Topic: Sorry in advance) Demo vs. Live performance...

So I think you know where this is going... my experience with my broker is that the demo account is almost identical to the live account I have. I'm trying to test long term strategies in my practice account and then move them up to my live again, however, a lot of folks on this forum seem to be convinced that their practice accounts give totally different results to their strategies than their live accounts, so much so that they say it's pointless to even waste time forward testing in a practice account.

Why is this? Is it a spread issue, or an execution issue? Or a non issue?

Re: Sorry in advance) Demo vs. Live performance...

I think it's fair to say that this is more of a broker issue (execution differences between demo/live, data feed might vary also), if your demo is similar to live account then I don't see a problem here.

Re: Sorry in advance) Demo vs. Live performance...

Backtesting extensively will lead to better results, using a longer period will lead to better results...... sometimes people use a period that is far too short to get reasonable walk forward results.

My 'secret' goal is to push EA Studio until I can net 3000 pips per day....

Re: Sorry in advance) Demo vs. Live performance...

Do the test a little longer. Your demo account should give similar result to your live account or the demo account will be useless. Do some backtests to see results. If you want you can check out other brokers too or ask other traders who use the same broker like yours.