Andre.
I am sorry to hear that. It is a subject for which I never have had, or will have words to appropriately express my sympathies.
You clearly have an excellent head on your shoulders, and I enjoy reading the logical train you apply to your processes. Humorously, and rare for me, I neither agree nor disagree with you, but float between the two.
Thank you for your sympathy, it has been hard but, as I tell my brother, our mother truly prepared us for this moment, showing us how to be independent and acknowledging that she, as all of us, wouldn't be here forever. I find solace in the fact that she did not suffer at all, which is something she always wanted.
The reason I asked you that specific question is, as you state, 90%+ of people that attempt to trade fail. (although I'd go 95%, and add, of the 5% that survive, it is 5% of those that obtain significant success). Were I to assign one reason for that. I'd pick getting out of trades and taking losses. That is why I can not agree with you entirely about the benefit of sims. This is where the emotional part dictates our actions, and where losing money dictates our emotions. One cannot separate one from the other and one cannot assume they will perform in the same manner with real money on the line. It is rare they will.
I absolutely agree with you. My take on sims is that they serve the purpose of preparing you to deal with the technical aspects of trading, which include executing/developing trading strategies, gain some market experience and develop your analytical ability. But that is pretty much it and once you get into the actual trading, you'll see that it
seems like it's nothing like the simulator. However, the difference -- and no doubt, it is a
big difference -- is that you now have to learn to control your own emotions in order to execute what you have already trained in the live simulator. The things you have to do are still the same - your analysis, your strategy, etc. -- and these are the same as you trained before.
It is my opinion that this is a safer path for beginners because you tackle things one at a time. Although overcoming the psychological pitfalls of trading is perhaps the hardest part, knowing that you actually
do have a working system and that you
did properly trained your skills - and that means taking the sim seriously, as a relevant part of your learning -- you will be in a better state to actually tackle the psychological issues. This is also a way in which you can protect yourself from your own inexperience. New traders, in particular, are the most prone let themselves get into "gambler mode".
This is why I believe that the sim is crucial for new traders. Not because I think they'll come off of it totally ready to deal with a live market, but because it will increase their chances of survival, since they'll have been exposed to a "controlled" environment on which they can learn the basics for a while. The sim is a step towards small trading, which is a step towards increasing in size, which is step towards whatever comes next in a trader's journey.
I did a couple of years of judo before my accident (I can't wait to go back, but there are some pesky 13 pins on my arm and I'm waiting for the surgeon to give the green light ahahahaha), but it's much like evolving in a martial art. First you learn some moves and practice by yourself, then you practice with a partner, multiple partners, while moving and then "randori", or simulated combat. Only then you are allowed to compete, with people on your level (white and blue belts; yellow and green belts; all the way up to black belts. All that takes a long time and I think that starting with live markets, even if you have a tiny account and are aware of the risks, sends the message that you're "too good" to start with a simulator or white belt.
"the government is basically waging war against"
Your gov't appears to be waging war against everything a decent human being would stand for. It is a tragedy to see what is occurring down there. Right now it really appears to be an organized crime syndicate masking itself as a country. If the people had any self respect, they would burn down Brasilia using the STF as the kindling. - but they won't.
Although I very much feel the same, I honestly wouldn't stand the chance of Brazil getting into
yet another dictatorship after barely making 30 years as a democracy. Ironically, since the president is a very very vocal advocate for the Brazilian Military Dictatorship, not to mention torture, human rights violations, violence, etc.
