How long on a demo account

BaldoN posted:
Till the time you find a really working strategy and stable profit, which could be continued on live :)

That is the only real sensible answer here. There is no point moving from demo to real after a month if you are still making a loss on demo

Demo account trading is not a race. Take as much time as you need and carefully learn how to trade. Don't compare yourself with others, especially if they take less time than you. This is the lerning phase. The longer you spend here the clearer will be your basics. however, let me tell you that for advanced learning there is nothing better than live trading. So take you time on demo and when you have gained enough confidence and skills open live acc, preferably a micro a/c and start trading there.

oliviapeters posted:
Demo account trading is not a race. Take as much time as you need and carefully learn how to trade. Don't compare yourself with others, especially if they take less time than you. This is the lerning phase. The longer you spend here the clearer will be your basics. however, let me tell you that for advanced learning there is nothing better than live trading. So take you time on demo and when you have gained enough confidence and skills open live acc, preferably a micro a/c and start trading there.

Hey olivia, in regard of your micro account recommendation: Yes the idea is good- with micro account the money value is smaller, so probably the looses will be smaller, but the profit will be smaller as well :) So if you don't have any aggressive money maker strategy- you can trade few months for 1-2 $ profit/lose :D Additionally, I noticed, that almost always the micro accounts are provided with worse conditions. Almost every broker providing micro account- the offered spreads are starting from 1 pip+... So generally, I think micro trading is wasting of time on bad conditions :) I prefer to trade on Interbank core spreads without markup... Comments and ideas are welcome :)

many ECN brokers offer micro accounts with spreads much lower than 1 pip and low commission. Try one of those

Cappucinotrader posted:
many ECN brokers offer micro accounts with spreads much lower than 1 pip and low commission. Try one of those

I am fan of such type of working model. I think, it is better to give some money for commission but trade on 0,1-0,2 pips spread, instead trading on 1,1-1,2 pips spread without commission :)

A lot of pro traders seem to do that but I find it difficult to calculate the commissions and know exactly how much it costs when I trade. I know that fixed spreads are usually bucket shops but it makes things easy for me

If you have a solid strategy with long term profitable results, then your commissions and spreads are generally irrelevant.

They're just the cost of doing business.

scalpers won't do the same in demo than live

There are plenty of tools on line that will calculte hte commissions for you. Just use one of those. Trust me trading with commissions is much better than with a bucket shop

You guys are really talking about commission? You need to focus on your system and nothing else.

The commissions are important part of every system and strategy :) Lets say you are using an Expert Advisor on a commission based broker, providing interbank core spreads. The Take Profit of the EA will be activated early because of tight spread / or the Stop Loss will be activated bit later because of tight spread. Generally this could be helpful for the overall performance and more profitable. On the second scenario: you are trading on marked-up spreads, without commission. In such case, it could take more time to be activated the TP (because of wider spread) / or the SL can be activated early (because of wider spread). This could generate you bigger losses because of earlier activation of the SL and because of bigger chance to skip activation the TP.

very good point. I had not really thought about how the spread actually means that some trades that should be winners will actually be losers. nice comment

chesterjohn posted:
A year? Wow, that's a lot longer than I thought. I know I need longer to refine things and stop the stupid losses I keep making. I was thinking more like 3 months of continual profit combined with an improved win/loss ratio and I'd take the plunge.

If you've just started trading, totally new, and you have a perception that 3 months on demo is enough then you're in for a harsh and painful lesson. Trading profitably and consistently is just not that simple or easy. There are people who spend decades trying this - very smart people - who never succeed. You actually think that you are that one special, unique snowflake who can beat the markets when literally everyone else has tried and failed and had to try and try again? That's just not reality. The reality is that trading profitably over a long period is as close to impossible as you can get. There are far more successful neurosurgeons than there are successful traders. The churn rate at prop firms is astonishingly high, and this is where traders have the most advantageous circumstances, support and surroundings.

I have been in demo for one year and I have just gotten some understanding of trading. And still learning more. Just stay consistent.

StampGer posted:
very good point. I had not really thought about how the spread actually means that some trades that should be winners will actually be losers. nice comment

Yeah, the spread is one of most important things in regard of activation of your TP and SL. If you use an EA, the spread will be one of most important thing for the overall performance of the EA. As I mentioned on my previous post, if the spread is wider- the SL will be activated early / you will have a bigger chance to skip activating of the TP (because of the wider spread). This is why, my point is, that it is better to use interbank core spreads + commission, instead wider spreads without commission.

Oceanlif posted:
I have been in demo for one year and I have just gotten some understanding of trading. And still learning more. Just stay consistent.

Congratulations for the patience mate :) Many people are impatient and can't wait for one year testing. Actually, after the first year testing and learning the things begin to get clear :)

One year impressive. Shows a lot of self control. Hopefully you will be a good trader when you get going with real money

Oceanlif posted:
I have been in demo for one year and I have just gotten some understanding of trading. And still learning more. Just stay consistent.

yeah consistency is paramount in trading. It is good that you spent such long on demo. Most people are on demo for 3-4 months only which, in my opinion at least, is a little short. Anyway, this long demo experience will be very helpful in understanding important aspects of trading

It depends on your effort. How much you put in time per day, per week, per month and what is the quality of that time you put in. Are you scrolling Facebook on one monitor and trying to trade on another or are you super focused? If the latter is the case, then 6 months of consistent profits on demo should be enough.