Wow, I feel like I need to get a sign and stand outside of the hotel and warn attendees!!
It appears that the money-back guarantee is now only good until the day of the training class - in this case the 28th - 10 days.
What can I say about the presentation - as is always the case with these things - they make a compelling pitch. I became skeptical before it started however when I realized they weren't even opening the doors to allow you to be seated until after the market closed - why is that I wondered if you are touting a trading program?? Hmmm...
Anyway, needless to say I did not bite - I decided to do some due-dilligence work first - and thus I am here!
I did find it interesting that the presenter - Bob Moore (I believe), offered to "look at 5 stocks from the audience" I was the first chosen and asked to look at Safeco (SAFC). Of course the chart seemed pretty straight forward (since the market was closed). I would love to have seen it during market hours.
I saw a similar presentation (very sad to say) at a Peter Lowe Success Forum. The presenter was one of many on the agenda. This was at Key Arena - probably ten thousand attendees. The pitch was that there was "no risk - we won't even charge your card until after you attend the multi-day training session - coming soon to your area - then and only then will we charge your card for $995.00". There must have been at least 2,000 people who went down front to fill out a form (which included their credit-card info!) in order to pick up the (not WizeTrade) software. Wow - do the math on that one! And of course, "I only want to pass on what I've learned...." was the mantra. Yeah, me too for two million dollars!
As these guys are not licensed nor subject to disciplinary action or oversight by ANY regulatory agency, they can pretty-much say anything they want and there are no consequences (to them anyway).
I am a financial advisor and have been for about 14 years. I attended the seminar (sales pitch) this afternoon, as I like to investigate this sort of stuff so I can warn clients when they ask about them. If I made some of the claims made during these presentations, I would probably be having lunch with Martha!
Well, my take (which will be no surprise to those here I am sure) is that you can do as well or perhaps even better just buying good companies, PAYING ATTENTION TO THEM, have a strategy and a specific goal, exercise discipline, and stick to the plan. My clients are up 15% (typically) for 2004 (beating the S&P by about 3%) and we only bought 7 mutual funds (the exact same ones for all of them, albeit in different percentages of their portfolios depending on their objectives and risk tolerance). We did no trading other than the initial buys. We did the trades with no transaction costs, only a management fee. They are happy, I am happy. Two of my clients have variable annuities and they are up over 20% for '04. No brain damage, no stress. Just good ol' fashioned investing.
Anyway, just thought I'd throw in my two-cents. The software seems WAY overpriced for what it does, and for most people would probably prove to be EXTREMELY expensive at the end of the (trading) day. Glad I didn't see any clients there!
PLEASE - I did not post here to start a debate about the merits of active trading - I am certainly no expert in that area, I am sure many here could make a compelling case using their own experiences. I do financial planning and long-term investment management. If clients want to actively trade, I tell them they'd be happier working with somebody else!
By the way, there were only about 30 people in the room, and this was in the Seattle area - is that the normal size group for this sales presentation - or are people just smarter out here??
