Tutorial 1 of 6
Your first paper desk in 5 minutes
Beginner 5 min
Open the fictional starter desk, read the overview figures, and learn why RavingDesk withholds equity when a mark is missing.
RavingDesk is a paper-trading desk: you practise with hypothetical fills and your own prices. It never connects to a broker or exchange, never sends an order and never holds money. Nothing in it is financial advice. This tutorial uses the fictional starter desk, so you can explore every desk without typing anything.
1. Open the starter desk
Click Launch RavingDesk. On a first visit the Overview shows Start your desk with buttons for your own first steps and a list of examples. Choose Fictional starter desk (or use File → Start from an example…).
Two notes appear at the top: Paper trading only and This desk contains fictional example data. The example uses invented symbols such as EXAMPLE-A, invented prices and the source Fictional example. Replace them with your own entries when you are ready.
The left column lists the desks: Overview, Orders, Ledger, Risk planner, Watchlist & chart, FX rates, Journal and Crypto costs. The small numbers show working orders, fills, marks and journal notes. Alt+1 … Alt+8 jump between desks.
2. Read the account figures
| Figure | Starter desk | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Paper equity | $100,786.00 | Cash plus every open position at its mark |
| Paper cash | $98,831.50 | Starting cash $100,000.00 after fills and fees |
| Unrealized P&L | +$548.80 | Open positions at your marks |
| Realized P&L | +$237.20 | Closed quantities, fees included |
| Total vs. starting cash | +$786.00 | Equity minus starting cash |
3. Check positions and their marks
Open positions lists each symbol with its direction, quantity, weighted-average entry and the Mark and source — for example 54.2, Fictional example · Feb 7, 2025 for EXAMPLE-A. EXAMPLE-B is a short: 30 units sold at 120 and marked at 112.5, so its market value is negative (−$3,375.00) and its unrealized P&L is positive (+$222.00), because a short gains when the price falls.
Every row has Update mark, which opens the Watchlist desk with the symbol filled in.
4. See why a missing mark matters
Open Watchlist & chart and press Remove next to EXAMPLE-C. Back on the overview, Paper equity, Unrealized P&L and Total vs. starting cash now show a dash, and a warning says that EXAMPLE-C has no mark. RavingDesk does not guess a price: partial totals would look precise but be wrong. Press Ctrl+Z to undo.
5. Exposure and the portfolio shock
Further down, Exposure & concentration shows long exposure $5,329.50, short exposure $3,375.00, gross exposure $8,704.50 (long plus short) and net exposure +$1,954.50 (long minus short). Largest position is 38.8 % of gross — the short in EXAMPLE-B.
Move the Portfolio shock slider to −10 %. The line underneath reads estimated paper equity $100,590.55, change −$195.45: the longs lose more than the short gains. This is a sensitivity check that moves every mark by the same percentage, not a forecast.
Next steps
Your changes are saved in this browser automatically. Continue with paper orders and fills or start a clean desk with File → New desk.
Ready to try it?