Having gone through the Options Animal course (all 8 levels) I found it well worth the cost. The ongoing live daily classes, market updates and monthly trader forums are excellent. The teachers genuinely want the students to succeed and make money. The example trades are done in live accounts with real money, so you're not watching someone with nothing to lose trading in a paper account. It's an intensive course and requires hard work, but doesn't anything that is worth doing?
OptionsANIMAL - are they any good
- Thread starter rocky_raccoon
- Start date
So I think I commented before, but I notice that the sceptics posting on OA are not members and consequently don't know what is actually offered. I have been an OA member for more than 7 years, so let me comment from a position of actual knowledge . In fact, the program consists of hours and hours of recorded content, well organized and presented sequentially so that you can begin without knowing anything, and finish with a sophisticated knowledge of complex options trading, including lots of content on IV, risk, intrinsic and extrinsic value, position sizing, etc. But in addition to archived content, there are at least 20 hours weekly of live educational content where members can pose their own questions and expect a thorough answer from one of 5-6 individual instructors. There is a live daily market update and a weekly sophisticated market update. There is a lively community with sophisticated traders and no trolls! And the example trades are in fact extremely likely to be profitable-- perhaps because many of them are high probability , but also because they are well researched, conservative, restricted to frequently traded equities with good chains, and adjusted as necessary to take them to profitability-- which is in fact required because as every trader knows, you really never know the direction any given equity is likely to take. So, in short, I am a member and a fan. For the $6500 or so I paid originally, I have made about half a million bucks on profitable trades (obviously also some equity based..) so for me it was a helluva bargain....
So these instructors or the company being so good do they actually make money by trading ( AKA risking own money) or by selling courses $6500 a pop! that is a half million dollar question!
All of the instructors are traders, risking their own money. The course, at $6500, gives you full access to all the classes (both live and archived), beginner and advanced forums where you can get questions answered, daily and weekly market analysis, monthly trading workshops and live real-money trades. There are various time-frames for this, but the basic $6500 course covers all of the above for 18-months.
The instructors are most certainly paid by the company for their time, since it is not a charity or non-profit organization. That said, I as a paying student I can say that they genuinely want their students to succeed (which makes sense, since their referrals and reputation are at stake). Rather than making judgements about motives, you might consider that $6500 is easily lost in one bad trade. I'm up about $7k using their methods in just a few months after completing the course (tuition has therefore paid for itself), and more importantly, I'm feeling much more in control of the trades I place (ie, understanding risk v. reward, how to hedge positions, the value of both technical and fundamental analysis, what moves markets, portfolio management, all the various options instruments and how they work, adjusting trades that move against you, etc.).
It's normal to be skeptical (I was, and I called previous students to check on the course before I signed up). But if trading is more than a passing hobby for you, $6500 is really a drop in the bucket for the amount of value it offers. Heck, 18 year old kids are paying $60k a year for educations that are likely to get them minimum wage jobs.
Find people who have taken the course, like Kathy and myself, and get their feedback. I have nothing to gain from sharing these thoughts -- I'm not paid by Options Animal -- I'm just a satisfied customer.
Ken
Glad you asked. Each member receives one monthly trade with specific entries, as well as prompt notification of any adjustments. These are publicized, and members can ask questions to clarify the strategies. Each is tracked to the time it is closed. Some close profitable at a profit target (no less than 20%) within days, some have been going on for months, and about half require adjustments. I have taken many of these trades personally and can attest to the fact that more than 90% of them have been profitable, some wildly so. Now, these are not risky trades (BUY LCs on NKLA!!!), but sophisticated and usually conservative trades. For an additional fee, one can receive weekly similar trades, and monthly "trader workshops" where instructors workshop trades that they make with their own money-- and post the evidence that they did so. BUT to be clear, this is not a simple matter of selling trades-- there are a lot of services that do this. The program "teaches you to fish" by instructing you on exactly how to trade, which options to choose based on your expectations, how to refine those expectations based on fundamental, sentimental and technical analysis, etc. That is where the true value is. Again, not sure how it is that so many people on this forum denigrate the educational program based on mere suspicion that is doesn't offer value for money. Believe me, you won't find many OA members who agree.So these instructors or the company being so good do they actually make money by trading ( AKA risking own money) or by selling courses $6500 a pop! that is a half million dollar question!
Trash service. I'm way better, and have been proving it with live calls. TRASH!!!!
Proof of the pudding is in the eating.
not sure how it is that so many people on this forum denigrate the educational program based on mere suspicion that is doesn't offer value for money.
With options being a complicated derivative product I get that there could be value in learning the variety of strategies as compared to say Stok trading
However why people are suspicious or take these "Education sellers" with a pinch of salt is
- Many times the "Education service " is soled as a Get rich Quick scheme with questionable marketing technics ( I have ben to many such FREE seminars webinars and you can see thrugh the marketing BS ..)
- the promotor "GURU" most of times claims to be a super trader but won;t show you any audited proof of his past and present success, many times not even currently registered or licensed as a Money manager in any major jurisdiction
- As a super trader with knowing all the technics would logically run a regulated Managed fund/ hedge fund so the "skills" can be audited and all to see warts and all
- The most LOL claim by such company is comparing themselves to full fledged universities education!
Back to OA. ( or any similar) .. so at the end of the day there is no proof that they actually risk money in the market? sure the education might be a good alternative to self learning but
Do they "Practice what they preach" and prove it? UPFRONT
Believe me, you won't find many OA members who who agree
Of course I won't... they all have paid the $6500 ! it becomes like a sect membership
PS These are due diligence questions that any consumer is asking when it comes to purchasing a product or service and specially in case of the murky waters of "Financial education" sure many will call this trolling ....
