thinkorswim paper trading is a paper money simulator trading platform on TD Ameritrade that allows investors to practice before entering into live trades. Live trading is when investors use their own money to make trades in the stock market. The paper trading feature on thinkorswim allows you to train and prepare trade executions. Simulated trading is done by day traders until they feel confident to enter the real market. Just think of paper trades as stretching at the gym before your workout; you are conditioning your mind for the live trading account.
Some traders wonder why would you practice trading instead of trading real money? The reason for this is to minimize substantial risk and finesse your trading strategies. Your past performance works as a guide for your future trades in practice modes and when you transition to real money. The trading process can be overwhelming and complex if you do not have the right mindset, strategy, and guide in place. With the MK VIP training program, I can teach you how to use the thinkorswim platform without risking capital until you are ready to get into real trading.
thinkorswim Paper Trading vs Live Trading: Practice
Aristotle said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them”. The purpose of a paper trading account is to get as much practice as you can before it’s game time and you go live. You have the benefit of using real market data and placing market orders without it costing you a dime. Meanwhile, the trading system is helping you accomplish your goal of sharpening your trading skills. Before you can start looking at technical data you need to make sure that the strategy you are using has been tested to be effective.
The reason for this is you don’t want to use the paper account to practice a skill that is not successful for day trading. I can teach you the best strategy that if you put in the work and practice, you will be a successful trader for at least 80% if not more of your trades; winning trades. With anything that you learn, there will be a learning curve and with day trading it’s not any different. This is why paper trading exists, during this learning process you don’t have to put your funded account at risk. Traders can practice the buy and sell orders process and get a feel of what to expect.
When you are well informed, you make better decisions; that is what paper trading is preparing you to do. Another thing that builds from knowing what to do is confidence in your abilities and this is so important in day trading as well. This is because when a person feels confident, they are more likely to move forward with an opportunity and not shy away from them. If it turns out that you don’t succeed confidence helps bring you back to the table to try again. When you lose something, don’t think of it as a loss; accept it as the gift that gets you on the path you were meant to travel on.
Ready to Test the Waters
Think of paper trading as one of your trading tools for the path to success. The one thing that seems to throw a wrench into when day traders want to transition from paper trading to live trading is emotions. With paper trading, there is no way of making or losing money. But when your hard-earned money is now on the line the fear of losing money comes into the equation. Traders find themselves holding onto positions longer than they should either trying to get the most bang for their buck. Or others hopefully the market will reverse the trend it’s currently headed in.
Other traders experience fear of missing out (FOMO) and instead of sticking to the trading strategies they enter into trades they had no business entering. With live trading, if you let your emotions control you it will also control your success. This is why it is important to practice strategy first so it’s one less thing to worry about. When you have your trading strategies perfected and you know how to navigate around the thinkorswim platform then all that is left to focus on is your emotions. There is no way to anticipate which emotions you will struggle with the most just know that it will take time to overcome.
Practice and awareness get you prepared to deal with real-life situations. This is why police officers and the military train. So that when emotions get thrown into the equation they will respond swiftly. Time is something you can’t take back or recreate and you’ll see with trading it applies as well. Every second of precision is important to be able to navigate in and out of trades with profits.
Summary: thinkorswim Paper Trading vs Live Trading
You have learned the importance of the practice of a well-tested strategy and how detrimental it could be if you’re not studying the correct one. You’ve seen how important controlling your emotions is to your success. You can see how important it is to use a platform that you can train on without putting your own money on the line. Once you are proficient and confident you then can move on to live trades. Anton Chekhov said, “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.
My goal has always been to help as many day traders achieve their personal financial goals, whether they are novice traders or experienced traders. The MK VIP training has plenty of resources to help you get started on reaching your day trading goals. I can teach you how to practice on the thinkorswim platform and show you what you need to transition positively from paper trading to live trades. With my program, you can learn how to begin day trading, and you will be profitable for at least 80% if not more of your trades.
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Maurice Kenny has helped over 600 people become financially free through one-on-one coaching, mentorship, and options trading strategy. Many of these new traders are now full-time traders, and they all started by watching his 1-hr webinar.
Feel free to check out other FREE educational resources to help guide you as you begin your new journey to financial freedom.
Also, download a (FREE E-BOOK) by Maurice Kenny, “DAY TRADE LIKE A MILLIONAIRE.”
