How long to trade on a demo account?

I would like to share with you my thoughts on the dangers of using Demo account.

According to statistics, the percentage of successful traders in the transition from demo account to the real one, decreases by more than half. What is the reason? After all, the same quotes are used, the same charts, the only difference is that the demo account The news comes with a delay of 30 minutes. Don't rush to blame your broker for the bad faith. It's not him, it's you. More precisely, in your psychology.

Remember, you are likely to have learned the basic tools of technical and fundamental analysisI was able to use the maximum leverage, you could easily enter with your five-thousand-dollar deposit and make very good profits. You could easily use the maximum leverage, enter with your 5,000th deposit and get a very good profit.

But here you have decided to try your hand at live account. In my experience, it's a completely different emotion, because it's your own money we're talking about. And that's where all the human qualities come into play - greed, fear, etc.

How does emotion affect the outcome?

A simple example: you have opened a position, placed orders (having calculated everything beforehand), keep an eye on the price. And then the price almost reaches the take profit order, begins to roll back and you in a panic, afraid (fear) to lose the existing profit (greed), close the position, and then you see how the price successfully reaches the previously set order. Yes, this happens quite often. Your emotions are to blame.

For those who assert that virtual money is treated the same way as real money, I suggest an analogy: imagine a 40 cm wide board lying on the floor, and try hard to imagine walking on it at the height of a five-story building. How does it feel? Is it very scary? I think, with all the power of your imagination, the emotion won't be particularly vivid. Now imagine yourself standing on that board, only now at that height... now do you understand the difference?

Okay, let's say it is, but then what to do? Do I immediately open live accountwithout the necessary knowledge and skills? My opinion is: to work for demo account you can, but AmountThe same method you are using for real should be the same as the one you are going to use for real. Then you will deprive yourself of additional risk and will correctly estimate the situation. And don't spend too much time on the virtual account, otherwise you can lose the necessary vigilance.

Starting to work for live account, open positions only with the minimum lot And don't forget to place orders. In this case, your profits and losses will be minimal. Your goal at this stage is to gain experience, not to make a profit. Once you become comfortable and in control of your emotions you can increase the lot. The main thing is to do it gradually.

These are the recommendations for beginning traders. Good luck in trading!