For over 20 years, I've long said about trading gurus & educators: "if they can't prove they trade, it's just charade" And yet virtually no educators other than myself and a few others show PnL proof of recent trades.... they're mostly bs posers and marketers. I'm convinced that many of you would be much better at teaching than the name brand educators, because you have genuine experience. I'm honestly at a loss to understand why tf would anyone spend any money on courses or chatrooms by my competitors, given most have no tax return or PnL proof that they actually trade real money accounts? I believe there should be some requirement that educators be required to prove they are real traders with at least 1 profitable year, like me. Not posers, which unfortunately I honestly believe are most of them. I'm glad to see recent ftc/sec/cftc enforcement actions (thx emmett). But help me understand..... why don't retail traders think to require proof that educators are real money competent traders? Boggles the mind, big elephant in the room. Seriously, many of you would imho be much more capable of teaching than the full time poser educators. And why would anyone believe YouTube videos from scammer educators claiming to make $20,000+ a day? Caveat emptor Coming from a corporate background (I was a statistician for Ford) it's puzzling to me why an industry populated by non-authentic people is allowed to exist.
I'm going to be unpopular by respectfully disagreeing. To me, the purpose of the educator or mentor is to teach a process. To teach a skill and for the trader to take that knowledge and fit that to his/her risk tolerance and account size. A tennis coach does not have to be a top player to teach skills. I think this is no different.
I agree with your point. However, using the same analogy, what I think @KCalhoun is actually saying is that the "tennis coaches claim to currently be award-winning top players, AT THE SAME TIME, they are coaching". They also claim all these trophies, but you cannot find a record of a single win, proving the "trophy". They are coaching, while playing a top game, and being a top player, ALL at the same time. That's one bizarre coach!
An educator can know perfectly how to trade, but not being able to trade himself because of various reasons. Emotional, psychological, mental, or stress problems are a few of the possible causes why he does not trade himself.
Ken, you mean well and this is a legit question. But the perception of something is just as important as the actual proof. Not to shit on you but many times you have been criticized of trading odd lots in a small account. Consider what a prospective customer thinks when they see your +$500 day vs someone else making $20000 a day even if you have proof and the other doesn't.
A tennis coach does not pretend to have won the Wimbledon but a ton of educators claim to have millions in profits! Some of them don't even trade live and teach a useless process.
I am always curious why a winning trader wastes time to teach instead of making millions from the mkt directly.
The only person I know of that had such a condition was Navinder Singh and he was restricted by law from trading.
To add more comment, I have met many great traders that have gotten very rich. I was on the AMEX for 25 years. Some of the best traders had no idea how to convey what made them take on risk or exit. They simply can't teach.
Well, if they can't prove they constancy make money, it is just charade. But hey, if they really make money and not just pocket money, why do they try so hard to make a living from teaching? I also think you mean well Ken and I agree with Robert on this one: Teaching a process is definitely a possibility in this business. Unfortunately, [almost] no Teacher will ever say "I know all the theories, I am a great teacher, and I will teach you everything except how to win big consistency, because at the end , this is an art and I am just a good teacher, not an artist." One could ever add: "I trade every day, and at the end of the year I am a winner and best of all I am a good teacher not a marketer" On a more personal note, I am a poor teacher Best!