Those are among the many things you can find, openly discussed, by being willing to look at them.
The last time the overall Combine pass-rate was independently audited, it was 20%, but it's increased quite a bit since then, after some rule changes.
Some people do pass it the first time. Some have published their Combine reports in this very forum, demonstrating that (and many more elsewhere).
The majority, of course, don't pass it the first time. That's to be expected, of course, given that there's absolutely no entry-barrier at all.
Some of the people who have failed it multiple times and eventually pass are still doing much better than paying their own way, and say so openly.
Others not, I don't doubt.
Few businesses open up the whole of their internal, management accounts for public inspection. Given the openness with which TST discuss, explain, respond and encourage their users to publish information and their own accounts of using TST, I'd say that they give, overall, a far clearer picture of what's actually going on than many businesses do.
But again, that's a picture you can form for yourself only by taking into account a lot of information which at the moment you're not taking into account. Again just a factual observation and in no sense a criticism.
They must all be hoping that "Mr. TST" is "standing", anyway, mustn't they? Otherwise the business would cease to exist.
Thanks for taking the time to respond to all of Frederick's queries and concerns. I wasn't sure I had the strength to do so myself!
I think people take a philosophical, somewhat nihilistic, end-of-time view to things when they are looking for reasons (for whatever underlying reason...) to debunk someone's choice or action. First it's the Combine...then the FTP...then it'll be the first check. After that, it's whether you get the fees back. We can keep going forwards in time, until the end of time, looking for whether "it was worth it/we found value".
Earning back all fees, education and losses incurred on the way to profitability. "Loss" of time with friends and family...ultimately we all lose...except the best loser wins. As much as Nihilism makes sense logically, it makes no sense to think so broad and wide if we are to live happily. What a depressing discussion! LOL!
Incidentally, those fees will be covered in a matter of months of consistent trading. I believe that TST is providing value to different people for different reasons; mainly discipline and capital. Yes, one could argue that one could save the capital and develop the discipline on their own but, as disciplined as I thought I was before TST, my trading has improved leaps and bounds since getting involved with them.
PS. The majority of this wasn't aimed at you...
