It's not really that difficult or expensive to provide an unaudited statement of trading account results. Yet almost all vendors want you to spend your money without providing performance results. I don't think their personal privacy is the isuue here. So is that too much to ask when vendors are touting their goods? Very few of these vendors look credible to me.
I've gotten a lot of pm's because of my earlier post (please stop) LOL. So I thought I would just post some books that I found to be the best for a SOLID foundation/education in trading. Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets - John Murphy Trading to win - Ari Keiv Market Wizard - Schwagar Rem of a stock operator - Lefever Read these cover to cover twice they will give you a good start and they may be enough for some of you if you have natural talent. Personally I believe you will need more then just this alone and a GOOD mentor will help tremendously but not always necessary.
Hello: Just for the record, I think EVERYONE'S privacy is important. Not just vendors. Personally I am not willing to let others know the details of my trading, and if I were going to be in that business, it would be by reference only. It seems to me that there is a high positive corellation between newbies who want to see a vendors trading records, and the high failure rate for new traders. I attribute this to the fact that many new traders (and many "civilians" for that matter) simply don't know how to evaluate vendor services. In addition, many arent willing to get off their ass and investigate references. Its just pure laziness. Then when things don't work out, these are the same people who seem to yell the loudest, that they have been taken advantage of. In my opinion, this is why scam artists are able to make a living. Thanks, Lefty
no one is asking you for your records Lefty, because you are not selling anything, least of all a trading course.
I think the only thing that's held me back from making a killing on the seminar market is that I just can't bring myself to believe people can really be so stupid that they shell out thousands of dollars on seminars. It's funny -- I know it is true and it is happening (people are going to these seminars), but I just keep thinking people are going to wake up and realize what a complete rip off it is. (But noooo -- people keep going!) I mean, take someone like Van Tharp. You can get his book for $50 or whatever, even let's say $100. Or you can get less information at his seminar for $4000. And economists tell us people act rationally. Having said that, I think chatroom type operations could probably be somewhat helpful to complete newbies. You know, someone who's bought the books, done his homework, but is still extremely green. He could probably use the guidance of a reputable chatroom operator. No, that, in and of itself, won't make him profitable (no matter what the operator claims), but it could potentially save him from making some very costly mistakes and slightly cut down on his learning curve. What are chatrooms going for these days? Couple hundred a month? Do that for three to six months and it's a lot more value for money than attending a seminar or "boot camp". (Don't get me wrong -- I'm very, very anti-chatroooms, and anti all trading vendors, but a good chatroom that doesn't make absurdly wild claims (they all make at least mildly wild claims) probably does have its place for complete newbs.)
The reason I asked is that I am considering writing a trading course. There seems to be a lot of crap out there written by people who don't trade so I think there is a market for good solid information written by someone with the performance to back it up. I wouldn't want to provide 5 years of brokerage statements and was thinking of getting my accountant to audit it and provide a summary letter stating each year's % returns. This would allow me to retain some privacy in terms of $ made whilst still providing evidence of performance. If you were thinking of purchasing a course, would you consider an accountant's letter as sufficient proof of the vendor's trading ability?
Look.... There are no excuses not to provide exactly what happened.... These are statements... If someone cannot provide...what every brokerage account provides.... Then this is just another typical vendor... No excuses...
Don't be fooled by statements ... they mean NOTHING. I can show you 4 months in a row last year with average profits of 10k per month on a 20k account but that would not show my net result for the year. If someone wants to scam you they will the best you can do is just use common sense and listen to your intuition NOT what you WANT to hear. In every case that I was scammed there was a red flag but I ignored it and made excuses for it but it was always there.
Samson: I agree with you and applaud your honesty. You "ignored the red flags". I have done the same. The problem is many new traders make a career of it. Listen to the attitude of Libertad's post. You can just about see some little kid standing in the middle of his parent's livingroom stomping his feet on the floor. "no excuse..blah blah blah... This is what I am talking about. Adults research and check out references. In every other business, that is how it is done. You ask for references and talk to people who have used the service you are considering. For the rest, my comment is grow up, quite whining, act like an adult. Thank you, Lefty