I recommend trading similar size in your demo account as in real life and only allowing yourself to go live after you have made 20% profits. How long that takes depends on how careful you are with your (fake) money.
I'd like to suggest the idea of dividing your money in half. Perhaps something like $5000 invested and $5000 for trading. Put the investment money into one or two good value, decent distribution, stocks that have tangible products and set them to drip. Trade with the other money and continue with that for five years. If you can make more money by short term trading for five years, you should sell the investments and go all in with trading. Most importantly, be honest when you compare the figures. Don't think to yourself, "If I hadn't have made those couple of mistakes, trading would have made more money..." Just look at the volume of money and make an objective decision. If you run out of trading money before five years, which you will, well... that would be a good reason to stop the experiment to some objective participants. 100% of traders claim to make money but think about it... that's like everyone goes to a rigged poker game and leaves with more than they came with. I'm skeptical. I know it's possible to make money by trading but it's almost certain to make money with a well run investment program.
You will learn faster with real money. Why not open an M1 Finance Account that allows commish-free, fractional shares and get your feet wet? Just put a few hundred in there.
There is a strong element of truth to this. Mastering your emotions is key in trading and with paper trading you won't do that. Too easy to hit the reset button and pretend it didn't happen. The key is having a trading plan and sticking to it no matter what. IMO
I hear that a lot about paper trading does not help with emotions. That is pretty much accurate but not a reason to avoid paper trading. Those that reset and forget it happened are not taking advantage of what paper trading is all about for those that are learning investing/trading. What you get from it is the ability to test out various strategies and develop your rules/plan that seems to work for you in paper trading. Those very rules that you develop in paper trading is what will help you in live trading to control your emotions.
Agreed, paper trading is great, even if just to learn how to place the darn orders properly. Nothing wrong with paper trading at all, simply meant your emotions don't play out in the same manner as real money.
Automated trading for first time traders? Fantastic. Brought to us by the same people who offer introduction to flight lessions by throwing the keys to a 747 to new pilots and telling them where it's parked.
which begs the question, which is more painful: to not get out in time and take a big hit or to get out too early and lose out on a big winner? is it better to have loved and lost or not loved at all?
From the practical point of view, it's better to enter at points of low risk (not far from stop loss), have well placed stops, take the small losses without any further rationalizing. But yes sometimes they do turn around and you miss the big move, but if you're still paying attention you get right back in. From the more esoteric point of view, you're reminding me of Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat".
