Paper trading
Also called: virtual trading, practice trading
Paper trading is practising trades with pretend money, so you can learn how markets work and test strategies without risking real savings.
The name comes from traders once writing trades down on paper. Today it's done in stock market simulators and broker practice accounts.
It teaches the mechanics well, but can't fully teach the emotions of real losses, so start small when you move to real money.
In Journey Shares
Journey Shares is paper trading with a twist: you trade play-money shares in people, with real-world rules for fees, taxes, margin and options. →
Related terms
- Stock market simulator: A stock market simulator is a game or tool that lets you buy and sell with virtual money under market-like rules, to learn investing without financial risk.
- Day trading: Day trading is buying and selling within the same day to profit from short price moves, closing every position before the market closes.
- Risk management: Risk management in trading is limiting how much you can lose, through position sizing, stop-losses, diversification and avoiding too much leverage.
Guides
Practise with $10,000 in play money
Free. No real money involved.
For learning only. This isn't financial advice.