Demo Trading - Didn't I get Filled?

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Why Didn't I Get Filled?

"A treatise to Demo Traders”, on behalf of Commodities brokers everywhere.

Date: March 03, 2013

Demo Trading. Also known as simulated trading, paper trading, playing with Monopoly money; whatever you'd like to call it, a demo can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Every Futures broker dreads having this conversation with their clients, as it is necessary with every new trader; however, much to a broker’s chagrin, every new trader will say that they already understand when in fact they rarely do. Let me assure you, if you're a new or even intermediate trader, you probably don't. You may understand one popular issue of the conversation but odds are if you have been paper trading for five years waiting to be "successful" or to "understand the futures markets" in the simulated world before moving on, you have less of a chance of being successful in the live futures markets because you're setting yourself up for failure (if you ever do, in fact, trade in the live markets). You should seriously consider speaking with a licensed commodities and futures broker before diving in.

For the uninitiated, demo trading is the practice of trying out an online trading platform on a simulated basis—in a free demo trading account, you’re granted simulated funds, you’re placing simulated orders in the markets and you’re shown simulated profits and losses on what your trades might have done for you if you were futures trading on a live platform with live funds. First and foremost, it’s a wonderful technological tool for testing out a platform to see if it will suit your trading methodology. It can also be used to try different trading strategies, but problems arise when one equates simulated trading too much with live futures trading.

No matter how many houses you can afford to build on Pennsylvania Avenue with your simulated money and no matter how many railroads you've had to mortgage to pay the rent, the hypothetical results you've attained in your simulated trading do NOT, and never will, indicate future results in the live markets or any markets for that matter (thanks for reading through the board game references, I'll keep it to a minimum from now on). Between misplaced expectations, developing an inability to adapt and false expectations of profits that you've earned paper trading, you have set yourself up for an even more uphill-battle than you were originally up against.

To clarify before moving on any further in this post, I want to be very clear about a few things:

• I am not saying demo trading is absolutely wrong or is a poor move when used properly.
• When used correctly, demo trading is a good way to finally put your theories and hard work into action before taking the final leap and risking real capital in the live futures markets.
• I would never, EVER recommend trading for yourself electronically if you've never practiced trading on one of the many platform demos we offer; however, if you don't understand the important differences between paper trading and entering and exiting the markets with live orders and real money, you are doomed to fail and you will be left with a bitter taste in your mouth for an industry that gives you just as many opportunities to succeed as it does to fail.

The first issue many traders already know about is the false sense of security with your fills. The idea of a limit order is first in, first out. Take a moment. First in, first out. It's the golden rule of live trading, and it's a lesson you're never going to learn in simulated trading. Do not be "that trader" that is confused as to why it's taking so long to get filled once you start your live trading. It is not your platform, it is not your broker, it is not the data feed; it is the lack of fantasy fills you have been provided on a demo. And no, apologies to the automated trading strategists, but you're included in the conversation as well: you could be testing your strategies on market replays of historical data on our platforms and getting unrealistic fills.

In the simulated world, your limit orders are likely to get filled as soon as the market touches your price. For example: if you're trying to go long a contract on a buy limit order and your entry price becomes the bid, a simulated seller may instantaneously take the other side of your contract; however in a live market, you're going to have to get in line behind all the rest of the orders placed before yours waiting to be filled. In less liquid markets you may not notice as much of a difference as there may not be too many people in front of you; however, in more liquid markets such as the popular e-mini indices or the interest rates, you will notice quite a difference when the market keeps bumping against your price without filling your order. Only when the market passes THROUGH your price are you guaranteed a fill on a limit order in the live markets. This makes your hypothetical demo results much more difficult to interpret and sometimes impossible to trust.

Now on to the subtler and often misunderstood aspect of demo trading.

By solely trading on a demo platform for months and months on end, you can easily get used to this alternate trading reality making it extremely difficult to adapt to a live environment. You will never be able to simulate the emotions associated with gaining and losing money in the markets, and therefore you won't know how to contain said emotions until you experience them first hand. It's easy to accept your losses and move on when you're playing around with fake money, but you will start questioning every aspect of your trading by the time you hit the real markets and lose money for the first time.

It could take futures traders months or even years to finally understand that even though they might have made hundreds of thousands of dollars on a demo account, it can easily translate to losses in the real markets. The difficult part of it all is traders rarely blame themselves; as mentioned before, they can target the platform, brokerage firm or data feed, when in fact they might all be working and doing their jobs just fine. In any case, traders can set themselves up for unrealistic expectations for the markets and never see their visions come to fruition.

Beginning traders can leave the markets angry and frustrated when of course the markets provided plenty of opportunities on both sides of the market for risk and reward alike. Paper traders will consider themselves experts of the markets and in fact they may be able to recognize a head and shoulders pattern forming from a mile away, but when it comes to controlling losses or calling it a day after achieving respectable profits on their account, they just can't quit.

When it's all said and done, paper trading can be the ultimate crutch of live futures trading. For traders going back and forth between the two, they can gain a respectable balance of adjusting their trading strategy while still keeping in touch with the fill-reality of the live markets. If you’re going to base your trading success on how you’ve done in the simulated markets, though, you need to take a step back from the screen and have a serious conversation with a broker here before you dive in. While other brokers might get flustered and be unwilling to educate those who need it, our brokers are always happy to step in—that’s the Cannon Trading difference.

Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.  You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time.   
  

This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell, but a current market view provided by Cannon Trading Inc. Any statement of facts herein contained are derived from sources believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed as to accuracy, nor they purport to be complete. No responsibility is assumed with respect to any such statement or with respect to any expression of opinion herein contained. Readers are urged to exercise their own judgment in trading!

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BROKER NOTES:

It should be noted that this list was compiled based on the AVERAGE rankings by the senior brokers here in the office. Therefore, it should be noted that there are differences in opinion, ESPECIALLY on the position of the "Factory Orders" and "Philly Fed Survey", which some believed should be switched around. Feel free to comment, phone in or email us your questions or concerns. We're happy to get into a discussion about any of these events and how they affect the markets.

Source for definitions: Econoday