Yeah this part I don't get. Most guys who make money selling trading courses etc. don't have a high paying career to fall back on.
There's generally more to stories like this. I never heard of the guy except on here. He certainly isn't even in the minor leagues when it comes to vendors.
It's possible he could have been a profitable trader at one point. It appears he is now a vendor and retired trader. This makes sense since his teachings are more descriptive of the price-action of 5-minute charts from 10-20 years ago than current PA.
During the California gold rush the people that made the most money weren't the miners themselves but the vendors selling picks and shovels to the miners.
I may have misunderstood your original point. I thought the crux of it was: Points: Al Brook's suggestion is reasonable; the market is not as random as you seem to suggest; because it is not random, it can be exploited; something about trend, S/R and context; something about backtesting; ... ... Fuck it. I'm just gonna summon @NoDoji - she's much better at this. Does anyone know the summoning ritual?
LOL..... You have to use a common sense approach to people like him. If what he was teaching was so valuable he wouldn't be hiding out in obscurity living in an (allegedly) cheap house. Think of top sports camps..... expensive, fierce competition for limited openings, and taught by people with industry respect and a proven history of successful coaching. All these guys like Brooks who are out there on the internet, no track record of success to show, no successful students to show, and charging peanuts and taking in anyone and everyone..... LOL Is there value in what he teaches? I can't say as I haven't bought any products from him, just watched a few youtube vids. But you still have to realize what you're most likely dealing with.... a guy with a lot of ideas about trading but probably making little or no money off any of it.
He has 3 daughters, 1 is at Stanford another at Harvard. I believe the cost to attend these fine institutions is a fair penny. He therefore must be making some money from the markets since he only charges peanuts for his books and courses.
Red herrings and appeal to patriarchy. there's no reason to believe Brooks covers Ivy League educational costs from his day-trading profits. Brooks' books are some of the most expensive books to buy new on the subject of day trading, the entire content could easily fit into one book without the excessive amount of hard-to-follow charts and chart commentary, although that would cost less. Brooks' course is $250-$499, books cost $60, webinars cost $99, trader's expos pay thousands as well. In order to make a living as a day-trader, where his profits from vendoring are miniscule, he would have to make, roughly, $500,000 per year day trading the ES. I am not aware of anyone who makes that much per year day trading the ES off of 5-minute candlestick signal bars.