Why Demo Account Performance Is Often Better Than Real Account Performance

Over the past several years, the popularity of online currency trading has grown substantially. Each day, online FX brokerage firms attract new investors - each of them lining up with a glint in their eye, lured in by promises of easy money. Most of these companies allow you to sign up for a free demo account which lets you place mock trades using their trading platform to get a feel for the excitement of currency trading. In the casual world of free demo accounts - many young traders find they are able to garner impressive profits without a significant amount of effort. It almost seems too good to be true. But transferring this success from a demo account to a real account is far less common. Why is this? The actual trading platform behaves the exact same way, the market doesn't care whether you're a demo or real trader - so what is different? It's you who has changed. Not your personality, not even your trading style - but the factors that affect you are different.

What is the key factor to trading success?

The search for the "Holy Grail" of trading has been a common theme throughout the history of markets. There are a variety of different techniques. Those whom are inclined towards number crunching and pattern recognition may prefer technical analysis, whereas those more focused on the big picture, logical macro perspective prefer fundamental analysis. Then there are specific methodologies like swing trading, trend following or even more esoteric ideas like the Elliot Wave theory. Which one is best? There are examples of very successful traders using each methodology.

Since most new traders lose money - perhaps the more appropriate question to ask is, "What is the key factor to trading failure?"

Greed and Fear

Trading is an atmosphere rich in the porous emotions of greed and fear. The current price of a given security or financial instrument at any point in time can be thought of as the confluence of greed (bulls) and fear (bears). These two emotions make up the core of humanity itself. When market information is released, trading can be a high intensity experience. Sensing danger, your body releases adrenaline that acts to accentuate both your greed (fight) and your fear (flight). Because these emotions are so strong, they can cause you to act irrationally, ignore your system, stated set of rules or trading plan and to act upon impulse. Indeed, this is a genetically programmed response - but it is often also the trader's downfall, especially when he's playing with much better capitalized, more sophisticated and experienced foes that know how to manipulate those emotions.

When you are a trader - you are always under the influence of at least one of these two emotions, even if you don't have any trades on.

Impact of fear and greed on your trading

If the market's going up and you're in - greed is telling you to buy more and fear is telling you to take your profits while you still can. If it's going down, fear of being wrong makes you hold onto a losing position - and then greed sometimes convinces you to "average down" your position (and buy more) so it'll be easier for you to come back.

If the market's going up and you're not invested - fear is telling you that you're missing out on easy money but it's your greed that causes you to get in just after the greatest increase (just when its about to reverse course). If the market's going down and you're not invested - greed is telling you to get in as the price is cheap, while fear reminds you that you'll miss out on this opportunity if you don't act quickly.

Perhaps if we just felt greed, or just felt fear we would be able to control our emotions a little better. But when both of these little devils whisper into our ears at the same time - it is often impossible not to listen.

The Thrill of Greed

The first time you try FX trading - you will feel the thrill of greed. It is an ecstatic experience, your brain flush with neurotransmitters and your mind giddy with visions of untold riches about to be reaped. Greed is bold, aggressive and incredibly exciting. It can take hold of you both mentally and physically. Just imagine the possibilities!

This greed is what draws us into FX trading in the first place - the dream of easy money and 100:1 or 200:1 margin rates. It inspires us and causes us to forego rational thinking in favour of reckless abandon.

In the movie Wall Street, Gordon Gecko says, "Greed is good", but it is also very dangerous - especially if you are unable to recognize when greed is the one doing the talking. Greed is also one of the most common techniques used to manipulate people. Every get rich quick scheme, promising untold riches for no money down takes advantage of your natural predisposition to throw all logic and sense out the window when greed pays a visit. The argument starts to appear very compelling and you ignore what would otherwise be clear warning signs. Like drunk goggles, greed can mislead you and when you eventually wake up you are often in a very precarious position.

The Fear of Losing

Fear can be equally as dangerous. The most potent and easily manipulated form of fear is your fear of admitting that you are wrong. Fear of having your precious ego bruised. This fear can cause people to do incredibly stupid things. The funny thing about this world is that everyone thinks that they are right. Most people would rather lose thousands of dollars than admit they are wrong. It is easy to feel ashamed of trading losses and live in denial but this is self-destructive behaviour. By denying the problem exists, you fail to take steps address it and only ensure that it will continue in the future.

Demo Trading

Demo trading is a great way to get started in foreign exchange trading. It is identical to real trading, except that you're using "pretend" money. Demo trading allows you to get a taste for what type of events move markets and how they move. It encourages you to learn more about geopolitics, macroeconomics and global finance and these are all incredibly positive things.

Demo trading also introduces you to the rapture of greed. Trading is a means to one of the purest, most raw and potent forms of greed. The whole point of trading is to make money and the more money you make - the stronger the pull of your greed becomes. It is intoxicating and can take complete control of you.

But demo trading does not introduce you to fear. There is no fear when you are demo trading. It is like you have a perpetual get out of jail free card. If you start losing badly on a demo account - simply start a new one. There is no accountability for your trading failures and only recognition of your trading success.

So your demo account does not teach you how to handle the emotion of fear. This emotion is most likely going to lead to your downfall. Greed may get you overextended, but fear will stop you from cutting your losses. You may think that fear of losing money would cause you to cut your losses, but the stronger emotion is fear of being wrong and that causes you to hold on to your losing position - until it's all gone.

There is also the issue of account size. Many demo accounts give you $50,000 to play with. This type of capitalization allows you to buy 5 lots (500K) of EURUSD pretty easily. If goes up 20 pips you've made $1000. Nice one. But when you open your real account - it's more likely that you put $5000 or $10000 in there to begin with. Now you're dealing with a 50K lot, which means you'll take $100 out of a 20-pip movement. But mentally you are used to getting $1000 for that movement so you usually end up risking more. Next thing you know - your 200K position has turned against you 50 pips and you've lost $1000. That's real money you just lost. You can't just start another account.

The capitalization of the demo account is sufficient to sustain losses and still come out on top. But your real account is likely to be undercapitalized and if you're trying to achieve returns similar to what you got on your demo account - you are going to blow up very quickly.

Being honest with yourself

Ultimately, while providing an excellent introduction to FX trading - demo accounts do not accurately predict whether you'll be successful trading real money. Markets are dominated by psychology and often go against what fundamental logic or technical indicators suggest should happen. The single most critical factor in your trading success will be your ability to control your emotions of greed and fear. These emotions cloud your judgment and cause you to trade recklessly. Demo accounts introduce you to the emotion of greed, but by their very nature they are risk free and therefore there is no fear involved. They are also likely to be better capitalized than your real money account, which misleads you with respect to the amount of returns you can expect to earn.

For all of these reasons, demo accounts allow you to avoid being honest with yourself and this is perhaps the most important factor of all. You need to know your edge and your limits and in order to know these - you must be honest with yourself.

This being said, demo accounts are still very entertaining and educational and I highly recommend opening one to anyone who's interested in getting a taste of the exciting world of FX trading. It's a great way to learn more about economics, global politics and yourself.

William White is a software developer and avid foreign exchange enthusiast.

His website - Finance Maps offers free maps depicting short, medium and long range trends for the major currency pairs which allows the reader to easily get an overall sense of the global forex markets in a single glance.

---

Momentum Trading: A Practical Day Trading Strategy to Get Profits from Hot Stocks

Momentum day trading can be extremely profitable when done correctly...Day trading momentum stocks can be a very risky adventure. You can lose a lot of money when you pick the wrong opportunities.The stockmarket... Read More

Trading Tips No 1: Learn How to Trade The Moment of Truth

So you have learned how to trade the markets by mastering a few trading tools like Moving Averages, Channels, Stochastics, MACD, or RSI - that is a great accomplishment achieved by only a... Read More

Your Mother Could Make Money In Forex Trading

The question would be not whether she could but rather would she enter the Forex trading market. The Forex day trading arena is a veritable snake pit ripe for scam artists to bilk... Read More

Exploring the World of Day Trading

Are you looking into a career in day trading? In the past, the tools for day trading were available only to professionals. But thanks to the power of the Internet, everything you need... Read More

How To Control Fear And Greed In Trading

There is an old saying that the market is driven by fear and greed. Anyone that has placed more than a couple of trades will surely have experienced these two emotions.All traders experience... Read More

Forex Profits

The Forex Market-What, When and Why?Forex, FX and the Forex market are some common abbreviations for the Foreign Exchange market. Actually it is the largest financial market in the world, where money is... Read More

Crisis of Confidence in the EU

The European Union (EU) constitution was dealt a double blow, first by a French "no" vote on 29-May and then by a follow on "no" from the Netherlands on 01-Jun. To add insult... Read More

A Beginner?s Guide to FOREX

FOREX is the abbreviation for the Foreign Exchange market. FOREX is basically an international exchange market where currencies from all over the world are bought and sold for profit. The market today began... Read More

Forex Trading Online - 7 Reasons Why You Should!

Forex trading online is a fast way to use your investment capital to it's fullest. The Forex markets offer distinct advantages to the small and large traders alike, making Forex currency trading in... Read More

Business and the Forex

The business world is a complex web of supply and demand. Money and goods, physical or otherwise, pass through the global market every single day. To meet this exchange between one country and... Read More

Dont Deny Reality

If you want to be a successful trader, you must make sure you do not deny reality in any phase of your trading. You cannot deny losses, price direction, mistakes you make, being... Read More

Forex Trading

Foreign exchange market, or better known as FOREX, is the world's largest and most prolific financial exchange market originated on 1973. Bearing the status of largest and most prolific currency exchange market, FOREX... Read More

Chinas New Currency Regime

The base unit for the renminbi is the yuan, which is how the Chinese currency is most commonly referred to. The official ISO abbreviation for the yuan is CNY, but it is also... Read More

Money Management, Part 2

FEARING LOSSESThere is a huge difference between being risk averse and fearing losses. You must hate to lose. In fact, you can program your brain to find ways to not lose. But not... Read More

Trading Profitably on the Foreign Exchange Market

You may be asking yourself "how does one begin to trade profitably as a currency trader?".First, it is important to closely monitor foreign equity markets to attempt to predict or model how their... Read More

Risk and Stock Trading Fees: The Two Barriers To Overcome If You Want A Successful Trading Career.

You know the old joke:"How do you make a million in the stock market? Start with two million?"There is no way around it, risk and stock market fees are a part of trading... Read More

FOREX Trading Philosophy

Keen on starting FOREX trading? Why would you not be? Many beginning FOREX traders are captivated by the allure of easy money. FOREX websites offer 'risk-free' trading, 'high returns' and 'low investment' ?... Read More

Money Management, Part 1

There are some common mistakes I've seen traders make in the area of money management. First, let's understand what money management is all about.Money management overlaps with risk, trade, business, and personal management,... Read More

Writing A Trading Plan

All professional traders have a trading plan. Trading futures is a zero sum game and those with a plan (and the discipline to apply it) will succeed over those that have no plan.... Read More

Why Forex Traders Plan To Fail Before They Even Place Their First Trade & How You Can Know It & ...

Have you heard the wise saying that a trader who fails to plan, plans to fail? I have, and I was once that trader! However, did you know that even though traders who... Read More

Sending Signals for Trading in Forex

Forex signals are sent by a forex firm to their subscribers in order to buy and sell currencies. These signals are called entry and exit signals for the forex dealers. The firms, which... Read More

FOREX 101: Make Money with Currency Trading

For those unfamiliar with the term, FOREX (FOReign EXchange market), refers to an international exchange market where currencies are bought and sold. The Foreign Exchange Market that we see today began in the... Read More

6 Critical Factors For Successful Trading

Success in any profession can be broken down into a number of critical factors. Trading is no different. Does your trading tick all 6 boxes or are there any areas you need to... Read More

The Margin Advantages of Trading FOREX.

There is one aspect that is considered as one of the best advantages of FOREX Trading. This is related to the amount of money you need to place a trade, this is known... Read More

Stocks Trading - Advantages and Disadvantages

What is Stocks Trading?Companies throughout the world issue new stock shares every day. They do so to raise capital in order to invest in the business. Once stock shares have been issued the... Read More

The Secret of Reduced Margin Spreads

One of the best kept secrets in trading is that of reduced margin spreads. You cannot name a trading method that provides more safety or a greater return on margin than does a... Read More

The Seven Most Traded Currencies in FOREX.

Currencies are traded in dollar amounts called "lots". One lot is equal to $1,000, which controls $100,000 in currency. This is what is known as the "margin". You can control $100,000 worth of... Read More

Disgruntled

The following situation happens quite often to many traders. Look it over and see if it has been happening to you:You have been faithfully following your trading plan and the rules you've set... Read More

The Meaning of FOREX Price Charts and How to Use Them

There is one very important factor that you should consider with great care if you are willing to become a successful, profitable Forex trader. This ever important factor that must be always present... Read More