Virtual Trading/Trading Games

[roaminblue]

Most major online brokers have demo accounts - I'm using cityindex at the moment for my demo and rl accounts.... i used igindex before that and they are good as well. Demo accounts are free to set up, use the exact same platform as rl accounts, you apply the same principals and do the same as with a real accounts except its not your money. Frustratingly, I seem to make much better trades in my demo a/c - probably because the pressure is off and my spread is bigger.

Cheers mate, will look into it.

Do you have any advice on where to read up on information about positions/types of strategies etc. The urge is to just sit in front of the computer all day, (day trading i believe?) but realistically I'm not going to be able to do that and would like to learn a bit more about how to research companies with the goal of checking back say once a day, or once every other day?

 

[el blue]

Most major online brokers have demo accounts - I'm using cityindex at the moment for my demo and rl accounts.... i used igindex before that and they are good as well. Demo accounts are free to set up, use the exact same platform as rl accounts, you apply the same principals and do the same as with a real accounts except its not your money. Frustratingly, I seem to make much better trades in my demo a/c - probably because the pressure is off and my spread is bigger.

Cheers mate, will look into it.

Do you have any advice on where to read up on information about positions/types of strategies etc. The urge is to just sit in front of the computer all day, (day trading i believe?) but realistically I'm not going to be able to do that and would like to learn a bit more about how to research companies with the goal of checking back say once a day, or once every other day?

In terms of reading the market they have all the graphs and historical charts for each market so you can see what happened over the last few years or the last few minutes, and i think that's a good way to learn - you don't have to be watching it unfold live, just taking an interest in the graphs and patterns and absorbing as much of them as you can and trying to get a more intuitive feel for what a market may do in the future...

In terms of learning the principals, I'm really not the best person to ask as i'm only 'alright' at it, i win more than i lose but i'm learning too. If your manchester based i'd be happy to lend you a training course - dvd/manual type jobbie that I found useful.

 

[roaminblue]

Most major online brokers have demo accounts - I'm using cityindex at the moment for my demo and rl accounts.... i used igindex before that and they are good as well. Demo accounts are free to set up, use the exact same platform as rl accounts, you apply the same principals and do the same as with a real accounts except its not your money. Frustratingly, I seem to make much better trades in my demo a/c - probably because the pressure is off and my spread is bigger.

Cheers mate, will look into it.

Do you have any advice on where to read up on information about positions/types of strategies etc. The urge is to just sit in front of the computer all day, (day trading i believe?) but realistically I'm not going to be able to do that and would like to learn a bit more about how to research companies with the goal of checking back say once a day, or once every other day?

In terms of reading the market they have all the graphs and historical charts for each market so you can see what happened over the last few years or the last few minutes, and i think that's a good way to learn - you don't have to be watching it unfold live, just taking an interest in the graphs and patterns and absorbing as much of them as you can and trying to get a more intuitive feel for what a market may do in the future...

In terms of learning the principals, I'm really not the best person to ask as i'm only 'alright' at it, i win more than i lose but i'm learning too. If your manchester based i'd be happy to lend you a training course - dvd/manual type jobbie that I found useful.

Really nice offer mate, but I'm not based in Manchester. But thanks anyway.

Cheers for your help, I'm currently using google finance to view the graphs, what do you think about it as a resource?

Also, do you tend to just read the news sites then look at company histories?

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

I'm in the same boat roamin. Always wished I knew more about how the stocks work.

If you succeed in getting a virtual trading league up and running, then I wouldn't mind getting involved. Like you though, I've got no idea where to start.

ok, cool.

I'll see if there is any interest and perhaps we could set something up in the future. Ive just registered with yahoo finance, just made a few "trades" to see how my gut and basic levels of research goes.

I'm going to spend some time researching it, want me to send you any good links?

How did your exams go matey? and did you get any further with that job you were going for?

I've read a few links in the past on things like Interactive Investor which were quite useful, but by all means if you find something and you're finding it to be a good tool then please throw it my way, and I'll do likewise.

Exams were pretty much par for the course, it was a difficult degree but I've come out with a 2:1, which is what I was really expecting and what I need for my job applications. As for the job I told you about, I've got an interview with them around the 17th June, that'll be the final hurdle so if I manage to pass it then I'll be employed before even picking up my degree. That'd be a result considering the way things are going in the job market at the moment. Fingers crossed! Cheers, and I hope things have gone well with your course, I presume you'll be done for the summer with that one, too?

 

[el blue]

Cheers mate, will look into it.

Do you have any advice on where to read up on information about positions/types of strategies etc. The urge is to just sit in front of the computer all day, (day trading i believe?) but realistically I'm not going to be able to do that and would like to learn a bit more about how to research companies with the goal of checking back say once a day, or once every other day?

In terms of reading the market they have all the graphs and historical charts for each market so you can see what happened over the last few years or the last few minutes, and i think that's a good way to learn - you don't have to be watching it unfold live, just taking an interest in the graphs and patterns and absorbing as much of them as you can and trying to get a more intuitive feel for what a market may do in the future...

In terms of learning the principals, I'm really not the best person to ask as i'm only 'alright' at it, i win more than i lose but i'm learning too. If your manchester based i'd be happy to lend you a training course - dvd/manual type jobbie that I found useful.

Really nice offer mate, but I'm not based in Manchester. But thanks anyway.

Cheers for your help, I'm currently using google finance to view the graphs, what do you think about it as a resource?

Also, do you tend to just read the news sites then look at company histories?

I stick to a few markets that I know and 'specialise' in those- spot gold, barclays and eur/usd are the main three for me at the moment. I don't stay in trades for very long so i won't take a position based on the news coming out about a company - its so hard to keep up to date with everything that is going on and even if you know the most up to date relevant facts about a market or a company then it still doesn't make a clear cut decision for you. Watching graphs, at least you know where you are up to relative to its historical performance and you can have a pretty good judgement of whether it is high or low for the minute, day or week.

Google finance is good, particularly for news, but i really would recommend starting a demo account with someone straight away. Its free and will only take a couple of minutes and your on your way and they will provide you with a better toolkit than google finance. good luck.

 

[roaminblue]

I stick to a few markets that I know and 'specialise' in those- spot gold, barclays and eur/usd are the main three for me at the moment. I don't stay in trades for very long so i won't take a position based on the news coming out about a company - its so hard to keep up to date with everything that is going on and even if you know the most up to date relevant facts about a market or a company then it still doesn't make a clear cut decision for you. Watching graphs, at least you know where you are up to relative to its historical performance and you can have a pretty good judgement of whether it is high or low for the minute, day or week.

Google finance is good, particularly for news, but i really would recommend starting a demo account with someone straight away. Its free and will only take a couple of minutes and your on your way and they will provide you with a better toolkit than google finance. good luck.

Cheers mate, much appreciated. That makes sense.

I've set up an account with yahoo:finance, and it has a virtual trading platform so have started making trades based on the graphs as you've suggested.

Thanks for all your advice, I guess learn by doing is probably just as useful as research.

 

[bluekat]

Have you looking into Forex (foreign exchange) trading?

I would imagine it is simpler than stocks and shares as you don't have to predict the performance of specific companies each of which have very individual issues.

There is a good Forex demo site call Etoro and a great website called babypips.com which provides trading lessons.

 

[roaminblue]

Have you looking into Forex (foreign exchange) trading?

I would imagine it is simpler than stocks and shares as you don't have to predict the performance of specific companies each of which have very individual issues.

There is a good Forex demo site call Etoro and a great website called babypips.com which provides trading lessons.

is that right? I always assumed it would be more complex. I'm getting the impression that I may be making a lot of assumptions and over analysing to be honest.

I'll look that up now.

Thanks!<br /><br />-- Fri Jun 07, 2013 1:19 pm --<br /><br />

Exams were pretty much par for the course, it was a difficult degree but I've come out with a 2:1, which is what I was really expecting and what I need for my job applications. As for the job I told you about, I've got an interview with them around the 17th June, that'll be the final hurdle so if I manage to pass it then I'll be employed before even picking up my degree. That'd be a result considering the way things are going in the job market at the moment. Fingers crossed! Cheers, and I hope things have gone well with your course, I presume you'll be done for the summer with that one, too?

Nice one mate. Is it an all day interview? if so I can probably shed some insight into my experiences, if its going to help you prep?

This is DL is it?

Yeah exams were ok. Most were fine actually, the financial exam was fine, and the quantitative and qualitative methods were fine. Economics, not so much. We'll see though.

 

[metalblue]

Cheers mate, will look into it.

Do you have any advice on where to read up on information about positions/types of strategies etc. The urge is to just sit in front of the computer all day, (day trading i believe?) but realistically I'm not going to be able to do that and would like to learn a bit more about how to research companies with the goal of checking back say once a day, or once every other day?

In terms of reading the market they have all the graphs and historical charts for each market so you can see what happened over the last few years or the last few minutes, and i think that's a good way to learn - you don't have to be watching it unfold live, just taking an interest in the graphs and patterns and absorbing as much of them as you can and trying to get a more intuitive feel for what a market may do in the future...

In terms of learning the principals, I'm really not the best person to ask as i'm only 'alright' at it, i win more than i lose but i'm learning too. If your manchester based i'd be happy to lend you a training course - dvd/manual type jobbie that I found useful.

Really nice offer mate, but I'm not based in Manchester. But thanks anyway.

Cheers for your help, I'm currently using google finance to view the graphs, what do you think about it as a resource?

Also, do you tend to just read the news sites then look at company histories?

Very very difficult question to answer. Depends what you are looking to do, catch a quick/decent move in a stock? long term trade looking to earn from the dividend but not looking for much in the actual price? The former is much harder IMO unless you have a good idea of the business and it's environment or are just very lucky (and you always need a bit of luck), picking a company about to disclose a new wonder drug or a start up drilling company striking a nice oil field is unlikely, these are the sorts of companies to stick "in the draw" for a few years and hope for the best, an out and out punt. Now consider similar companies that are more mature perhaps a gold refinery or oil company who already have plenty of resource, the price will also impacted by the price of their raw product...is that going up or down? What about market peers? Zynga for example came out with some bad news a few days ago, is this down to bad management or a longer term trend within the online gaming industry? and so on and so forth - this is fundementals trading. Technical trading (charting) takes a different slant, not so much driven by the fundementals but by spotting patterns in the price action, look at a chart, pick two points in time and draw a straight line between the two, this is the underlying/fundemental price action of the stock/index/product look around that line and the price will have a different life, occassionally it will cross the line, sometimes often, sometimes never... so what is that? that my friend is human emotion, that is people getting all excited about a news item, or price move, the herd mentality, systematic trading models, etc etc....but the good news (and here is your free lesson for the day) is that people tend to do the same thing over and over again, this is why patterns exist (we have lots of sayings around technical analysis that rings true "trends your friend" is a good example). There are plenty of indicators to use in charting as well, some people will just exclusively use charts and look at anything from averages crossing to a RSI or parabolics or so on and so forth, you need to find something that you think works...in my experience never trade off someone elses idea's if you don't believe or know the trade (risk/reward) how can you possibly know when to get out? But everyone is different.

In practice plenty of people use a combination of both fundemental and technical trading but always remember the market has already priced in all the known news so if a company was trading at £5 a share and it is now 10p a share there will be a good reason for that so don't just think "that's cheap" and pile in. Sectors are different though, if a whole sector has taken a beating that might be a good oppotunity to get involved.


Oh and ...

Edit:

MetalBlue is banned from playing ;-)

Ha! Like I have a clue!!! I don't really trade shares although I done alright in last 12 months on bank stock, a good example of a sector that was offered over!!! haha

 

[roaminblue]

Very very difficult question to answer. Depends what you are looking to do, catch a quick/decent move in a stock? long term trade looking to earn from the dividend but not looking for much in the actual price? The former is much harder IMO unless you have a good idea of the business and it's environment or are just very lucky (and you always need a bit of luck), picking a company about to disclose a new wonder drug or a start up drilling company striking a nice oil field is unlikely, these are the sorts of companies to stick "in the draw" for a few years and hope for the best, an out and out punt. Now consider similar companies that are more mature perhaps a gold refinery or oil company who already have plenty of resource, the price will also impacted by the price of their raw product...is that going up or down? What about market peers? Zynga for example came out with some bad news a few days ago, is this down to bad management or a longer term trend within the online gaming industry? and so on and so forth - this is fundementals trading. Technical trading (charting) takes a different slant, not so much driven by the fundementals but by spotting patterns in the price action, look at a chart, pick two points in time and draw a straight line between the two, this is the underlying/fundemental price action of the stock/index/product look around that line and the price will have a different life, occassionally it will cross the line, sometimes often, sometimes never... so what is that? that my friend is human emotion, that is people getting all excited about a news item, or price move, the herd mentality, systematic trading models, etc etc....but the good news (and here is your free lesson for the day) is that people tend to do the same thing over and over again, this is why patterns exist (we have lots of sayings around technical analysis that rings true "trends your friend" is a good example). There are plenty of indicators to use in charting as well, some people will just exclusively use charts and look at anything from averages crossing to a RSI or parabolics or so on and so forth, you need to find something that you think works...in my experience never trade off someone elses idea's if you don't believe or know the trade (risk/reward) how can you possibly know when to get out? But everyone is different.

In practice plenty of people use a combination of both fundemental and technical trading but always remember the market has already priced in all the known news so if a company was trading at £5 a share and it is now 10p a share there will be a good reason for that so don't just think "that's cheap" and pile in. Sectors are different though, if a whole sector has taken a beating that might be a good oppotunity to get involved.

As always, brilliant post mate. Greatly informative.

Just to clear things up, the technical trading you mentioned. Effectively, I could take the variance between to points, and judge my moves based on that?

However, to be successful, I should look at the fundamental reasons behind any extreme move in price? So even if the variance is small during a price reduction, it could be the price reflecting a gradual decline in mis-management?

Oh and ...

Edit:

MetalBlue is banned from playing ;-)

Ha! Like I have a clue!!! I don't really trade shares although I done alright in last 12 months on bank stock, a good example of a sector that was offered over!!! haha

:-) you have much more than a clue, stop being humble