ActivTrades & ACY Securities Demo Account Complete Guide

Before the main event begins, you're given the chance to practice your moves, fine-tune your cues, and polish your skills on a mock stage. In the trading realm, that stage is none other than a demo account. Rather than plunging headfirst into the intricate world of real markets, think of this controlled environment as your rehearsal space. As we delve deeper, you'll discover exactly why starting with a demo account is essential for any trader striving for success. Well have a look at how to best get started with a demo account, and how to transition to a real trading account.

What Is a Demo Account?

In simple terms, a demo account operates as a simulated trading platform where you can engage in trading activities with virtual funds under conditions that closely mimic real trading environments and market conditions. While the core processes for executing trades on a trading demo account are identical to a live trading account, demo account users might not have access to all the features available to live traders.

Why Should You Always Start with a Demo Account?

One of the foremost advantages of a demo account is the absence of financial risk because when you trade on a demo account, you're using virtual funds lent by the selected broker. This means that even if a trade goes south, your actual balance remains unaffected.

This safety net allows you to explore various trading styles and strategies, test out new ideas, and make mistakes without the fear of losing hard-earned money.

While a demo trading doesn't replicate the emotional rollercoaster of real trading, it does mirror market movements and price changes. This means you can test your strategies and decisions against historical data and see how they would have played out. It's a valuable exercise in understanding how your chosen strategies perform in different market conditions.

A demo account also helps you see how your strategies fare during market volatility, economic news releases, and different trading sessions. This exposure helps you adapt your approach and make informed decisions when trading live.

If youre new to the trading world, then trading might seem like learning a new language, with its own jargon and rules. A demo account serves as your crash course in Trading 101, as it gives you the chance to understand how orders are executed and grasp the essentials of technical and fundamental analysis.

A demo account is also a great way to familiarize yourself with the chosen trading platform and broker, as it provides the perfect playground for you to navigate the platform's features and functionalities. You can explore different sections, understand how to place orders, modify positions, and manage risk directly through the trading software.

This will ensure that when you eventually switch to a live account, you won't be grappling with the platform while making critical trading decisions. This hands-on experience not only builds your confidence but also sharpens your decision-making skills.

How to Get Started with a Demo Account

The first things to understand are the benefits of using a demo account, as well as the limits of this type of account.

As we explained, a demo account is a risk-free environment where no real money is at stake and where you can learn the basics, try out the trading platform, understand how to place orders as well as use different trading and analytical tools, experiment with different trading strategies in different market conditions and scenarios, as well as be a great psychological preparation tool.

Still, it is important to highlight that demo accounts recreate a trading environment that's close to ideal, a scenario often hard to replicate in the real world. This is particularly true when it comes to order execution, where your trades are executed precisely at the specified price and time, a level of accuracy not always attainable in live trading situations, due to slippage and re-quotes.

Performance within demo accounts generally outshines that of real accounts, where you encounter challenges such as supply and demand limitations, order execution hurdles, constraints on information transfer, and a range of technical problems that might extend beyond the broker's sphere of influence.

Another crucial factor pertains to the balance in your demo account, which is typically considerably larger than what you'd employ for real trading. This disparity in balances impacts your risk, money management, and position strategies. The availability of these substantial virtual sums often entices traders into taking riskier trades than they would in actual scenarios. Starting from this unrealistic premise not only distorts your trading foundation, but could potentially cultivate a habit that proves difficult to break.

Understanding the differences in performance between a demo account and a live account is crucial to make the most of demo accounts.

So to get started with a demo account, you should have a trading plan in mind to be sure you select the right broker for your strategy. Then, compare its trading fees, its deposit/withdrawal methods and fees, its analytical and trading tools, its trading platforms, the assets you can trade within the trading software, and the availability of its client service, among other criteria.

An ideal demo account should remain available without any expiration date, as traders should have the freedom to take their time, utilizing the account to test new strategies and maximize its benefits. Most brokers like ActivTrades and ACY Securities will offer a 30-day trial (MT4 and MT5 accounts at ActivTrader accounts once registered).

You should also be sure that the selected demo trading account accurately replicates real trading conditions. Although it's challenging to assess this before opening a real account, it's easily achievable afterward. To address this, consider opening a funded real account but refrain from trading until the demo account's conditions have been compared to the real account's over a specific period.

Dont forget to follow your progress.

Recognizing that psychological impact plays a substantial role in trading success, it's crucial to acknowledge the stark psychological distinction between demo and live trading. Despite similar mechanics, behavioral shifts can definitely occur, with emotions frequently overshadowing rationale and strategy.

The primary contrast lies in the fear of financial loss, magnifying the emotional aspect when transitioning from demo to live trading. Yet, this is only the tip of the iceberg—various psychological, emotional, and cognitive biases come into play, inevitably affecting performance as traders shift to live accounts.

However, a demo account goes beyond skill development; it becomes a training ground to nurture confidence, foster a constructive trading mindset, and establish steadfast trading rules. To effectively manage stress and pressure, adopting an objective approach by analyzing your trades and learning from mistakes can be greatly aided by maintaining a trading journal.

While using a demo account, maintaining a comprehensive trading journal is akin to documenting your trading journey. Record executed trades, the reasoning behind them, and the influencing factors. This meticulous record provides insights into your decision-making process, facilitating future analyses. Regularly revisiting past trades unveils patterns of successes and failures, allowing you to refine strategies, discard ineffective methods, and embrace consistent techniques.

Mistakes are inevitable in both demo and live trading, but leveraging them differs. In demos, losses offer learning opportunities without financial repercussions. Reviewing errors aids in understanding missteps, enabling adaptation and refinement. Leveraging a demo's advantage, you can rectify mistakes before real money is involved, armed with the wisdom to avoid repetition. This proactive stance curtails potential losses, elevating overall trading performance.

ActivTrades Demo Account

ActivTrades is a FCA-licensed brokerage company specializing in trading services. The tradable instruments include Currencies, Commodities, Indices, Shares, Bonds, and ETFs. Through ActivTrades, traders can use MT4 and MT5 for online intelligent investment.

ActivTrades offers two types of Demo Accounts, forex and stocks. Investors can choose according to their needs.

ACY Securities Demo Account

ACY Securities is an Australian diversified financial broker regulated by the Australian Underwriters Service (AUS), established in 2011.ACY Securities offers over 2,200 trading instruments covering Forex, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, ETFs, Stocks and Futures. This allows traders to diversify their trading portfolio and take advantage of different market conditions. With so many options, traders can find opportunities across multiple asset classes and trade according to their trading strategy.

The ACY Securities Demo account has $100,000 of virtual money to replicate the real trading experience.

11 Steps to Follow to Effectively Transition from a Demo Account to a Real Account

1.Strengthen your financial knowledge.

2.Take time to choose a broker that fits your trading strategy.

3.Create and use a demo account to test out your strategy and review your trading plan, as well as make sure you choose the best broker for you.

4.Gauge your confidence and strategy proficiency for live trading.

5.Begin with a smaller trading amount than you initially would have considered, and gradually increase your positions sizes.

6.Avoid the temptation to over-leverage or take unnecessary risks.

7.Recognize that real trading involves emotions, so be prepared to manage them and stick to your plan.

8.Don't rush into trades, rather wait for the right setups that align with your strategy.

9.Keep a close watch on your initial live trades (maybe by continuing to maintain your trading journal).

10.Dont stop learning about trading strategies and market dynamics.

11.Keep using your demo account to try out new strategies and discover new markets to create a better diversified portfolio.