The Advantages of Using Forex Simulator Software

There many advantages to using Forex simulator software. Before jumping into those advantages it’s important to know exactly what Forex simulator software is and how it works.

Most every Forex broker on the planet will offer potential customers a free Forex demo account. This free Forex practice account can be set up with a number of different levels of funding. For example, some traders may choose to start their account with $5000 in virtual cash or as others may feel more comfortable starting out with $100,000 in virtual cash. The key thing to remember here is that this is virtual cash so there is no real financial risk or reward associated with the account.

For simulator software gives you an opportunity to test out a Forex brokers platform before opening an actual account. It is a good idea to open several such accounts and compare their features side-by-side. This is a very important step because you want to make sure that the software does what you needed to do when you need to do it. For instance, if your particular trading system or strategy requires the use of trailing stops it may make sense for your Forex trading platform to allow for the use of the stops as well.

Many traders enjoy the use of the ever popular Forex simulator software, meta-trader. Many Forex brokers allow the use of meta-trader because of its growing popularity. Brokers also do this because the majority of the commercially available Forex trading system software is written specifically to work with meta-trader. One thing people like about meta-trader in general is that it allows for the use of Forex trading robots which when coupled with the right broker will automatically evaluate in place trades.

For simulator software is oftentimes used improperly by inexperienced traders. This is because many traders will use the software to “play” with Forex trading. This means they are placing trades based upon no real analysis and are just essentially guessing, gambling, and shooting from the hip. This is very common because there is no real financial risk when using a Forex demo practice account.

Forex simulator software can be especially beneficial when used properly. The proper use of this software is to use it to trade as if there were actual money in the account. That’s right, beginning traders would be much better off if they took the Forex practice account seriously and made an honest attempt to grow the equity in their account. By following a trading system and showing themselves that they can grow the equity in a Forex practice account they can feel much more certain that they will be able to succeed once they open their real Forex trading account.

So the advantages of using Forex simulator software are very clear. As just explained the biggest advantage is the opportunity to test out your theories and ideas to see if they lead to a growth and account equity. If they do not lead to equity growth then you’ll know it’s time to go back to the drawing board. If they do lead to equity growth, especially over a longer time., Then you’ll be well on your way to successful Forex trading.

Keeping a Forex Trading Journal to Follow Your Progress

When you first start in Forex trading probably the last thing on your mind is keeping a Forex trading journal. After all this is an extra step in your already busy Forex trading day. The fact is that keeping a Forex trading journal will help you to become a more profitable trader.

One of the first things that comes to mind when many beginning traders think of a Forex trading journal is that it might have a negative impact on their trading. The main reason for this type of thinking is that in the trading journal your recording winning as well as losing trades. Inexperienced traders don’t often realize exactly how important losing trades are. By recording your losing trades you are giving yourself the opportunity to continually evaluate your Forex trading and learn from your mistakes. This does not mean that just because you have a losing trade that you made a mistake. Losing trades are a part of Forex trading and losing trades can be the end result of a good Forex trader executing a good Forex trading system.

Recording your trades in your trading journal gives you of the opportunity to know what happened rather than try to guess what happened during a particular trading day. Studying a trading loss on a particular day can provide you with invaluable insight that can help you to improve your Forex trading system and your trading overall. For instance, you may refer to your journal and notice that a large percentage of your losing trades are happening during periods of extreme market volatility. This is extremely valuable information and further research may dictate that you filter your trades during periods of extreme market volatility.

Based upon what we’ve looked at so far you can clearly see the value of keeping a Forex trading journal. Let’s take a look at some of the things we would like to list in our Forex trading journal:

Date and time — The trading day as well as the time you’re making the entry into your journal.

Currency pair traded — Here you will list the currency pair your trading such as the euro dollar US dollar.

Entry price and time — List your actual entry price as well as the entry price dictated by your Forex trading system.

Exit price and time — List your actual exit price as well as the exit price dictated by your system…if there is one.

Name of broker — The name of a Forex broker you’re using for this trade.

Reason for entering the trade — This could be as simple as writing, “I entered the trade based upon my XYZ trading system”.

How you were feeling — A few words about your mental and physical state during the trade.

Additional notes — List any additional information that you feel may be pertinent. You can list such items as the economic reports that came out on that particular day or your own notes on the general state of the market.

The list we’ve just covered is by no means comprehensive, but it is an excellent start for your Forex trading journal. Your journal can be in any number of formats such as one created by your word processor, a journal in Microsoft Excel, or a physical notebook where you write in your entries during the trading day.

Remember that your Forex trading journal shouldn’t be viewed as an extra task that has to bog you down, but rather as an educational experience to further your growth as a successful Forex trader.