Start Currency Trading with a Practice Account

For beginners in currency trading, the best way to learn about currency trading is to open a practice account with any of the online forex brokers. Most of the online forex brokers offer training accounts that allow you to experience the real price movement of the forex market. Demo accounts are funded with “virtual” money, so you are able to make trades with no real money at stake and gain experience with how margin trading works.
Demo accounts give you a great opportunity to experience minute-to-minute price movements in the forex market. You will be able to see how prices change at different times of the day, as well as how different currency pairs differ from each other. Make sure you keep up with the procedure when major economic news and data are released so you can get a feel for how the forex market reacts to the new information.
In addition to watching how the forex market really moves, you can
>> Start trading in real market conditions without any fear of losing money.
>> Try different trading strategies to see how they work.
>> Gain experience in using different orders and managing open positions.
>> Improve your understanding of how margin and leverage trading works.
>> Start analyzing charts and following technical indicators.
Consider opening demo accounts with a few different forex brokers because each trading platform has different capabilities and functions. In addition, different brokers have different trading policies, charting packages, and different research offerings. Also try to get a sense of the level of customer support you will receive as a customer.
Paper trading is writing down trades on paper based on real-time market prices, but no real money is at risk. Demo accounts are an upgraded version of paper trading – you just click and trade, and the trading platform does all the registration for you.

Whether you’re trading an online forex training account or paper trading stock quotes from the morning papers, make sure you keep in mind that your results aren’t real – you don’t have any real money at stake.
Think of it this way: If you bet shaking hands with a friend at a sports game, you probably won’t be much interested in whether you win or lose. But if you bet $100 on the game, you will probably watch the whole game, cheer and scream while you do it. The difference: Feelings come alive when real money is at stake.
Demo accounts are a great way to experience the forex market up close and personal. It is also an excellent way to test all the features and functions of the broker platform. However, one thing you cannot emulate is the emotion of trading with real money. To get the most out of your demo account experience, treat your demo account as if it were real money as often as you can.