Just stumbled on this thread. T-Dog, are there others whose methods you prefer more than Fishers ACD? Who are they, if I may ask?
Are all trading courses scams? Well, hell, these courses probably make people happy. They feel swollen again with new and refreshed daydreaming of money or of fortune. Will any of them do other than fail? Once they have jacked away some of their money on trading, if even they start trading, they collide with the real world. They just go back to their station in life.
Having attended a number of seminars since, April 2005----I can say that not every one is the same as far as value is concerned. Some seminars are worthless, some will give you ideas to use and profit from. In the last Traders Expo in Vegas last December 2005, I like Oliver Velez because I found some of his information useful. Fact is some trades made me money. Others like Price Headley was a huge sales pitch right from the start and people started leaving not long after it started. David Nassar, gave me insight into reading the charts correctly and accurately. The thing is if you do attend these traders expos----you have to have a rudimentary understanding of what the traders are saying. My friend who has not devoted as much time as I have in studying had a hard time absorbing those new but, important ideas. One thing that sticks to my mind is what one trader said in one of those seminars (don't even remember who)----you have to develop your own style. Each person will trade differently which seems pretty logical. We all have our biases and will trade differently even if we all had the same education. In addition to the seminars, I have bought a lot of books recommended on ET and elsewhere and read up as well as watch DVDs of traders. Again, not everything you learn----you will use as I tell my friend who also trades. The problem with various sources of information is you have a hodge podge and can have "information overload". I try to pick the ones I feel will improve my trading and incorporate it in the way I trade. I know I have a long way to go but, am determined to give it my best effort. Atleast, if I fail in my quest----I know I gave it my best shot!!! If I succeed then, so much the better!!!
I can honestly say I got some ideas from Oliver Velez as well. Again, I'm not saying I learned to trade the "Pristine" way or anything like that -- but I was able to use some concepts in developing my own strategy. Keep in mind I didn't fork over major $$ either. I think I paid $50 or so once or twice for a few online courses and maybe a video/audio or two.
OK thought about posting my experience with LBR (Linda Raschke) and a little background to my own development. I drifted around unprofitably for quite a while (i.e. years), studying everything under the sun and really trying to work Woodie's CCI system. I think I hung in there (with Woodies system) for 16 months or longer but I could never make it work. I probably would have totally blown out if it wouldn't have been for various hard stops I had in place (something I got from Alexander Elder, e.g. if account is down 20% then close down for the rest of the month, etc..). Then I came across LBR. I signed up for her trial and copied everything I found on her website. I had brain overload. I then signed up for the futures live chat, and there were some days where they were just unbelievably good. That had me convinced and so I signed up for her annual 3 day seminar which happened to be 6 weeks later. I had never paid for a seminar like that and therefore this was a very difficult decision to make. I could only justify this by making a business plan, budget, etc. - and off I went to her seminar. I got a lot out of it. She was talking practical trading, how to get over fears, how to learn to execute correctly, how to get back from a slump, charts, charts, charts, - she said many things which were contrary of what I had heard or read before. In short, it was a total eye opener. At the same time I realized that I alreayd knew quite a lot. "So this is it", I remember thinking to myself. After the seminar, I hit the books even more, but also turned quite conservative, and the first month came through with a 100% win/loss ratio. Of course, as soon I started bragging about that I started to loose. I caught myself again, turned profitably again, and then I hit my next extended drawdown. Markets had changed, and I was starting to trade all over the board. I got really depressed. LBR's chat was not helping me either. They started getting whipsawed a bit as well and my trades always had worse execution than theirs did. Their 3 tick loser would be a 6 tick loser in my book. So I switched the chat off but stuck with their system. I turned profitable again. I had my biggest favorable excursion in equity ever. Wow. And then I blew it again, as I started trading all over the board again. I have basically switched their chat off since, but I read it at the end of the day. I use the transcripts for education. And what an education it has been. Ever since I first switched off the chat I have been more or less profitble. This is not a criticism of their chat. It just is that the chat would make me nervous and I would hit those programmed F-keys way too fast. Her system is not easy at first - but now it is. I have found my comfort levels. I have enough of a track record to see what kind of profit taking will make me broke in the long run. I have learned to see my psychological limits and when to call a day quits. I know where I need improvement and I work on it daily. All in all I have come up with a profitable trading plan, which I trade daily (and flat is a position as well). I trade 2 patterns. I trade small enough so I can sleep at night. I feel good and it pays the bills. In my business plan I was willing to pay enough for it as I would for starting another business. That included more monthly chat access as I looked at it in the same light as a college course. LBR has given me a way to frame out the market and given me the potential to expand this my liking. This included quite a few 16 hour days of studying, but it works for me and I am happy. I guess I am recommending LBR with the caveat, different strokes for different folks.
Are all trading courses scams? Are any of them scams? None of them are scams, they just target money mad and desparate idiots. There's a niche for everything.
That probably sounds a bit harsh. A person does not need to pay for the information that most courses offer.