Quote from JusJeff:
Pretty much right on!
One thing though, Rob McNabb was the real deal, he was a fantastic intraday scalper, the best I have ever seen. His issue was a past dead legal issue that he was found not guilty of resurfaced in a new light and a different way, which had nothing to do with day trading education other than an embarrassment and a major distraction. In any case he was one fantastic teacher and trader and the trading world is not as wealthy without him teaching new traders how to scalp huge intraday money from the markets. Rob was the most caring passionate teacher.
As far as what's left: Sam Seiden: well, when he did teach classes almost everyday, back in 09 when the bull rally was well underway he kept saying (as well as most other OTA instructors) short the rallies short the rallies. I personally kept buying pullbacks and wondered how he was supposedly making any money then it dawned on me, he must be taking and hiding long positions, basically he was acting as news outlet or a market maker.
The just of it is OTA has always been expensive but Rob, Fernando and Mike where real great traders that cared and were truthful and today OTA has become a watered-down scam if not outright fraudulent. They really should be held accountable but then look what the SEC let Bernie Madoff do.
Stay far far away from OTA!
These guys are on point the Rob Mcnabb....Fernando....and Mike....people left right before I was foolish enough to eventually cave in to the program. I was very new back in '07 when I went to a PTW and was hit with the sales pitch in the middle of the seminar. OTA knows that people expect the pitch to come at the end and people will leave so they attempt to trap you.
The sales process was intense and I told the guy I'm an attorney and I'm not signing up yet. But I was so excited about day trading and forex that I thought it was the real deal and eventually signed up in '09.
I used to watch youtube tapes of Rob Mcnabb and this guy was a real trader but he had left in '08.....I guess I know the reason now. Then Sam Seiden became the top guy and he switched the whole program to his style of trading which is supply and demand swing trading. He doesn't teach the fast paced day trading of Rob Mcnabb because he can't do it.
But to make a long story short I signed up for the Forex onsite class with I think his name is Rick Wright.....he was horrible.....and the class was lack luster. He didn't seem like he wanted to be there and he didn't give off the vibe he was just teaching because he wanted to help.
I eventually signed up for the Forex XLT which was a lot better but it basically focused on supply and demand. I thought I was learning something......Sam Evans is another guy who really trades lives and did pretty well.
Then I signed up for Options and pro-active investing.....and out of the OTA staff.......these are the best of the worst. OTA does a good job of convincing people they need more or it's them......and in some cases a lot of people will never learn to trade. But I was doing the right things and the supply and demand wasn't working.......and then I noticed that one of the students they would have speak at their "all-star sales events" hadn't even started trading live.
I knew then I was done and was ashamed I recommended one of my friends join.....I thought I hadn't just mastered the learning curve. So I wasn't giving OTA anymore of my money and started researching some of the people who work at OTA and a lot of these people have been caught up in scams and some are outright criminals. There didn't used to be a lot of info on OTA on the web when I joined but it's all over the place.
I attended the OTA DC and Baltimore locations. One of the educational counselors which are sales people was named "T" he claimed to be a retired police officer. Well one of the receptionist who was beautiful and used to work there (I eventually slept with her this year.....best thing I got out of OTA was some ass...lol) told me all the little secrets of when she worked there.
Well being a criminal defense attorney and part of a motorcycle club that was basically all U.S. marshals and me the lone attorney they always had events and the big national police party in D.C. And I would talk to him about it and he came off as a pro....boy he was smooth. Well the female tells me he was in Jail now for impersonating a police officer. She tells me to google his name and his picture pops right up.
He had also been convicted I think somewhere in Delaware. But he had stopped a woman and felt her up...she asked for I.D. and he fled but was caught. And this guy was one of there more likable guys. Another guy who was a sales manager was fired from stealing from a customer. They have a new sales manager and crew like every 3-4 months.
Before I tell this last story I would like to say that I am a full-time profitable trader....and I became one when I figured out that technical analysis....fundamental analysis......etc........produces no more better chance of being right than 50/50. The only way to make money and beat the zero sum game is to trade derivatives strategies on top of your assumptions in order to have a better than 50/50 shot. I used to live by stop orders.....they are the dumbest things in the world. There are many ways to extend your duration rather than using stops.
But my last story is that I recently was trying to look up a former instructor at who presented himself as the creme da la creme....and he seemed to fit the build. I won't mention his name out of respect. He said that he used to manage money for the Marriott Family or some hotel...and was a former CBOE and CBOT options trader which he was along with another guy who is the top Options guy at OTA and I took classes from both. He used to be ahead of the Pro-Active Investor Program.
Well he left OTA abruptly at the end of 2010......and he was a smart guy but was very arrogant and rude....didn't care about students.....didn't care about OTA himself.....and many would walk out on him.......but he came off as a Genius so people put up it. Well googled his name to find out about his hedge fund and it came up he was managing $8 million which seem low for a guy who talked like he did. Especially a guy with a Ferrari.
But I googled his name and was shocked to see an obituary and a video with an rip message. It blew my mind........I thought maybe a heart attack or something. Turns out he killed himself with helium. He wrote a letter to his family saying he couldn't deal with his financial issues. I felt saddened that this guy who was presenting this one image was really struggling inside. It appears he wasn't at OTA just because he wanted to help society.
But do not spend your money with this organization and don't believe that you are going to succeed because you read charts. The numbers don't lie.........wall street traders don't know what a stock is going to do any more than you do......it's all 50/50 when you don't use derivatives.