hello, I have been trading stocks for quite some time now, and recently, I have been consistently doing well. I have never traded an option before, but just today I filled out the paperwork to be approved for option trading. I would like to start paper trading to get a feel of it before I use real money. does anyone know of a good site where I can as realistly as possible trade options with fake money?
You can't trade options realistically with fake money as the fills play a huge role in options trading and there's no way to simulate a real world fill. However, just to name a few, you can play at CBOE.com, Thinkorswim, and (i think) Optionsxpress.
Do a web search on "Virtual Trading" and you'll get a number of sites for it. Ditto what MTE said. Virtual trading is good for learning the mechanics of order placement, trading at the bid, ask, etc. but don't be fooled by how well you do. The real world is very different. If your broker offers virtual trading, use it since it will familiarize you with their platform.
Try OptionVue (www.optionvue.com). You can get the trial of the new OptionVue 6 at no charge now, and the trial includes their BackTrader data. It has data every half hour going all the way back to January 2001 and you can go through testing strategies over the past seven years to see how they would do without paying a penny.
You can have an option paper trading account at IB as well, but, I fully concur: there is no way you can test your option strategy reliably on the simulation account.
ThinkorSwim PaperMoney. Just like everyone else said, the program consistently fills your order at or near the mid price, so if you can't turn the $100K into $500k, save your real money and keep learning and practicing the craft.
Try trading 30-50 options contracts paper and then real life. In real life when you put a 40-50 contract you literally will see the impact of your order on prices.
MTE, sheesh, you're not the bright one. Really, why do you post? Helping others; learning? Which is it?