Quote from marketsurfer:
Disagree. There is no barrier to entry to "teach" trading. College Professors need PhD's, Plumbers need to be certified, Lawyers need to pass the Bar Exam.
The Pro traders who teach, are not real pro traders otherwise they would not be teaching for $$--- for free, sure, but not for cash. Just ask to see audited statements, ask to observe their trading for a week, ask for clients with whom they manage money for--- RARE is the guru who will produce any of these things.
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Response
+1, totally agree.
If they are great traders, why don't they instead trade 1000 ES contracts and with a few trades per day they would earn much more with much less effort.
People, use logic and common sense.
In the end what matters is profit, not the materials and not the presentation. Since these people can't trade profitably (if they did, they'd spam their audited records at every newbie), what use are their materials?
Long time ago, I used to help organize similar seminars which had much less selling, more educating and for a fraction of the cost. Since I was just helping around and had time to observe; I noticed most of the people attending were hopeful and naive, they didn't have a clue what successful trading through different market conditions really requires in terms on research, screen time etc. They seemed to believe it was just a work-from-home type of deal with high reward and a lot of free time - who could resist!
Some of those people probably will eventually find out what it really takes but most will just fade away.
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My take on this.....
Anybody can teach a class on trading and investing. And unfortunately the people I came into contact with at Online Trading Academy were sales people, learned to talk the talk on trading, but were not competent trainers.
I bought into the hype. Shame on them for getting me the first time, shame on me if I ever let it happen again OR let it happen to others.
They are slick sales people. They paint the dream. But when you actually take the class, what you get is actually something quite different.
The marketing presentation says one thing. The actual product is something quite different. In Orlando, at the presentation I went to, there was a black dude there claiming he was making $2,000 a day trading futures with real money. FACT: He traded in a demo account and didn't even have enough money to open an account ot trade let alone make any money. He also claimed he drove a $140,000 Mercedes. FACT: He didn't even have a car and rode on a $375,000 bus! LOL. Only a slight exageration.
The other guy claimed he was making thousand's of $$$ a day trading the FOREX and was the resident FOREX expert. FACT. He was newly divorced and broke and traded like the other guy only in a demo account. His knowledge of the FOREX was very basic. I knew more from reading the website.
None of the people I talked to, some of whom had taken and retaken the class several times over the course of a year or longer indicated that they were making money, all were losing money except one guy who was thrilled that he was barely breaking even after spending about $30,000 on classes at the "Academy".
One individual said he was making money but with his own system not Online Trading Academy's. He said the only redeeming thing was that he could write the cost of the class off on his income taxes, after all, it was a total loss.
Speaking of the retake provision, it is a joke. If everyybody who bought into this scheme retook the class, where in the world would you put them? The classroom only seats 20 people max. The fact is most people drop out from frustration either because the training really doesn't work and/or you get no useful help from either the trainers or the staff. Plus they are losing money by the bucketload and the cost of taking time off to come to class, lodging, gas and so on. It's simply not worth it.
The tuiition reimbursement is farce. When you add up the higher commissions and higher interest rate for margin accounts PLUS the monthly fees that the broker they recommend charges, you will be paying for several more classes as compared to going with another broker.
An analogy might be this. What if a local gas station told you that they will give you gas for .4 cents a gallon less than anybody else in your area. Sounds great right? But what if they said, "Ohby the way, there is a $99 monthly fee for this special service." How quickly would you be out the door and buying your gas elsewhere.
The so called gains you will make by using this broker from preventing losses in slippage is another myth. The people who take classes at Online Trading Academy do not trade frequently enough or in enough volume to make this work. It is true that some professional, profitable traders uese this broker, many use other platforms but these professionals do not take classes from outfits like Online Trading Academy. They could probably teach but once again real professional traders trade to live their lifestyle not spend time in a classroom for 7 days.
There is an old saying, "Those who can trade successfully do. Those who can't, teach."
None of the students I talked to were happy with the tuition reimbursement program
And by the way, if they change brokers as they did a few years ago when they stop using Terra Nova and switched to their current broker, you will lose all of your tuiition reimbursement credits.
And of course if you finance the classes, you will be paying 18% interest! WHAT A RIPOFF!
In the workshops we were told and this was reconfirmed when I was called into the hot seat - the closing room by one of the counselors i.e. "used car salesmen" that this class had a value of over $14,000, normally sells for $6,900.00 but was being offered today and only today for a "measly" $4,900.00, their words not mine.
FACT: The real price of the class is $4900 which is already inflated. I don't think the class was even worth $100.
The Online Trading Academy salesmen will try to sell you the accessory products like CD-ROMS and DVDs or sometimes add them in as comps if you upgrade to another class such as the XLT OR PASSPORT PROGRAMS. The CD-ROMS are at best basic and even though they claim to be valued at $195, $395 or $695 a set and the DVDs set is supposed to be worth $5,000. I would say that all of it combined is worth less than a $100.All of these materials are at least 6-10 years old and much of the material is outdated.
Once they get you to enroll in their flagship course, the PRO TRADER, run your card and it clears, they will attempt immediately to upsell you to one of the other programs. And if you say no, they will beat you death with rebuttals. This is of course before they return your credit card and drivers license to you.
Several people got so mad at this blatant high pressure selling that they walked out leaving behind their credit cards and ddrivers licenses and when they realized that they forgot them and came back to the OTA center, the sales circus started all over again.
During classes, as stated before, we were constantly inundated with sales pitches. They had a working lunch and all they did was show XLT videos and give us all a sales talk on "continued education" RE: Continued High Pressure selling during our lunch break.
On breaks, outside smoking and even in the restrooms, the counselors would follow us, make some basic small talk and then hit us with another sales pitch. It was sales pressure ad nauseum.
It is funny how they try to be charismatic at first, but that all changes very quickly. Once again, these were my experiences in Orlando, but from reading this thread and others, it appears to be happening at other Online Trading Academy centers as well.
BUT...don't take my word for it or others who have posted ahead of me. Go to other seminars in your area. Join some meetup groups. Most are free and offer some good information. Rub shoulders with some really successful traders and investors. The IBD and FOREX groups are particularly good. And while you are there, ask them what there experience has been with the local Online Trading Academy. I know what they are saying here in Orlando.
Finally, when you go to any Online Trading Academy event, leave your wallet, checkbook and credit cards home and don't give themyour car keys. Don't laugh, in Orlando they actually did this to someone and insisted that a staff member would drive him home to get his cards or checkbook.
Welcome to the world of Online Trading Academy/Orlando.
