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This guide takes you from signing up to an algorithm trading on a demo account, with no broker and no real money. It takes about fifteen minutes. All you need is an email address.

Trading on margin can lose you more than you put in. Past results, including backtests, do not predict future results. Cloud9Trader provides tools and education, not financial advice. Read the full risk warning.

Steps 1 to 5 work on the free plan, including backtesting on every tick. Starting a trading session (step 6) needs a paid plan that includes sessions: Basic and up. See Plans and credits.

In this guide

Section titled “In this guide”
  1. Create your account
  2. Open a demo account
  3. Open the example algorithm and read it
  4. Backtest it
  5. Change a setting and backtest again
  6. Start a trading session
  7. What next

1. Create your account

Section titled “1. Create your account”

Do this: Go to cloud9trader.com/register. Enter a User name, Email address and Password, repeat the password, and select Register. You can use Log in with Google or Log in with Windows instead.

You should see: “Thanks — check your email for a confirmation link, then log in.” Open the email and follow the link. It confirms your address and opens the log-in screen with “Your email is confirmed. Log in to open your demo account.” Log in, and you land on your accounts.

2. Open a demo account

Section titled “2. Open a demo account”

Do this: If you are not already there, go to cloud9trader.com/accounts. Under Demo account, choose a currency in Select your currency (USD, GBP or EUR) and select Submit.

You should see: the page reloads with your demo account. It starts with a balance of 50,000 in the currency you chose. Its prices are real-time market prices and its trades are simulated, so nothing you do here costs real money. You can have one demo account.

3. Open the example algorithm and read it

Section titled “3. Open the example algorithm and read it”

Do this: Open Algorithms from the top menu. Your list already holds Moving Average Crossover (example), which every new account starts with. Select it.

You should see: the example open on its Edit tab. Read the code. It buys when a fast moving average crosses above a slow one and sells when it crosses below, and Build a moving-average crossover explains every line. The onIntervalClose function runs at the end of each bar; look for where it calls openPosition and what has to be true first. The externals near the top are its settings, which you will change in step 5.

The page also shows Community Shared Algorithms, written and shared by other people. To try one, select Clone, choose a Version:, and select Clone again; the copy, named “Copy of” and the original name, joins your list.

4. Backtest it

Section titled “4. Backtest it”

Do this: Open the Backtest tab and select New Backtest. In Settings, choose an Instrument:, leave Resolution: on Minute data, and keep the default dates (the last month) and Balance:. If the algorithm has externals, check the values in Externals. Select OK.

You should see: “Backtest queued”, then the result page filling in as the backtest runs. The Dashboard shows the balance, equity, profit, number of positions, maximum drawdown and return. Below it are the equity chart, a price chart with the algorithm’s positions, the Positions list and the Log.

Before you select OK, the window shows how many backtest compute units the backtest will use and how many you have left. Minute data uses one unit for every 30 days tested, so the default month uses one or two. Every tick uses ten times as many.

On a plan that includes it, run the same backtest again with Resolution: set to Every tick. It replays every price change rather than one price a minute, so the result is closer to what would happen live. Compare the two results: if they differ a lot, trust the tick result.

5. Change a setting and backtest again

Section titled “5. Change a setting and backtest again”

Do this: Select New Backtest again. In Externals, change one value, for example a stop loss or take profit in pips, and select OK. If the algorithm has no externals, change one number in its code on the Edit tab, save it, and pick the new version in Version:.

You should see: a second result. Compare its Total Profit and Maximum Drawdown with the first. A setting that only does well over one month may not do well over the next, so try a few date ranges before you trust it.

6. Start a trading session

Section titled “6. Start a trading session”

Do this: Open the Trade tab and select New Trading Session. Choose the Version:, Instrument: and Interval:, set the Externals, and select OK.

You should see: “Trading session started”, then the session page. It shows the session’s Dashboard (how long it has run, positions, profit and pips), a Cumulative Profit chart, a price chart, Positions (Open), Positions (Closed) and Daily Logs. The algorithm now trades on your demo account each time the price updates, until the session is stopped.

7. What next

Section titled “7. What next”
  • Write your own algorithm: select New in the Algorithms list and give it a name.
  • Learn the trading ideas behind what you just did: prices, spreads, pips and positions.
  • When you are ready, connect a practice account at a broker before you go anywhere near real money.

Common questions

Section titled “Common questions”

Why is OK greyed out in New Trading Session? Your plan has no trading sessions. The window says how many you have and links to the plans.

Why can’t I pick Every tick? Backtesting on every tick needs a plan that includes it. Minute data works on every plan.

Which account does a trading session use? The first account on your profile. If you only have the demo account, that is the one it uses.

Why does a backtest say no data is available? Prices for that instrument start later than the date you picked. Move the start date forward.

Section titled “Related”