Warning: Online Trading Academy (tradingacademy.com)

Quote from AM Bankus:



So now some questions for you
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Which I will try and answer to your satisfaction.



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* How did you learn how to trade OR better yet, do you really trade in the markets. What market, stocks, futures, options, Forex, real estate??
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Yes I really trade. Mostly swing trading stocks. I have day traded stocks and the e-minis but found it took too much time. My education has come mainly from the school of hard knocks. Keep trying stuff and find what doesn’t work and stop doing that.




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* Have you been successful? What are your typical returns like?
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I like to think I’m successful. I fund my lifestyle with my trading. Typically returns vary year to year, Anywhere from a 15% drawdown to 60% profit. Last year was just under 16% .



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* Where did you learn how to trade, if indeed you really do?
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I’ve been around for a while. Started with a fullservice broker until I figured out that they were just salesmen. Move to discounters and probably made all the mistakes that one can make. It was just luck, and a hell of a bull market up till the crash of 2000 that I didn’t completely blow up my account. Like I said I learned from my mistakes.


AM Bankus reply: I started with full service brokers too and found them, a few of them to be very helpful and cost me less than the discount brokers out there. All brokers are salesman. If you are using diuscount brokers, you are paying more int he long run
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* Do you have a trading plan?
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yes a very comprehensive one.


AM Bankus reply: That's it. Very comphrehensive. Wow. I'm impressed.

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* If you don't follow news, then what is your trading strategy.
Do you even have a strategy?
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I scan stocks for my technical criteria. I have several strategies but mainly play momo stocks that are moving to new highs. I never look at the news. A lot of the times I don’t even know what the company does. It doesn’t matter to me, all that matters is that the stock moves in the direction of my trade after I enter the trade.

AM Bankus reply: You sound like a guy I knew who was ready to load up on Dell because it had hit a double bottom and accordingt o charts was in a strong trend reversal position and should have been bullish. About the same time some bad news came out about Dell and the stock tanked even more. Dell continued to drop for weeks. Had he folowed charts only he would have lost his shirt.


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• What is your relationship with OTA? If you have none, then why are you here and who the heck are you anyway?
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I had an offer from OTA to attend the free lunch thingy. I checked out their web site. I searched for them here and found this thread. I haven’t taken them up on their offer because I couldn’t get a straight answer from them about what I would learn. I would hate to pay for something I already know.


AM Bankus reply: You sais you recieved an offer from them to attend a free lunch. That implies that there is no cost to go. Itw ould cost you nothing to go but gas and a little time. If in fact this is true, you should have gone and watched their presentation. Just leave your wallet and checkbook home.

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* What is your interest here??
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I had hoped to find out what it was they taught. It’s really hard to get anyone including you to tell me. They teach basic TA doesn’t tell me anything. What I want to know is how they use basic TA to enter and exit trades.

AM Bankus reply: Just go to n e of their circus side shows that they call workshops. You will get a p review of what they offer, some free CD Roms or if you ever get our of the house and away from your computer, go to a meetup group or one of the money shows and talk to some OTA graduates. Ask them what they think and why they and 90% of OTA clients drop out.

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* How frequently do you trade, if in fact you really do?
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I watch the market almost daily and trade when I get a signal. I swing trade, I may hold a position for a day or a month if it meets my criteria. Why close out a position that continues to move in your direction? Theres a lot of wisdom in the old adage to cut the losers short and let the winners run. This year so far I’ve closed 5 positions, all for small losses and have seen all of them recover. If I liquidate my account tomorrow I’ll still have a healthy profit.

AM Bankus reply: That is a bad strategy to let your winners run. You should know that even good stocks can turn on a dime. I hope you use stop losses but even t hat won't protect you when bad news comes out after hours
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* What size trades do you place? If any.
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I usually risk 1% of my trading capital on each trade.


AM Bankus reply: 1% of what? You are being very vague here


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* What is your net worth, north or south of 1 million???
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I’ll take the 5th on that one. My net worth seems irrelevant. I live quite comfortably on a 10% return.


AM Bankus reply: I think it is relevant. I won't take the 5th. Mione is just under $1 mill. and I started with $5,000. I would be $5,000 richer if I would have passed on OTA's circus though. But at least I can claim it on my taxes. After all, OTA's program was a total loss.

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* Do you really want facts or so you just like to focus on SPIN??
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Just the facts and the more specific you can be the better. That’s why I keep asking questions. Phrases like basic TA and fluff lead to assumptions which lead to misunderstanding.


AM Bankus reply: Yeah right!
 
dolenitte wrote:

Bankus - Are you presently trading? Obviously, trading is like any profession - some have an aptitude for it and others do not. Note - I'm not making any assumptions about your abilities as a trader.


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AM Bankus reply: Yes I do and very successfully no thanks to training from OTA. Now back to you, do you trade? Educate us. Tellus what you are doing here. Help me understand your purpose here. What position do you hold with OTA? We all want to know!
 
Quote from AM Bankus:

dolenitte wrote:

Bankus - Are you presently trading? Obviously, trading is like any profession - some have an aptitude for it and others do not. Note - I'm not making any assumptions about your abilities as a trader.


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AM Bankus reply: Yes I do and very successfully no thanks to training from OTA. Now back to you, do you trade? Educate us. Tellus what you are doing here. Help me understand your purpose here. What position do you hold with OTA? We all want to know!
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Yes, I trade (or invest, rather), albeit I'm usually a long(er) term investor who relies on value-based approaches rather than technical analysis. I'm here because I recently sold my business and I'm drawn to the relative flexibility of trading.

I sold my biz for a fair amount, but I'm only 33 and can't fund my lifestyle and have a solid retirement unless I continue to work. I have plenty of free time on my hands, and I've had success investing, so I want to give trading a shot too.

In the little bit of trading I did do, I got caught with a few silver contracts on May 1 of last year and got smashed for $75k in one day. I don't intend to repeat that idiocy, so I'm trying to educate myself on proper trading. That's why I looked at OTA.
 
Well I attended my free seminar yesterday and it seemed like an honest business.

Keep in mind that I am as green as it gets when it comes to trading. I've had my luck with a few stocks that I have messed with here and there, but nothing more. I'm just starting to learn. I have read a few books at this point and talked to very few people that really know what they are doing. Anyway...

Here is what I felt about the experience with OTA:

The information that they gave me in the free seminar seemed useful. They told us about supply and demand in terms of who is buying and who is selling, level 2 visibility and how to read candles. They also told us that the news was behind what everyone already knew and that if you want to be successful, you have to do what the big guys are doing.

That wasn't all of it, but those are the biggest points of the free seminar. When it came down to them asking us about joining classes, it was absolutely nothing like what I thought it would be like.

They were very courteous and used zero pressure. The classes are quite expensive ($5999 for the basic 7 day class and upwards from there). They basically said, if you can't jump into this thing with both feet, then the class was not right for me. Now I don't know what they tell some of those other people, but I do tend to put off a "vibe" that says I'm not buying anything. But some of the people in that class looked like they were in trouble and desperate for help before anyone said a word to them. If they are already down and out, it's a bit easier to persuade them into almost anything if you make it sound good enough.

Anyway, to sum it up - I won't be taking the classes just because of the pricetag on them, but the people here in Dallas were nothing but polite and seemed knowlegeable. The classes that were going on there while our free seminar was going on were completely full, so the sold out tag on their site was right on. As far as i could tell, it seemed like a completely viable way to learn how to trade, provided you already had quite a bit of money to toss around.
 
Quote from AM Bankus: That's it. Very comphrehensive. Wow. I'm impressed.
More...
What do you want to know about my trading plan? It identifies my specific objectives. Gives me a method of scanning for stocks to trade. There is a list of technical criteria that must be met before a stock will be traded. Entries, exits and position size are determined based on those criteria.

The plan also includes how much risk I will take, maximum size of any trade, what size of losses I will endure before I quit trading for the day, week or month, along with what trading platform I use, what accounts I will trade with what broker, what to do in case my system goes down.

In short it’s a trading manual. I wrote it so that a teenager could understand it and if followed correctly would probably make money while protecting the capital in the account. It would be of no use to you because we have different beliefs of how the market works.
 
Quote from AM Bankus:
* What size trades do you place? If any.
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Dog replied:I usually risk 1% of my trading capital on each trade.


AM Bankus reply: 1% of what? You are being very vague here
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Sorry about that. I don’t feel that my account size or net worth adds anything to the discussion. I could give you a number but you probably wouldn’t believe me.

AM Bankus reply: That is a bad strategy to let your winners run.
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I make 80% of my money on 20% of my trades. One good winner makes up for a lot of losers. I sell when the plan tells me to. There’s always a chance that the afterhours news will cause the stock to open much higher.

Taking $5000 to just under a mil is an amazing feat. Congratulations!! You are probably in the top 1% of traders in the world. You should start a trading school. :D
 
Quote from deaddog:


In short it�s a trading manual. I wrote it so that a teenager could understand it and if followed correctly would probably make money while protecting the capital in the account.
More...

How about sharing it with some newbs? :D
 
Quote from dolemitettu:

How about sharing it with some newbs? :D
More...

It wouldn't do you any good. You wouldn't trust it. If you want to build your own I'll help.
 
Kinda wrote..

Anyway, to sum it up - I won't be taking the classes just because of the pricetag on them, but the people here in Dallas were nothing but polite and seemed knowlegeable. The classes that were going on there while our free seminar was going on were completely full, so the sold out tag on their site was right on. As far as i could tell, it seemed like a completely viable way to learn how to trade, provided you already had quite a bit of money to toss around.

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Your comments are regarding OTA in Dallas. Mine were directed at the Orlando center. This may suprise you, but in meetup groups I have had people tell me that the best OTA facity is in Dallas. That they are kind and professional and actually have real traders.

Please note that my comments and complaints are NOT against OTA per se, btw specifically regarding the Orlando office which totally lacks any resemblance of professionalism or customer courtesy
 
Dead dog wrote....

Quote from AM Bankus:
* What size trades do you place? If any.
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Dog replied:I usually risk 1% of my trading capital on each trade.


AM Bankus reply: 1% of what? You are being very vague here
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Sorry about that. I don’t feel that my account size or net worth adds anything to the discussion. I could give you a number but you probably wouldn’t believe me.


AM Bankus replies. I beleive it does.


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AM Bankus reply: That is a bad strategy to let your winners run.
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I make 80% of my money on 20% of my trades. One good winner makes up for a lot of losers. I sell when the plan tells me to. There’s always a chance that the afterhours news will cause the stock to open much higher.

Taking $5000 to just under a mil is an amazing feat. Congratulations!! You are probably in the top 1% of traders in the world. You should start a trading school.

AM Bankus replies. 80% of what? How much? One good winner makes up for a lot of losers? Really? It depends on how much you make on that one big winner and how much you lose on the losers.

Yeah there is always a chance that the stock will open high if there is good after hours news and there is always a chance you can win big with a lotto ticket too. About 1 in a million. I don't like those chances.

Top 1% of traders in the world? Really? What formula did you use to determine that? C'mon I want to know. And no I won't open a trading school. Real traders trade and have a lifestyle, don't make money off the naive.

"Those who can do. Those who can't teach."
 
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