Market knowledge
Can you explain, without looking anything up, what a pip is worth on the pair you trade, what your broker charges you to enter, and what happens to a position held overnight? If any of those needs a search, the gap is not analysis — it is the arithmetic underneath every trade you take.
Technical reading
Can you mark the same levels on the same chart twice, a week apart, and get roughly the same picture? Levels that change with your mood are not levels. This is a test you can actually run: screenshot your chart, redraw it next week, compare.
Risk
Can you say what percentage you risk per trade, what you lose if the next eight trades all lose, and what your daily stop is — as numbers, now? If those are not numbers you already know, risk is not being managed; it is being hoped about.
Psychology
Look at your journal for the trades taken within an hour of a loss, and compare them with the rest. That comparison is the honest measure of your discipline, and it is a number rather than a feeling about yourself. If you have no journal, this area is simply unmeasured.
Planning
Is there a written plan, dated, that somebody else could read and use to judge whether a given trade of yours followed it? If it lives in your head, it changes silently and the answer is no. The weakest of these five is where the next month of work goes — not the one that is most interesting to study.
In short
| Knowledge | Pip value, cost, swap — without looking |
|---|---|
| Technical | The same levels a week apart |
| Risk | Percentage, losing run, daily stop — as numbers |
| Psychology | Trades after a loss, versus the rest |
| Planning | Written, dated, checkable by somebody else |
Common questions
How do I know when I am ready for real money?
When the five above have answers you can state, and thirty journalled demo trades show you following your own plan. Profit on demo matters less than compliance with the plan.
What if I am weak in several areas?
Take the one that is cheapest to fix — usually risk, because it is arithmetic — and fix that first. Nothing else compounds while the size is wrong.
Does a score make me a good trader?
No. It tells you where the next month of work belongs. That is all any assessment can honestly do.
Trading forex and CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk. Most retail accounts lose money. Nothing on this page is financial advice or a recommendation to trade.