Some people "attack" people who speak positively about this stuff is because alot of the Investool/Wizetrade fans on ET are actually employees of these companies posing as regular investors. Notice how few posts they have in total? Also, alot of people have been seriously burned by this garbage and KNOW it doesn't work. I bought this stuff a few years back, and can tell you it's total garbage. But that's not only my opinion, but also the opinon of thousands of others. Forget ET. Just do a google search like a poster said, and so for yourself that the vast majority of the opinions about these systems are negative. How long have you used Investools?
l was accused of being an Investools employee on another thread because I, also, had so few posts. The reason for that is, like most newbies, I had little to contribute! The person who created the thread was upset that she and I were treated that way, and she took our conversation to private messaging and removed her thread from EliteTrader. I've been an Investools student for about two months, and the combination of Fundamentals and technical analysis does seem to work. I didn't pay enough attention to Portfolio Management at first, (it's not as "sexy" as buying and selling) but it's in their Stocks (first) class. Before plunking down $1K with them, I did due diligence. 1. A colleague recommended Investools to me. 2. I attended an Investools free workshop. 3. I looked at other web sites recommended on Elite Trader and could not find anything remotely like Investools' searches or Industry Rotations. 4. I attended a competitor's free seminar (it was sleazy!) 5. I took the complete Investools online Stocks class before the last day to cancel (end of 1st day of the in-person class). 6. I went to an OC Investools club meeting and asked their members; some had been using Investools for years, and they were very enthusiastic. Many Ph.D. students there. But - it's like a diet - it only works if you can stick with it. Not every dieter can follow the discipline of every dieting method. (I can do Dr. Atkins but not Weight Watchers). Not every trader can follow the discipline of every trading method. You have to pick the one that's right for you. Which method did you buy?
Most of the Investools items on ebay are illegal copies. This is true of the Malaysia sellers and most of the USA and Canada sellers that make their auctions "private" so you can't do a search of completed items and see that they've sold the exact same item over and over. I won't knowingly buy illegal copies. If you don't want to either, keep putting the Investools items that interest you on your watch list for a month, and you'll get to see who is selling the same item over and over, before you bid. The Ph.D. program is pricey, but I'm glad I spent $1K on the stocks course because it gets me the tools.
ClearStation (sponsored by eTrade) is free and has a lot of training materials. http://clearstation.etrade.com/cgi-bin/content_stox The Options Industry Council has free workshops in various parts of the country. http://www.888options.com/seminars/ I do some online trading at ThinkOrSwim and may switch completely over from etrade. ToS is one of the least expensive and they have good online trading software for your computer, palm, phone... or you can use their web-based trading platform. You can papertrade there, and I've had good experience with their customer service too. plus they sent me a free monkey when I signed up
I attended the 2-day stocks course last weekend in McLean, Va. We had an excellent presenter. At the end, those of us who did not sign up for further (expensive classes/mentorship), received for several hundred dollars, 6 months worth of the stocks trading rooms on the investools website. I did sign up. This lets me watch live (or view archives) an experienced trader making his trades and explaining why and answering live questions. I haven't done this yet, but plan to. I did buy several books recommended by the instructor and by people on this thread; some overlap there (Alexander Elder). It was made clear to us that we should practice with a paper trade account first, read, follow the news, study our manuals, etc. and only risk money we can afford to lose, and not to put more than 10% of our trading account on any one stock or option. In the freebie seminar and in the 2-day $999 one (where lunch was not provided!), both presenters liked options more than stocks. I am not an Investools employee. I am 51 years old, with no experience in the stock market. I would like to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible, so I do appreciate the books and web sites recommended here. I don't think you can just assume anyone with something positive to say is an employee of the co. I do strongly believe that the quality of the presenter is of enormous impact. A doctor came to day 2 (he had attended both days last year with another instructor) He said that this instructor (Darren Kimoto) was much better. There were several people, this doctor included, who were already investing and who had never placed a stop-loss order. For those people, that alone probably justifies the cost of the seminar.
Hi Shiloh, I did not buy the trading room because the way it was presented to us, it would be "watch me search for stocks on Monday, qualify them on Tuesday..." etc., with a different type of activity each day of the week, and I'm already good at searching and qualifying. I'd be interested to hear your evaluation of the trading room after you've observed it. Maybe it is something I should do. I'd also like to know how much weight your instructors said to give to insider trading. The freebie instructor said it was important. The $1K instructor said not to pay attention to insider trading because it was already factored into the price. The online course says to pay attention to insider buying and to pay attention when insider selling isn't just due to the taxable event of exercising an option. Neither instructor mentioned the institutional investing part of the insider trading screen (how much have they bought in the past three months vs how much they've sold). The online course doesn't mention that either. Seems to me it would be important but then I'm a newbie so what do I know... BTW I was born in Va.
OK - so I got interested in Investools after a pitch from Phil Town I make it a rule (sometimes broken) NEVER to buy anything the day it is pitched to me. The reason is simple: Sales 101 says 'create a sense of urgency in the buyer' Buying 1010 says 'if its a good deal today it will be a good deal tomorrow. go do some research and buy it tomorrow if it still sounds good' so this time I broke it because I believe it has potential........... I handed them a credit card and signed up for the 2 day live course at 995 bucks To their credit - they have not posted a transaction to my credit card as of today 10/13/07 --- so they get points for living up to their word I will attend the 2 day seminar on 10/18 and 10/19 I will offer my observations of the usefulness of this stuff as I take the classes Disclaimer: I am not a knowledgable trader (though I would like to become one) I make money when I make contributions to my 401k and forget about them I lose money when I actively trade conclusion: I don't know what the hell Im doing so an educational seminar makes sense to me if it comes with access to some tools ----- reasoning: the class cost 995 bucks last week I took my wife to NY and she got a hair cut and bought 2 pairs of shoes --- and that cost 1000 bucks so whats the big deal?
several folks have mentioned that you can get most or all of what you can get from investools from other web sites - at lower cost anyone got a list? thanks
SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!! The tools investools promises to offer are a joke green arrow=buy, red arrow=sell... Start your educational journey through books. To follow are a few examples: How to trade in stocks, Jessie Livermore Reminiscences of a stock operator, Edwin LeFevre Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets, John J. Murphy Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns, Thomas M. Bulkowski Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques, Steve Nison The Candlestick Course, Steve Nison view the ET book reviews for many additional tiltes, If you want to experience Investools, you can find "used" course material on eBay, the basic stock course... $99 training manual and dvds $400-$500 the entire PHD course. basic stocks, options and advanced options... again, all you need to know to start can be found in a few good books, but if you feel you must try investools, you can do it for less than 5% of Investools price... Good luck
---------- Hi MGabriel01, There are well-meaning people who'll tell you that you can get the same tools on other web sites, but I've looked diligently (both before and after I plunked down $1K for the Investools course in June) and haven't found anything close. Other well-intentioned people who aren't actually using the Investools website will tell you that buying copies of Investools CDs and books on ebay will give you the Investools tools - but it won't. Investools Books and CDs will give you old Investools classes, not Investools tools. The tools are on their web site, not on their CDs or in their books. I know because I plunked down another $1K for a legal/ set on ebay after a long time of watching items to see which sellers sell the same items over and over, and asking sellers whether the CDs have security holograms, so I could be sure that the set I bought was legal. (Those CDs and books - yes, even the books - are mostly illegal copies). The Investools Big Chart is updated daily/ on their web site and isn't available anywhere else. Believe me, I've tried to find a substitute. The Big Chart, stock valuation tool, insider trading information, searches, and other research tools continue to be worth $30 a month to me. Finish the online class to learn how to use the website tools before you do the in-person class, so you'll have time to make up your mind about their web site before the end of the first day of the in-person class. (I believe that's the last day to cancel). Be aware that they're going to try to HARD-SELL you in the in-person class, which is why I prefer the online class, but you'll learn stuff in the in-person class too. Good luck!