Paper Trade 170 Assets

How the practice trading desk works

The trading desk is where simulated orders are placed. You choose an instrument, choose a side, choose a size, and the order is filled against the simulator's current price. Guest fills and results are recorded in your browser. Account orders execute through the server and cash, positions and server-recorded trade history restore across devices when the service is available.

One order type is supported today: the market order, which fills immediately at the shown simulator price. Limit and stop orders are explained in the glossary but cannot yet be placed on the desk. The virtual order screen leaves quantities to the learner. Comparing hypothetical account exposure can teach arithmetic, but this simplified fill model does not validate real-market risk management.

What to practise on the desk

• Position sizing: compare hypothetical quantities under the same adverse price move. A fixed fraction does not guarantee a smoother equity curve, and the current simulator does not execute automatic stop orders.
• Stop discipline: decide the exit before entering, then check in the journal whether you actually honoured it.
• Entry timing: note the price you intended versus the price you received on a fast-moving instrument, and record the gap in the journal.
• Concentration: run a week with five positions and a week with one, and compare the drawdown.

Limits of any simulator

TradeHQ applies a fixed 0.1% virtual fee to each simulated buy or sell, but that classroom input is not a real broker's fee schedule. Displayed-price fills do not reproduce real-world spreads, slippage, overnight financing or taxes; practice also lacks the emotional weight of risking your own money. Treat results as evidence about your practice process, not a forecast of live returns. Past simulated performance does not predict future real-world performance.

Orders supported by this simulator

• Market order: the virtual engine uses a simplified displayed practice price. Real market orders seek execution at available prices and may fill at different prices or not complete during market interruptions.
• Limit orders are explained in the learning material but are not available in the current simulator. Practice orders execute as market orders at the shown simulated price.
• Closing a position: sell some or all of an existing holding. You cannot sell more than you hold or open a short position. Completed buys and sells appear in portfolio trade history.

A practice routine that actually builds skill

Choose an exercise with a stated question, record the assumptions before placing orders and review the result afterwards. Transaction count alone does not measure learning or validate a strategy.

A sample journal can ask whether the observed virtual quantity matched the written assumption, what changed after the quoted timestamp and which execution costs are missing. A journal helps review choices but does not establish improved returns.