You know, logically, that doesn't show "the idiocy of demo accounts" at all. A visually flawless photoshop edit could just as easily be done on a real account as on a demo account. No time or skill to do it? Just ask your 12-year-old neighbor kid to do it, for lunch money.
Why even lose money trading when you can just make a boatload of money trading? Maybe I'm tired by now, but... huh?... I don't follow you at all. Are you being serious or ironic? In case you are serious, first, most people who post on ET don't have an "account that went positive" over a period of time. Second, I thought we were talking about how relatively easy it would be online to present and pass off a made-up account screen shot as actual. My point was simply that the real / demo distinction has absolutely nothing to do with the actual / made-up distinction.
I've got a theory on regulation. The SEC and NASD destroyed the Day Trading Industry, with the Pattern Day Trading Rule. The SEC regulates and still does not protect the consumer, usually costs the consumer more. Hopefully FOREX can stay out of the hands of the SEC.
Why do you say that the Pattern Day Trading Rule ruined the day trading industry? Are you saying that the small accounts (under 25k) poured money into the markets that the big fish ate for dinner? Or are you speaking from the perspective of a guy with a few grand trying to break into daytrading? What are the other stipulations (if any) of the Pattern Day Trading Rule? Thanks
The Pattern Day Trading Rule prevents someone who has less than $25,000 from trading in and out of stocks on a inter day basis. There is no reason for the rule, but the SEC, in its divine wisdom, feels it protects the small investor or trader. It does not really protect anything. Now small accounts feeding the big fish, I don't understand that concept, because big accounts can also feed little fish, it can go both ways. If someone gets training and education on trading, they can learn to trade. But the NASD and the SEC combine to make it difficult to promote training, believe me I have been there in the back office operations of a BD trying to recruit accounts. 9 out of 10 Day Trading firms went out of business because of this rule. There is a universe full of traders that would actively trade, if they could, with less than $25,000. But the industry is moving to Forex, and that is the future of Trading for the little or big guys.
The solution is very simple: start daytrading futures. You only need a few 1000 $. And switch to stocks once you made your 25000$. If your explanation would be correct forextrading should fall under the same rule. More people can lose money in forex than in daytrading stocks. Forex is monger dangerous and highly (over)leveraged.
You guys need to WEEN yourself off the SEC dogma of Leverage is bad. Leverage is bad for people who think they are going to go into a profession like Trading WITHOUT any Instruction or Education. Education and Training make the difference, just like you would not try and fly an airplane without instruction. Forex is not dangerous, it has daily moves. Forex is easier to trade, than stocks, after having done both, I would never go back to trading stocks. Why would you play a stock that moves on both news and technical. Forex is a total technical play 98% of the trading 24 hour day. No need to sift through thousands of stocks. 4 pairs of currency to watch, and you can trade any one of them and make a living.