I’ve only been using the demo app for 2 weeks and have made significant progress on both platforms, does that mean I’m ready to gamble/invest my life savings? NOPE! Who won the race? The hare or the tortoise?
I have read stories on the forum about people losing ££££, I don’t know how people think they can turn into a trader over night?! It’s not that easy. It’s a minefield out there. An actual minefield. (metaphorically of course!) Treat it with respect.
So stop and take a moment and another moment and yes another moment to continue with the demo app. Hit reset and try again.
Consistency is key. Don’t jump around to oil, silver, forex, EFT’s. It’s just too much! Stick with something you enjoy and follow the graph (daily) make notes (daily) read books (daily)
I’m excited for the day I’m ready to set up a real account but until I’m convinced I’m good enough (Or at least confident enough) I’ll stick making profits with my demo app.
Slow down people. Greed and fear go hand in hand in this business.
After seeing a lot of people not valuing their money or not using the basic research mechanisms to gather the information, I am glad that there are people like you with a focus on gathering knowledge and taking investing step by step. Congrats!
I am still mostly on practice account and I started since December. I cannot brag with being profitable, but on the other hand, I am even happier that I witnessed such an interesting period of market volatility (besides the bad outcomes of the current pandemic) since there are more things to learn or handle (of course real money is the real deal - true psychology). Recently I got on real account and getting more involved since I am more confident about what I know and also new features being added to the platform.
I hope more people will follow your advice and I wish you good luck in your financial journey!
Thank you for your feedback and I’m so glad it’s been taken in the positive light that it was intended.
I hope more people take my advice too and take the time like myself (and yourself) have done.
Pretty sure the “markets” going nowhere anytime soon so that in turn leaves time to educate/train and grow. Like anyone would do in a brand new field of interest.
Agree. Small watchlist. Focus on the instruments which are profitable and give you gains most of the time. And stick to your strategy, don’t chase profits. Wait for the perfect moment to enter and know when to get out.
I’ve been doing lots of reading, including a book that was recommended to me by someone who’s been investing a very long time.
It’s called “secrets for profiting in a bull and bear markets” written in the 80’s mind but I’ve been told it’s still very relevant and so far it really is. Complicated. Complex. Overall I’m enjoying it.
In there the author explains that investing over 12 months may not always be advisable as who can tell what’s going to happen in 3/5/10/15 years time. Makes sense to me. Unless you invest in stock that’s been around a long time but I fancy the now market.
Instead he explains about investing up to 12 months.
So in turn I’ve done my research and “demo” invested in all the companies that I believe this year will be profitable (so far it’s 70/30, understandable with everything going on) I’ll leave them to do “their thing” for another month or so and then judge the outcome. I personally check on them once a day but that’s not always necessary.
The app is brill for CFD and invest. I wouldn’t discriminate one platform against another.
It’s just a case of how you want to work the market.
I would like to add that companies deemed to be profitable in the coming year is already in the price. The market is expecting the company to be profitable so the information is priced in as share price is the net present value of current assets + discounted future cashflows.
What you are trying to do is pick a company that will beat expected earnings when the report comes out. Only with new information will price predictions change and therefore the value of the share. A consistantly profitable company is of course good, but this should already be reflected in the share price.
Of course this is all just efficient market theory and prices are of course constantly moving due to new information all the time and other exogenous factors. Markets are also not strictly efficient of course. But it is the underlying principle of understanding how to pick shares that will beat an index.
Also, if you are not doing so, compare your performance to a benchmark like the S&P500 or FTSE100. Beating the performance of these indexes is the real test of how good you are at beating the market. Because if you can’t beat it, just buy it lol.
Funny how many famous investors preach Index/ETF investing , but none of them applies the same principles.
I prefer to do as they act rather then how they preach.
Buying great companies at fair price, especially when ETF/indexs are loaded with overvalued stocks and possibly underperforming stocks in years to come…
Definitely and that’s why I believe the demo app on the invest platform is as helpful as the CFD platform. You are able to test well established stock and those not so. Thus gives you a more informed choice when becoming confident enough to invest with your hard earned cash.
Thanks for the info I’ll keep it at hand
I have already “demo invested” with various FTSE100 and S&P500 stocks.
I don’t know anything about other famous investors but going off the recommendation and personal account so far, this book is super helpful. I wouldn’t invest any real cash until I’m finished reading it
It’s better for me to be this way and self educated that jumping in the deep end loaded with money and a dream and a gamble.
Educating one‘s self with books be it from preachers or masters can never be a bad thing in my opinion.
There’s plenty of evidence by now that ETF’s are the way to go for the average person. They should do stock-picking with their “play money” just to spice up the experience though.
His point is that Warren Buffett doesn’t invest in index funds himself. He picks stocks and makes preference share deals. Not that index funds don’t make money.
Pushing the buy button with real capital, versus fake money is two totally different mental challenges.
I have a small portfolio (10k ish) but from what I have learned, im playing the slow tortoise race.
Diverse ETF selection and a "play money fund - no larger than 5% of my portfolio).
If I want to gamble, I use my play money.
Everything else is spread through ETF’s covering - All world / US / Europe / Emerging Markets / Japan and gold.
I may not be doing it the right way, and I won’t be rich overnight, but I’m planning on sitting on these investments for many years to come.
Patience is key - Also, over long term horizons, ETF’s out perform 80-90% of managed fund managers, with near to no fee. No brainer for me.
Edit
I use the practice demo account to keep track of positions I’m about to add to the portfolio.
It makes it a nice way to see at what levels I see as a good price to buy in at and how much % they are gaining and losing per week.
I invest with the ISA in UK to give the perks of being tax free too, which helps.
But if the market tanks down big, I have cash to put to work in the Invest account.
My gripe with picking individual stocks, is that whatever is to come is priced already into the market by analysts, so you need to expect above and beyond returns to beat the market. Additionally to this, corporations can go bust from anywhere and reports can be lied/fabricated to cover up bigger scandals (Enron etc…), but if you buy the market as a whole (ETF or Index) these issues you no longer have to worry about, as the impact will be smaller than going bust on a single company… sure you will get less returns, but you stay in the game longer.