Is there a benefit to paper trading?

[volpri]

Did we ever find out how she trades commission free?

Sim trading? ROFL

 

[rin4et]

Sim trading? ROFL

I use Robin Hood. I wouldn't use it to trade size but for a new trader learning to execute trades as per their strategy it is great!

 

[Traderjohnsblog]

I have heard the name. Don't know much about them. I wonder how they make money if they dont charge commissions?

 

[Buy1Sell2]

I am having trouble sticking to my strategy /plan. Someone told me paper trading will help.
Currently I use a position size of $3k. Do you think reducing my position size would help to take emotion out of the equation so I can learn to trust my strategy and stick to it? Or is paper trading a better option to get over this hurdle?
I am a discretionary trader that trades stocks. Would love to hear from other experienced discretionary traders. Was paper trading useful or is it better to use small position size instead?

Thanks!

Paper trading is fine for learning the logistics of trading. It will not help you with strategies etc.or trading better because there is no emotion involved. One must lose real money in the real market in order to trade successfully.

 

[wrbtrader]

i don't agree with this. paper trading gives you the opportunity to first develop a profitable system and test it on historical data. as long as you have not completed this first step you should papertrade instead of blowing up real accounts. the next step is the psychological part of trading. for that you need to trade in real.

first learn to walk and then learn to run.

Be careful...the phrase "paper trading" is kind'uv vague with some traders.

To some it means a simulator at their broker, to some it means writing down trades on paper and to others it means typing trades into a spreadsheet. Further, there's the issue that many paper traders misuse it such as often seen in "demo accounts"...problems that will occur in real money trading that will not occur in paper trading or backtesting.

Yet, if someone is still in the "development" phase of their trade method, they should be only backtesting and not simulator trading. Paper trading (simulator trading) while still developing a trade method can cause problems when a trader traverse into real money trading.

Sorry, I hate the phrase paper trading because it means different things to different traders whereas the phrase simulator trading is a little more specific.

Simulator trading should only be used to learn the broker trading platform and then simulate the trade method to see what the results are in comparison to the backtesting results. The real debate is how long should someone use a simulator prior to moving into real money trading ?

Tough answer considering everybody is different.

Any problems in the simulator results is most likely due to psychological problems (e.g. discipline problems to stick to the trade method) and the trader must resolve those psychological problems prior to any more simulator trading and prior to traversing into real money trading.

 

[ironchef]

How do you trade commission free and have direct access?
___

Not saying this is what you are doing because I do not know, but trading free trades on say a banks retail platform can almost never end well.

The execution is too slow and best prices are often not obtained because orders do not go directly to the market- they are often sold.

I can support your comments.

I have two sets of brokerage accounts, one set with a bank which allows certain numbers of free trades a year, the other set with a regular brokerage which charges xx per trade. The bank trades were slow to execute and so I often didn't get the price I wanted.

For options, because of large bid/ask spreads and time urgency, I only use my regular brokerage account to trade.

 

[ironchef]

For options, because of large bid/ask spreads and time urgency, I only use my regular brokerage account to trade.

Therefore, for me, paper trading is not useful.

For me: Developed strategy, backtested to refine and then traded small to tryout.

 

[gentlerich]

I am having trouble sticking to my strategy /plan. Someone told me paper trading will help.
Currently I use a position size of $3k. Do you think reducing my position size would help to take emotion out of the equation so I can learn to trust my strategy and stick to it? Or is paper trading a better option to get over this hurdle?
I am a discretionary trader that trades stocks. Would love to hear from other experienced discretionary traders. Was paper trading useful or is it better to use small position size instead?
Thanks!

Go for paper trading. You won’t lose money with wrong timing or bad decisions. Paper trading will allow you to evaluate all your mistakes in your analytical process which will give you the chance to develop the sound trading strategy.

 

[Gaston]

Go for paper trading. You won’t lose money with wrong timing or bad decisions. Paper trading will allow you to evaluate all your mistakes in your analytical process which will give you the chance to develop the sound trading strategy.

Thanks for the explanation.