Comment by Indy on August 6, 2012 at 3:34pm

Hi there,

I read the article on the problems of demo trading and I found I did agree with a lot of the points and thought they were very valid arguments, but now we are being told that mini accounts are just as bad. I guess newcomers should probably just go straight to trading live on full lot accounts then?

I'm sure a lot of brokers would like people to do that but I'm not sure I would recomend it.

 

Cheers,

Indy

Comment by Peter jcp on August 6, 2012 at 4:43pm

Hi Indy 

I agree with your thoughts - and I am sure Brokers would love new traders to go straight onto live full lot accounts and lose their first small capital account.

I remember when I started and even when I have changed Brokers - I have always used the demo account to get used to all the features of the platform and for example one click in and out facility and to see if there is a button to exit all orders if you are lost in 3 or 4 trades at the same time.

The big downside of demo accounts is that they make new traders think it is easy - and then when they go live - suddenly the problems start. For every argument there will be a counter argument and so I suppose it is not simply "black or white" and depends so much on the trader and their characteristics etc.

I feel you should use a demo to test a new platform and trying new methods and for learning - and then use a smaller live account for a few months before going properly live.

Some traders might only feel they need a few months on a demo -and then 6 months on a mini or micro account. Others might feel they need a full year - testing the water before risking a full lot account and larger capital.

We are all different and so it finding what works for you - and if you are on a mini account and feeling its not working for you on the risk side - progress to next stage - but as with all trading - be careful - better to be safe than sorry ;-)

Comment by Gonçalo Moreira on August 7, 2012 at 8:28am

Absolutely agree with Indy and Peter, but I wonder if the intention behind these articles is really to discuss demo and mini accounts.

The articles seem to be written as a personal opinion, not as a documented and objective study. As a reaction to those opinions we almost fail to see that the origin of the problem is not the type of account or the lot sizes.

The true "wolf in sheep’s clothing" is leading us to think that the solution to problems related to trading is "outside" our decisions, and that you need "something else" to make your trading work. This something else can be a new theory, a new tool, a new indicator, etc.

I'm not saying external tools or support can't help, for sure some of them do. I'm just tired of the tactics used to market Forex related products. Why not sell something just based on hard facts?

Comment by Matthew Carstens on August 7, 2012 at 2:59pm

Hi Guys - First of all, thank you very much for your comments.

Goncalo you are correct.  My intention is to raise the conversation and to think about our current choices.  I do have an alternative method/technology which is currently in development that I will hopefully be able to share with you all shortly.  The product name and link is:  TradingWheels

Thank you all again.

Comment by Gonçalo Moreira on August 8, 2012 at 9:53am

Hi Matthew,

Thanks for sharing your ideas. I believe that any tool which increases the awareness of how we behave in trading, automatically increase that level of awareness. It should be an accumulative and never-ending process and the tool should have in consideration that people are on different levels of awareness. Perhaps some of the parameters, like the random percentage of demo-allocated trades, should be adjusted with the help of the system. It could be intelligent enough to know from the trade statistics at which level the trader is and suggest a certain amount of demo-trades; or even hide it completely so that a beginner would be trading 90% demo with all the emotional experience of trading life.

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