Paper trading, introduction

🔒 Know which account you are on. Paper accounts trade virtual money against the live book. Live accounts trade through your own Rithmic connection, and there every order you send is real, from the first click — the account selector tells you which is which. This guide covers paper mode.

Behind the scenes a real matching engine fills your paper orders against the real live book and trades, so you get realistic prices and slippage without risking money.

The accounts

There are two local paper accounts: SIM-1 (“Paper 1”) and SIM-2 (“Paper 2”). Each has its own risk limits:

• max 10 contracts per order,
• max 20 net position per symbol,
• a −$5,000 daily loss stop (beyond which it blocks new orders that increase risk).

Positions and PnL are separate per account.

For a step-by-step walkthrough see Placing an order.