Welcome to Paper Trading How-To

Paper trading has pros and cons. It IS beneficial to do but as with all things related to successful stock market trading, it requires discipline. And yes, it is supposed to be done using actual paper.

Pros	Cons
Does not risk real money.	Stress of risking real money is not experienced.
Helps get your feet "wet".	Real world trading fills have to be simulated.
Exposes your discipline problems.	Does not punish lack of discipline with real losses.
Shows your trading weaknesses.	Stress of emergencies (power outage, trading         halts) is not experienced.
Shows you if stock trading is really for you.	It can be boring.
Helps to determine first what style of trading          is right for you before you risk real money.
Helps in tweaking your trading strategy.
If you can't make money paper trading, you           know you will not be prepared for the real thing.

The Verdict: YES, paper trading is worth it. But the key is discipline to overcome the cons.

So you have some money to put into a broker's account and you are ready to trade. But you know you need some practice. You've heard about "paper trading" and some traders have said it is not beneficial while others say it is very useful to paper trade.

What is the truth?

The truth is you probably aren't a "natural born" stock trader with an innate ability to succeed in trading without practice. Fact is, even those who have talents for trading also go through a learning curve.

Stock trading is like learning a musical instrument.

Read that again if you have to. Everything that is required to be a successful musician will be required of you to be successful stock trader.

• Dedication
• Patience
• Practice (successful musicians have thousands of hours of practice and playing under their belt.)
• Education (just like a musician should learn musical theory, so a stock trader should learn Dow Theory, charting principles, economic cyles, etc)

Tools you will need for paper trading.

"Electronic" Paper Trading