I wanted to probe everyone's thoughts on experimenting different approaches to investing with stock market simulators. I personally have played around a bit with the simulator on: www.investopedia.com

Does anyone else ever use a simulator or have any other methods for testing their strategy before fully committing?

I've had a quick read of the simulator on Investopedia and it looks like it's akin to paper trading? I understand why paper trading is there and there are some benefits to it but ultimately I'm not a fan.

I tried it a long time ago, a while before I started trading, and it almost put me off completely. Because it wasn't real, I didn't feel compelled to find out why a trade didn't work or did work. And it can't prepare new traders for the feeling of your heart plummeting after your first red day. I found that once I started risking even comparatively small amounts (£5), I was infinitely more interested in how I could shape the outcome in a better way.

For an experienced trader who wants to try a new system it might be a different story, but I'd probably argue it's better to evolve and tweak an in-place system rather than "system hop".

Michael Panebianco

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Investopedia

This member connected a brokerage account and is sharing trades and portfolio performance with the community. 