Trading Real vs Trading Simulated

Trading Real vs Trading Simulated; when a person is starting their trading career there is a lot to learn before trading with real money and making trades. But how long should a new trader trade in Simulated mode and not real? I learned that trading in simulated mode is way different than trading with real money. When I first switched to real money it seemed like all of a sudden I paid more attention to entering the trade setups and wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly. If I didn’t’ do it right in Sim mode I could just reset the simulator. There is no reset when you lose money for real.

When to Switch from Trading Real vs Trading Simulated

When you have back-tested your system and traded it successfully for a month you may be ready to switch to trading with a real money. The best way to start out trading with real money is to start with a small account trading the S&P Micro Lot size in the Futures. This lot size trades at $1.25 per tick and there are 4 ticks in a point which is $5 a point. The reason it is better to start off with a small account size is as you see this account grow you don’t see it growing much and it is about the same as Simulated Trading. You are making the conversion over to Real and not noticing the anxiety you would have if you were seeing losses. The S&P is a little less volatile than the Nasdaq which is tech stocks. As your small account grows into a large account you become accustomed to the Account size and dollar size of the trades and are not as easily effected by the profit and loss.