Paper trading
Practicing trades with pretend money so you can learn without risking real money.
Paper trading means practicing buying and selling with pretend money instead of real money. The name comes from people once writing their trades down on paper. Today it is done in a simulator that tracks your results.
The point is to practice the whole process, not just to win: finding a setup, writing a plan, choosing a stop-loss, sizing the position, and reviewing what happened afterward. Because no real money is at risk, you can make mistakes, study them and try again.
Paper results are not a promise of real results, because real money adds emotion and real fills. That is why TRADECRAFT grades the quality of the decision rather than the profit.
Example: you start with a $10,000 simulated balance, risk $100 on a practice trade, and review your plan afterward. No real money moves at any point.
New to all of this? Start learning trading from zero.
Educational definition. Not financial advice; no real-money execution.