you try for real – and I'll be the 1st to agree with that) but I am of the firm belief that you should not go live until you have convincingly proved to yourself that your demo trading is reliably successful – and that may take some time to achieve and will likely test your perseverance and patience to the limit!

It's probably worth heeding what Mr Charts says. He is one of our long-most serving members and, I believe, has been trading for a living for about 20 years, so he should know a thing or 2 about trading live. I can recommend you to read all of his most helpful stuff but particularly his account of how he transferred from his previous occupation to trading. In that (if I recall correctly) he recommends at least 100 paper trades of a successful nature in order to ascertain reliability and competence.

My logic is: until you can papertrade successfully there is little point in risking real money. And even then you should still be prepared for disappointment. On the other hand, if you've got loads of spare dosh go ahead straightaway – you'll certainly learn lessons you won't forget in a hurry! But all that's only my opinion – others will tell you different.

Your Honor, pls add this gent to the list of T2W untouchables who achieved this lofty status by not trading live

Violet (counter-violent), malaguti, barjon, tomorten, timsk, Signalcalc, batsonar, Rufus_Leakey, postman, Atilla, Nowler, Dentalfloss, Pat494, new_trader, Dowser, postman

Since NVP brought up Mike Tyson, this is how a fight between any of these untouchables and Mike Tyson would go down. And here's the kicker: a fight between Mike Tyson and Mr. Financial Market would go down even faster with Tyson as the loser EVERY DAMN TIME

 

[fibo_trader]

Demo trader against the market is a sure shot loser 100% guaranteed. A one inch ant versus a 7 ft giant with daddy long legs and arms - just to reach his head with a kick one gots to be an acrobat

One or more things a DEMO trader never has to do is dig deep, I mean go deeeeeeep undercover and come out of the depts of his soul with a nugget that gives him the Edge needed

Behold Bruce showing the nuggets .....................

0:46
1:57
2:07
3:57

 

[fibo_trader]

At 3:02 = ultimate nugget = best and deepest EDGE known to Man

At 3:20 Bruce builds up the "coiling force of a 4th wave required for the rocket thrust out of the triangle in Wave 5" Of course he did all this without knowing Wave Theory. That be the domain of Fibo.

 

[Pat494]

Work on the demo until you re making money regularly. It is slightly different on a micro account but this is the next step until you are weekly positive. Only then onto the regular account and start small.
If you have little patience then you have an uphill battle within yourself that MUST be won.

 

[hatemypips]

A demo account is a great opportunity to practice, but many overestimate their positive impact. To begin with, the demo account doesn't allow you to penetrate the main thing - the psychology of trading. No, of course, your'e sorry to lose even virtual money, but we will be honest, they do not represent special value for you.

That's why, I always say that a demo account is not suitable for training strategies. The task of the demo account is different. It was created in order to help you begin to navigate how the market works and try the most basic things. Once you understand this and do + 20-25%, forget about the demo account.

Only your psychology matters, and the demo account gives a feeling of carelessness. So, trade on a demo account until you understand that you understand how the exchange works, and then proceed to trade with a small amount of money.

Psychology is irrelevant if you follow predetermined trading rules, demo becomes similar to live trading, because except psychology, in discretional type of trading everything else is probably the same. So I don't see benefits from losing money on live, giving up tests on demo too quickly.

 

[Lary]

Psychology is irrelevant if you follow predetermined trading rules, demo becomes similar to live trading, because except psychology, in discretional type of trading everything else is probably the same. So I don't see benefits from losing money on live, giving up tests on demo too quickly.

i kinda agree to your point. but sometimes, while trading on demo, you get carefree, as is real money not on stake. demo is good for beginners, but once you've grasped the concepts and got a little experience, it is better to start live trading with small amount and no leverage.

 

[hatemypips]

i kinda agree to your point. but sometimes, while trading on demo, you get carefree, as is real money not on stake. demo is good for beginners, but once you've grasped the concepts and got a little experience, it is better to start live trading with small amount and no leverage.

Have you ever tried to trade FX with 100 bucks and no leverage ? Do you start to care more when account balance changes 1 cent higher or 1 cent lower? I think it's not a kind of emotional test you look for. I started to trade with 1K and strict money management where loss per trade can't exceed 10 bucks. Honoring trading rules was difficult because in some trades I was sure half way that I will bear loss certainly. And I wanted to close trade to cut loss but I knew I will lose conistency and distort long-term results.

 

[D.Bernfeld]

I dont think you can put a time scale on it as its down to how you feel. I would advise staying on demo until you are consistently making a profit, once going live i would also suggest keeping a relatively small account until you get a good feel for it.

 

[Kevin FD]

trading consistently in demo is a tough game for the traders who are particularly newcomers. but its really important to trade in demo.

 

[Henow1969]

Demo trading is very essential for every newbie in Forex trading because he needs some practice and he can get good practise and experience of trading with a demo account. Every trader must trade with a demo for at least six months before start live trading with real money.

 

[tomorton]

Demo until you have a consistently profitable system without excessive drawdown or risk. Do not trade if you do not have a way to make money trading.

 

[Kevin FD]

Demo until you have a consistently profitable system without excessive drawdown or risk. Do not trade if you do not have a way to make money trading.

its a fine answer i got from all, thanks sir for your fine lines. agree with you completely.

 

[hatemypips]

For a long time I would not advise trading on a demo. Although this sounds corny, you can get used to such conditions, and then it will be very difficult to switch to the main account, where you have to answer for your mistakes with your money.

Yes I also faced this problem during transition and the solution was to stop playing with virtual money and start to take risk. It makes your brain work faster and clever, imo.

 

[marcela 2020]

time you do it, when you feel confident to do it do it, when you are sure that your strategy can work you can do it

 

[hatemypips]

It all depends on capabilities of a trader but I would say that 3 months is ok for demo training. You can learn all necessary things.

 

[Kevin FD]

I would use the demo for a month or more till i felt i was confident enough to understand how the forex market is and then go live.

And during demo i would use both high and low leverages to minimize the risk.

i think demo is the best place to use high leverage ratio , because only from this place we the traders can see how high leverage works in practical.

 

[hatemypips]

Can the demo tool help me with the live trading as well.

Cause i've seen many traders say demo and live are not similar so demo might not be that useful as we beginners think ?

Demo trading is a good introduction to live in the sense that you can try all platform tools, order types, see how works margin, analytical tools, trading EA's or indicators.

 

[tomorton]

Demo trading is a good introduction to live in the sense that you can try all platform tools, order types, see how works margin, analytical tools, trading EA's or indicators.

This is right. The biggest difference between demo and live is in the trader's head - on demo its not real money so there is almost no negative emotional response to draw-down or loss or erosion of unrealised gains, nor positive reaction to the reverse of these situations. But its still an essential stage in learning a trading system.

 

[Kevin FD]

Can the demo tool help me with the live trading as well.

Cause i've seen many traders say demo and live are not similar so demo might not be that useful as we beginners think ?

you have to understand the real difference between two. technically there is no difference between demo and live but emotionally lots of. in demo there is no pressure when trading but in a real account you cant ignore the mental pressure, emotions , greediness and much more issues. so results are not similar in there.

 

[Forexgpd20]

Well ,this is dependent on a lot of factors. Such is how much you've learnt and built consistency. Enough time should be dedicated to Forex education which i believe will pay off in the long run when you start trading with real money. Like i said before build consistency with Making profit and be sure your method is right,with that i believe you're ready for the real challenge.