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Getting Started In Forex Trading – Demo vs. Live Account

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Published: 01Oct2009
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Retail forex brokers generally offer free forex trading practice accounts, otherwise known as demo accounts. These accounts allow new traders the ability to practice currency trading without any risk, others the chance to test out a broker platform at no charge and also the opportunity to test out trading strategies without risking real money. From the broker’s perspective, it gets a chance to show what it has to offer and hopefully encourage the opening of an account with its firm. This article is geared to the new trader and aims to point out the difference between trading a demo account that does not risk real money and trading a live account.

The difference between forex trading with a practice account where no real money is at risk is like night and day with trading a live account, where real capital is at risk. It doesn’t matter how much money is at risk. It is a new ball game when trading with real money. This is when psychology and emotion get factored into the mix.

There is no emotion involved when trading a demo account. A position can go against you and it should not trigger any emotion as there is nothing at risk. You can let the position run in the red as long as you want as only your paper balance will decrease. If the position eventually recovers and makes money, it does not prepare you for real-time forex trading. In fact, it may send the wrong signal that you can hold on to a position indefinitely until you recover a loss. You may get more excited if you make profits trading a demo account but it cannot compare with making real profits with a live account. Experienced traders will tell you to keep emotion out of trading but that is easier said than done, especially for new traders who have not experienced the highs and lows of this business.

As noted, it is a different ball game when trading a live account with real money. I don’t care if you are risking $1, $1000 or more. There is a difference when real money is at risk. It is hard to describe until you try trading with real capital but it is different when your emotions rise watching a position go into the red and seeing your account balance go down. This is especially true for the retail forex trader who often comes into the game either undercapitalized or trading with excessive leverage.

This brings up another issue trading with a demo account. Currency trading practice accounts often come with a $50,000 balance and it is easy to leverage it up since it is only paper money at risk. It is also easy to place a wide stop or no stop at all since you are not risking real capital. It is therefore easier to make money this way if you use excessive leverage, do not use stops and get lucky if it is a time when markets are not trending. If your account gets wiped out, you can always open a new practice account or ask the broker to replenish the existing account. This makes the transition to a live account even more difficult when the reality of trading with limited capital takes over. If your account gets wiped out, you either have to replenish the capital or drop out of the game. Losses are part of the learning process and all traders experience them. It can become even more painful if a trader enters the game with a false sense of confidence.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am not disparaging practice accounts. In fact, I think they are a wonderful way to learn how to trade. I wish they were available when I started out. Forex brokers provide a great service to the forex trading community by making them available. My issue is with new traders and how they generally use them. If a currency trader trades a demo account without a systematic approach, disciplined money management, proper use of stops and leverage, looking for good risk/reward trades, etc. then the transition to real-time forex trading may be less painful. On the other hand, if a trader does not trade a demo account as he/she plans to trade in real-time, then practice trading can become a “fool’s gold.” Nothing will prepare you for the emotion associated with trading real money but if you take advantage of a practice account to hone your skills as if you were trading real-time, it will at least prepare you for currency trading in real-time conditions.

Jay Meisler is a co-founder of Global-View.com, the leading forex discussion site for more than a decade and where traders from around the globe come for the latest breaking news, flows, rumors and trading ideas =>http://www.global-view.com

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