Did paper trade really help you to become profitable?

Took me 8 years to build up 50K capital to be in market... Burnt 15k in just a week... I am still hurt at this point. Big difference when papertrade vs real. Strategy is the same... But I am way more relax when it's papertrade
what kind of strategy burns $15k in 1 week, unless it is enormous risk reward ratio.??
 
1. What is your definition of a simulator?
Similar to a driving or flight simulator, you get to use the real life information to make decisions and execute them. So in a trading simulator, you'd get real time data, news and other inputs. Then you'd execute trades at actual market prices (that's where it gets tricky if you assume non-aggressive execution) and track your performance.

2. What do I need to build a simulator?
That's a tricky one. I'd think there are some reasonable commercial simulators that take into account transaction costs and maybe even have some form of book simulation.
 
Similar to a driving or flight simulator, you get to use the real life information to make decisions and execute them. So in a trading simulator, you'd get real time data, news and other inputs. Then you'd execute trades at actual market prices (that's where it gets tricky if you assume non-aggressive execution) and track your performance.


That's a tricky one. I'd think there are some reasonable commercial simulators that take into account transaction costs and maybe even have some form of book simulation.
Thank you.

I am trying to build two types of simulators:

1. Pure mathematical, statistical, for example stock price movement that follows lognormal + drift + perturbation, option prices that follows BSM + skew + term structure. This, since the perturbations and drifts are known I use to try see if I can filter out the random noise to retrieve the input.

2. Part historical data + mathematical model. This I use to backtest various market characteristics.

How am I doing? :banghead: so far, but I am not giving up.:D
 
You can’t completely eliminate random noise. You’ll always have some turbulence, and the filter you’re looking for is the golden goose. Have you tried working with ATR, or STD (not HIV or gonorrhea)?

In my experience, and success, what separates a good signal from noise is the average win size, not the rate, and the only way to get that, is by not constantly choking off your profit, and in most cases not seeking profit targets at all.
Don't know what are ATR and STD?

I know and agree about random noise and average win size.

However, like small signal theory in communication, there could be ways to enhance the tradable information from a noisy price chart?
 
I did well in papertrade, but when I switched to real data, boy I lost nearly 15K my first week. So I stopped. .. Just wondering if anyone here experienced the same prior to become profitable? What did you do then after such situation. I completely lost confidence in myself with this market.
Instead of paper trade or small lot trade, maybe you should try it on a simulator like @sle and @Sig suggested. The advantage is trades on a simulator are controlled experiments.
 
Because you forget what it means to only have $25,000 that might have taken you years to save. A 1 lot in ES can easily cause losses of $500. Soon, while trading leveraged products without a plan, you can easily watch your account drop to $5K which can then take years to save again. I've seen it happen.

That's why papertrading is important.
 
In my mind, trading 1-lots is the same as paper trading.

I have several new strategies where I am targeting pnl volatility of 5-10k a day - practical purposes that's paper trading (for me, given the scale of other things I do) but I do get to participate in the order book so there are no simulation-driven artifacts.

The big difference as I see it, is gets into the psychology of the trade. Even if it is small amounts of money for your gains and loses, it is still real money. You can also develop a plan for ramping up position sizes.

Say for instance you set up a plan to risk $1,000 per trade, and you doubled your risk every quarter, after 2 years you would be risking $256,000 per trade.
 
The big difference as I see it, is gets into the psychology of the trade. Even if it is small amounts of money for your gains and loses, it is still real money. You can also develop a plan for ramping up position sizes.

Say for instance you set up a plan to risk $1,000 per trade, and you doubled your risk every quarter, after 2 years you would be risking $256,000 per trade.

That's the issue...its hypothetical and a retail trader will not risk such an amount in their real money trading even after they ramped up their position size.

The typical retail trader will keep their risk the same for a very long time (more than several quarters) even after ramping up their position size...they will still be abusing their leverage or position size management via not being able to psychologically manage those types of trades going from a $1,000 risk per trade to a $256,000 per trade. :D

Nor will the spouse or family of the retail trader allow for such or give severe consequences when they find out about such.

Real money has a strange power on the mind. For example, the last guy I knew that risk that amount as a retail trader...his wife got tired of the psychological stress from him about those types of trades and she divorced him.

Yet, may be a different psychological story for a single trader with no family. :D

As you stated...it gets into the psychology of the trade...deep psychology stuff...twilight zone stuff. :rolleyes:

wrbtrader
 
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That's the issue...its hypothetical and a retail trader will not risk such an amount in their real money trading even after they ramped up their position size.

The typical retail trader will keep their risk the same for a very long time (more than several quarters) even after ramping up their position size...they will still be abusing their leverage or position size management via not being able to psychologically manage those types of trades going from a $1,000 risk per trade to a $256,000 per trade. :D

Nor will the spouse or family of the retail trader allow for such or give severe consequences when they find out about such.

Real money has a strange power on the mind. For example, the last guy I knew that risk that amount as a retail trader...his wife got tired of the psychological stress from him about those types of trades and she divorced him.

Yet, may be a different psychological story for a single trader with no family. :D

As you stated...it gets into the psychology of the trade...deep psychology stuff...twilight zone stuff. :rolleyes:

wrbtrader

Who claimed they are required to risk $256,000? The point is, if you double your risk every quarter, in a matter of two years, you can get to the point where you are taking big positions. The rate and frequency of increasing position is up to the trader, the example was meant to be illustrative. I however, do not think starting off small and doubling your exposure every quarter is particularly aggressive. Of course the trader is going to have a risk tolerance and not increase position size after they have reached it. This is simply a method to start small, risk small money, then increase position size as confidence in trading ability is gained.

The alternative is paper trading or extensive back-testing. Neither one puts any skin in the game nor provides as much learning experience as having real, money at risk.

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Of course you never get punched in the face when you are shadow boxing, and paper trading is shadow boxing.
 
Real money has a strange power on the mind. For example, the last guy I knew that risk that amount as a retail trader...his wife got tired of the psychological stress from him about those types of trades and she divorced him.

But in the divorce she surely did not miss to take a big part of that money that she "disliked" and was the cause of the divorce. :D

Percentage wise the risk would be the same, assuming that the margins used stayed the same when growing size of the position. So what's the problem? As long as the capital management is sound...
 
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