Quote from yenzen:
well, I did find some information. It's a matter of whether or not he is, in fact, offering advice on the buying and selling of futures contracts to an audience larger than 15 people.
I have come across enough vendors on the internet, and I do know that quite a number of them were registered as informational CTA's.
Again, Brandon refuses to answer this question and instead he blew a gasket that anyone would even ask if he is registered with the regulatory agencies. Its rather unprofessional. But it doesnt surprise me much, it seems his subscribers are rather unsophisticated and gullible to say the least.
Senor Zen
I have no idea about Mr. Fredrikson, what he trades, how he trades, or anything like it, however, I think some things need to be pointed out.
First, from the very few things I was on his site, all I found was stock information. This excludes him from NFA oversight immediately, so the CTA debate is moot.
Second, if he is covering futures, he doesn't necessarily need to be registered. Registration is needed if he is giving specific trade recommendations, e.g. but CLN5 at 55.0 stop. If he is saying something like "crude looks like it could be a solid long trade above 55" then he is not giving specific advice, and is therefore not required to register. Remember the acronym; Commodity Trading Advisor. Regardless of whether he has 4 or 4000 clients, if he is not giving specific advice, he's exempt.
Third, people seem to forget trading is a business. I have a feeling many people on this board have no idea about business tactics. If there is a market for advise, there will be advisors. The whole "if you're good at trading, then just trade" concept is flawed at best. If you can make some extra coin by "mentoring" someone else at a price of $1000 per week, and still trade while you do it, then why shouldn't you do it? Lets say you hit a drawdown in your trading, but you still have clients lining up. Now you have some coin coming in even when you're in a trading slump. This is diversification of your business.
Fourth, this guy started to get pissed after three pages of rude or negative comments from people he specifically asked not to post in the original post. I have never seen Brandonf spam for clients like the shady vendors that come and go around here. He usually has good and relevant input in his postings. He's trying to run a business; cut the guy some slack.
Ok, there's my two cents. Flam on if you have to, but I think this board needs to focus on some positive or constructive postings, as it is quickly turning into a forum for juvenile quabbling.
If you want to bitch and moan, go find an online game board. Most of us here claim to be professionals; lets at least try to act like ones.
Edit: Please note this is the 6th page in 2.5 hours, and 90% is bitching and moaning about general vendors and their shortcomings, whether it be trading or regulatory. None of this has been in the spirit of the original post.