Your first 30 days.
No tool turns anyone into a great trader overnight. Here's how to use Slated Trades to actually get better, with pretend money, at your own pace.
Before you start: three honest facts
- Most people who trade lose money, especially in their first year.
- Most strategies you see online don't beat buying on random days once you test them fairly.
- Getting good takes months or years. Practicing with pretend money first is how the pros learned too.
Week 1
Learn how the market really behaves
- Read the lessons (about 10 minutes each). Start with "The same rule lost for 60 years, then won for 30".
- Browse the Graveyard to see which famous ideas failed, and why.
- Add 3 to 5 stocks you know to My stocks, so news alerts start.
Week 2
Test ideas instead of trusting them
- Open the lab and run the famous strategies. Notice how few "look real".
- Test an idea you've seen on YouTube or TikTok. Read the plain-English verdict.
- Watch the luck warning: the more versions you try, the more likely one passes by chance.
Week 3
Practice with pretend money
- Pick one rule and press "Track this rule live". It now trades on new prices only.
- Use the position sizer before every pretend trade: risk 1% or less of your pretend account.
- Write every pretend trade in the journal, including why you took it.
Week 4
Review honestly
- Look at your journal: which trades followed your rules, and which were feelings?
- Compare your tracked rule with simply holding the S&P 500.
- Keep going with pretend money until you have months of records, not days.
When should you use real money?
Only after months of pretend trading with records you're proud of, only money you could lose without it hurting, and ideally after talking to a licensed financial adviser. Slated Trades will never tell you it's time.