What type of moron spends $ 6K on a trading system and then only puts up $ 2.5K as trading capital? If you really thought that it was good enough to spend $ 6K on it you would use it to trade big $$$. $ 2.5K to $ 8.3K in a year is 232%. If I had a trading system that generated annual returns of 232% I wouldn't even consider selling it. With annual returns of 232% I'd be running the world's top hedge fund and making hundreds of millions of $$$ and not a paltry $ 6K for selling a system.
No it is not dumb. It is a very clever marketing technique. The "forbidden fruit" and word of mouth marketing technique worked very well for Bernie Madoff to suck billions of dollars into his Ponzi scheme.
I just got a call from them. Searched and found this thread. Some guy basically said "hi, we're calling you because you've expressed interest in automated trading." I said "no I haven't. I don't even know who CTI is." He immediately jumped into a sales pitch about "automated e-mini systems that do very well." I was like uh, ok. He kept asking me what kind of trading I do and what kind of returns I get. "what returns are you getting?" "oh yeah, what kind of returns have you been getting?" Blah blah. It was obviously a high pressure sales call. No idea who they got my info from. I only have accounts with Scottrade and OEC. Ever since I signed up with Scottrade I've been getting some shit in the mail (snail mail) every few months about joining some investors club. So maybe they sold my phone number to CTI. A Google search reveals that they're a scammy sales company: http://www.ripoffreport.com/Brokera...-LLC/cti-group-llc-cti-group-tradin-f44c8.htm
Quote from jimr418: REWORDED FOR ACCURACY. I AM a shill for this company, I assure you. In December '08 I finally listened to their pitch and I was actually impressed. I found no complaints, no lawsuits, nothing negative. I invested 8,500. 6k for their system and 2,500 for the emini contract. I let it compound 100% and in 12 months my 2,500 initial investment had grown to a little over $8,300. The nice thing is that I don't have to do anything. It is all handled for me. I just check my statements. There were a couple of months I lost, but 10 out of 12 months it did well and I was pleased with the return. I totally get the skepticism that people have about something like this. I am the same way. But I have to say that this company and this trading system are actually o.k. and I would recommend them. The only thing true about the rest of the statement, is that most words were spelled correctly...
Ive been with them less than a year and will keep you posted as to the success of my account. Slippage seems to be the killer in their plan, it consumes about 4 ticks per trade or $50. Next are losses which average $337.50. The smallest expense is commisions at $10 to $20. I'm at the $15 point. They only mention losses, not commisions and slippage. So right off the bat their numbers cant even come close to what they claim. Actual account results are bloated by 50%. I dont think I can even post a gain by the end of the year they require for their guarantee to come into effect. GOD I hope I'm wrong. To their credit though they are showing gains in my account, but nothing like they claim on their web site. Like I said bloated by about 50% easy, mainly due to slippage. The slippage is due to one thing only, they quote trades from their system (computer program) as hypothetical, the reality is when they get executed they are entered as MARKET ORDERS. This gives a bad fill or slippage. Their broker said if they used LIMIT ORDERS you may not get filled at all. They trade about 50 times a year, with a slippage of $50 per trade thats $2500 lost, or slipped. Their brokers tried to say slippage goes both ways for and against but I havent seen it go in my favour. They may be trying to protect a lucrative account that scams the account holder Im not sure yet. They run a tight ship whether they are trying to protect their lies or system I dont know yet. They dont use conservative accounting methods like my other automated trading system does. But when I asked about the huge differences in their posting and my account they, Mark Bishop general manager, said that it will work out and I should see my money back in 6 munths... I'm trying to contact jimr418 about his 2 years of experience, of which he is mostly correct if he is an insider and uses their generated numbers. 2008 was a great year according to CTI with only 1 month losing. Gross for 2008 was their best year with $7762.40 and 1 down month. 2009 was their worst with gross of $4012.50 and one down month. Logging into their web site will not show their true trades. They seem to appeal to your greed, but reality, namely slippage and commisions and losses soon happen. If you need to know their login information contact me and I will tell you, as well as any other information I may have.
Aurora, I am probably at the same point you were a while ago. Got a call to "offer me this no risk guaranteed test out opportunity" I am intrigued but ( hopefully) not stupid. Part of my due diligence is searching this site Elite Trader and simialr sources. YOur comment about slippage and market orders is VERY interesting and got me thinking some more. If slippage is already a problem with a small account as CTI recommends of only 2500, I imagine it must be a major problem when (AND IF) you were to ramp up the accoiunt size to something more meaningful. The rates of return referred to by CTI are in my opinion the worst part of their sales pitch since they simply are not creible PERIOD, but even lower returns , if already lower because of slippage may become MUCH lower if you were to try to make seriosu money. Given where I am at this time, not yet having agreed to anything, if YOU had to do it all over again and make the decision to start with them , but know ing what you know now, would you emabrk on this adventure or are you basically trying to compelte the eyar to try it out and collect under the guarantee? Quick response appreciated
BLUK, II own 2 systems, one from platinumtradingsolutions.com and the other from CTI. I thought daytrading was a good way to make money but went the route of system trading due to inexperience. CTI made 48% in 2009 when others like platinum lost 20%, in 2008 they made 168% when platinum made 330%. CTI is less transparent, they walk the fine line and smudge it to their advantage. They are sales people trying to make a living and most likey dont own the system themselves. CTI is more flexible and requires a smaller account but they trade infrequently also. You can trade 5 contracts or 1 contract per $2500, platinum says 1 per $15000. Would I do it again? Currently CTI is in a draw down, I went from up 9% to down 32% in 2 weeks.. But platinum was almost just as bad and now they are performing great, up 21% in less than 8 months. Honestly I have the money and like two distinct systems that trade indexes, so YES I`m glad I have them both. The tax advantages are there also 50-50 in Canada and 60-40 in the US. That is 50% tax free and the other 50% taxed normally.
The reality of owning an index trading system for me has been the ups and downs of an automated trading system. Its like a roller coaster, with few ups and lots of downs. It took several months to go up to 9%, then several weeks to drop down to -32% were it stands today. If BOOMER does not finish the year with at least a gain of $2500 per unit, then it will be a negative year for me. The system will have generated $2500 in profits, but those go to slippage and commissions. Anything after $2500 is profit for me the account holder. In summary a return of 100% or $2500 for the system translates into a return of nothing for the customer. That is a tax write off only, and can be used to reduce taxes on any earnings in the next year, if there are any. In other words you buy BOOMER or any other trading system for the long term, because the salespeople are nice and they sold you a great product. If you are convinced of that then BOOMER or any other system is for you. Other wise the ride does get a little nauseous.