What I can say for certain is that he is a profitable teacher. The 'ok' part requires a survey of his suckers, make that his students. Mark
I may be able to explain the difference in his income and wealth figures. (Just an educated guess, no inside info.) My guess is that he divested himself of all assets years ago. So he moved the money into trusts or corporations which he may control or trade for, but he himself has almost no personal assets. It's a common way to avoid losing assets in a divorce or to a creditor. So far as his income goes, he probably makes hardly anything --- for the same reasons. Optionetics owns his house, he pays a nominal rent. They own the car since he's an employee. Food? Entertainment? All charged to the company. So if he's sued or gets divorced, there's almost nothing they can get their hands on.
I think I remember reading about this guy in this book called "Swing Trading" and he was driving lambos around Miami. Interesting article.
George Fontanills , ROFL what a guy. I had lunch with George Angell in mid 1990's, I asked him how he got so screwed by Fontanills. Many people didn't care much with George Angell, but one thing about him, if you bought some software or a book from him and didn't like it, he would refund you all your money, class guy. So one day old George meets with Fontanills on putting together an option course/seminar, Fontanills raves how good he was with options, so George takes him at his word. They start peddling, money starts rolling in, then requests for refund soon follow, guess what happens next, Angell is left holding the bag. I have had a few conversations with Fontanills in 90's, always reminded me of a used car dealer. I don't know if his material works or not, but if you are going to pay anything more than a few hundred bucks for something, ask any vendor for his brokerage statements, but you better have a huge garbage bag for all the rejections and they change their language and get all snotty at you. If you are going to the doctors office and a roomfull of patients are waiting to see the doctor, chances are he practices medicine, but if you are going to pay someone a few grand, don't you want to know if the mentor is trading? Wow, all the old farts I have seen thru the years, I knew them when they were young...you never see yourself as getting older, LOL. Time to take my Geritol
See, there you go, if you are going to sell something expensive, you should have brokerage statements to back up the advertising. But so many get sucked into the hype and delusions that making money is a cakewalk, they don't ask. Yep, Angell LSS was taken from Douglas Taylor's manual, which is a very tough read, some people who trade are not the best of authors. Nofri's "Congestion Phase" written I think in mid 70's, I believe was also like the LSS method but made for congestion, Nofri's book was geared more for trading grains, I never tested it on Indexes, and of course Crabel's book had also to a degree of so many downcloses in a row waiting for a reversal. It is like everything else, one guy writes a book on it way back when, and tons of people make new names for a rehash of the same thing. They got that funny commercial on TV right now of a couple at a restraurant, the gal is asking a ton of questions about the food with the waiter, then they cut away to her being with the doctor and she asks no questions.......Too many ask questions of how much can they make instead of asking "Do you trade this", how far back did you backtest this and how was backtesting done, what is drawdown in money and not % and how long to making new equity highs, what is max losing trades in a row. How long after backtesting did you start trading this, the hard questions.
Why should it be this way?! Would you buy a car that didn't work, or a computer, or an ipod? And in case such items don't work consumers expect warranties to ensure the items work or it will be fixed, or their money refunded. Why should anyone spend money, much less thousands on trading education without a clue of whether the author or his strategies were ever successful? I suppose many do because they are desperate for answers and there are many that will happily take advantage of such people. Tim Sykes has been leading the call for transparency in trading, by amateurs and pro's. I don't really get why he thinks individuals should share their live trading results but I think professionals looking to sell their education or services should, and as more do those that don't will be left behind. At least that's the way I think it should be.
Why do people buy lottery tickets or fall for Ponzi schemes? Why do we have so many lawyers? Why is the sky blue ??? ...bait and switch, bridges for sale, swampland in Florida, three card Monte, and a plethora of other scams and frauds. A lotta people are stupid and get taken A lotta people are smart and get taken by shrewder people. For the majority, investing/trading is hard work and it's not for those who want instant gratification.
I find it funny Timmy Sykes is paving the way for transparency in trading records especially since he still hasn't disclosed how his ARNA short went after it spiked up on FDA news about 4-6 months ago. I believe he was forced to close out his short at a significant loss. I've got nothing against Mr. Sykes, just find it funny that he's beating the drum for this cause. Regardless I do believe if you offer mentor services you should produce some sort of a track record if your students request it. That being said, just because someone was a good player doesn't mean he'll be a great coach (the reverse holds true too).