Traders looking for someone to handle their portfolio often ignore a very important aspect of trading. There is a very wide gap between profiting for yourself, and trading OPM. Those who have managed to survive and overcome emotional obstacles in their own trading, will usually find another big hurdle waiting for them when they take on OPM. Once a trader's decisions become public...even if just for 'family and friends'...it can become a whole new ballgame. Its seems obvious that this is what happened here. Neiither the vendor or the client were emotionally prepared for what came their way, and they panicked.
Contrary to common opinion, much of off-exchange forex trading IS regulated, and in those cases, there are standards for disclosure, client suitability, etc. This may be true if the person involved has ANY ties to a registered broker-dealer (many exclusively forex firms do, for hedging purposes, etc.), who then falls under CFTC/NFA regs. They are certainly looser than the rules for exchange traded stuff, which is why they have become the refuge of the unethical/incompetent. Problems have gotten so rampant that everything about the industry is getting much closer scrutiny, and there are now avenues available for complaint and recovery, particularly when an investment or advisor has materially misrepresented himself or his investment program. Some contacts that might be of use here are: CFTC Reparations: 202-418-5250 NFA Forex Complaints: 800-621-3750 The nfa website www.nfa.futures.org also has information on the off-exchange rules, and the information below is from that site: "NFA and the CFTC encourage members of the public to bring to our attention any suspicious activities involving foreign currency investments or suspicious Internet Web sites. Contact NFA's Information Center at 1-800-621-3570 or file a complaint through NFA's Web site. http://www.nfa.futures.org/basicnet/Complaint.aspx Contact the CFTC at 1-866-366-2382, visit the CFTC's Customer Protection Web page www.cftc.gov/cftc/cftccustomer.htm or fill out the CFTC's Report Form www.cftc.gov/enf/enfform.htm " Whether what has happened here is legal or not, it is at the very least unethical, incompetent and reprehensible, and filing a complaint might at least assure that the person involved is not allowed to register in the future, when this off-exchange Forex mess DOES finally get cleaned up. Jessie
Pick up the book market wizards, or look at the Oracle of Omaha himself. Long term returns in the 20 to 30% are what is realistic. If you just keep your account small (under 1million) then larger returns are possible every year, but most people will choose to compound.
================================== i do enjoy your posts --- at least they show a willingness to observe and not just tar and feather. a 4 lot position in a market that turned sour with 10K equity COULD NOT AND SHOULD NOT result in what happened -- but it did, and from everything i see, FXDD seems to repeat this procedure an awful lot. Only as an aside, FXDD appears to carry the highest margin percentage before liquidation that I've seen among brokers. It is impossible to prove, unless you were sitting next to me, what was happening --- as if my trades and positions were being handled by another, although Chris adamantly maintains that he did nothing while hooked up to my trading panel. The brokers service people even hinted that perhaps i had left my work station and my child had come in and closed a trade (no children here, so much for that concept) The last chance that was available was when Chris (rightly or wrongly) closed the account on a currency that is doing just fine for the past few days --- that destroyed what could have begun a nice reversal of fortune, although i would have been gone from FXDD immediately ! I DONT KNOW, and with that comes a lot of suspicion and a lot of fear and transferrance to another broker. I trade thru phone links, pm's, yahoo and on site at the group i moderate, and NOTHING like this has ever happened -- invariably the opposite is the result ! take it as an excuse or take it any way you may wish, but I DO NOT KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING but i do know that FXDD is gone from my life ! somewhere along the way, and in some manner this will be made up to Chris -- but I will always live with the horror of watching his money taken away, and for no reason that is fathomable ! say what you may for I already ache deeply inside, but NONE of what is being said explains what happened ! enjoy mp
Actually, if you that kind of thing happens on a pretty regular basis (up 17% in a few days) on the surface of things it looks nice, but as a trader and someone who gives a damn about risk I might be inclined to think that you are risking way too much and are eventually going to blow up.....which is exactly what happened. All that glitters is not gold. Brandon
If ever there were famous last words spoken by every trader who has busted....these are them! Whatever you don't think will happen, will happen. Anyone who provides advice should know that. Anyone with any experience who is still alive in the markets knows that.
And so it is. But define "friend." And then define compensation is the context of an oral agreement. An internet poster can be deemed a friend especially if personal information was exchanged such a phone number. And at the same time, an oral agreement for compensation when acted upon can be construed as a "gift" for service well done. It's not as if said "manager" (and I use the term lightly) was asking for a fee for service irrespective of profit. The fee arragement was for 25% of profits which the investor would have to at their discretion, forward to the "manager." Since the "manager" only had trading permission for the account, the "manager" could not withdraw his fee at his discretion but had to rely on the client to act upon the agreement to do so. In other words, it can be seen as "if you like what I've done for you, a donation of around 25% of gain would be nice." I'm not defending the bad man... "manager." I just think the calls to reimburse the client 100% and alert law enforcement are ridiculous. How is it that the client is not to be blamed in this instance? How is it that the client didn't know that there was serious risk involved in spot forex? Was there negligence on the part of the manager? Sure, from my point of view. His trading style is reckless. But that's a relative matter. Some in congress believe that hedge funds are reckless. And a few have blown up. One just recently. Did those clients get their money back from the hedge fund manager's bad trading? Nope. The client failed to take some basic steps to make him or herself aware of the potential risks involved. The client overleveraged himself by giving 1/2 year's salary to a person with no verifiable or auditable track record. The client should bear, at a minimum, 50% of the loss for not exercising common sense and due diligence. The manager the other half, morally speaking, simply for failing to properly communicate with the client about his tolerance for risk, his financial status, and suitability as a client in relation to his "seat of the pants" trading style. Calling the state attorney's office is not going to get far. Especially if this thread is brought up as evidence. That's something this person (investor) should have done instead of creating this thread and admitting to certain things. Even so, this idea of him(the investor) being made whole exonerates every person who was greedy for gain and lost in the process. There's this ever growing climate where people are not taking responsibility for their own actions. That has to stop. No one wants to make you rich. No one is that altruistic. Therefore it is incumbent upon you (investors) to exercise due diligence before handing over or allowing your funds to be managed. Ask yourself, "What in it for them?" 25% of $12k certainly isn't enough. If a person could take that $12k and ratchet it up to $1mil, they certainly don't need your $12k. Nor would they be inclined to grow your $12k for you which is a time consuming process. Anyway, that's it about that. Sum of Facts: 1. The manager sucks arse. 2. The investor was naive. 3. We're all a laughable bunch slowing down at the accident scene. 4. Lessons were learned the hard way. 5. Some will have a drink or puff some weed over the weekend.
Presently its almost all over but the spending --- the very positions that brought so much fear to the original poster are now in profit and the rest of my accounts are doing exactly what i stated they would do ! when things went against the OP, he panicked and sought advice from this board -- the board, having NO knowledge of who I am, first called me a scammer, further destroying the OP's confidence and posted more messages than i have ever seen on a subject NONE OF YOU HAD ANY KNOWLEDGE OF ! when the subject came up on MY board and in chat, the response was that the OP should have simply kept out of it --- this opinion was not brought about because of my superior position on the board, for that does not exist --- I have simply served in a volunteer position, for 5 years, BUT my advice, my judgement of what a symbol will do and my ratio of correct information is what is respected, BUT THIS BOARD DOES NOT KNOW ME, AND SO COULD NOT JUDGE BASED ON THAT INFORMATION. I have had words ive said taken totally out of context, my abilities questioned and discussed and yet, what we had here was a terrified trader, not used to the ups and downs of the market, who listened to advice that had NO INFORMATION BACKING IT and closed out his last chance ! Had the OP NOT closed the account, he would be in profit in many positions, as are those who believed in me and let me play their positions to what i knew was a logical conclusion. to put it simply, I have created two trading systems that are freely given on the sho site, BUT I use a modified version that has never been released, has been in beta for over 3 years, AND, IF ANYONE WERE TO CHECK MY PICKS ON SHO, IS PROVEN TO BE OVER 90% CORRECT ! (HOW far over 90% modesty prevents me from stating, but can be checked and verified easily !) My original claims to the poster WERE what i was making trading Forex, and while i did get caught in an overbought dollar situation and news that allowed the shorts to have a ball, THE DOLLAR IS NOT A TANKING PENNY STOCK --- WHERE DO YOU THINK, IN YOUR WILDEST IMAGINATION, THAT IT WAS GOING ? I have never allowed other clients to watch my trading intraday, and i will never allow it again, as ALL THATS IMPT IS THE END NUMBER, not what that number does intraday or for a few days, and those of you who think otherwise had best accumulate a lot more years under your collective belts before putting on the vest and hat of "trader" ! There were just a very few people on this board who bothered, if only in a cursory manner, to check my background, and while they disagree with how I trade and that is their right, THEY AT LEAST TOOK A FEW MOMENTS TO SEE WHO I WAS AND WHY A MAN WOULD TURN OVER THAT MONEY FOR ME TO MANAGE ! I apologize to Chris, because his chances of recovery were shattered the minute he closed the account, but he closed it because a pack of wolves were snapping and growling, and didnt have a clue as to what they were in a feeding frenzy about ! THE NEXT TIME SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS, TAKE A MOMENT TO REFLECT AND DO SOME EXAMINING OF WHAT IS BEING SAID, AND THEN BEFORE YOU PUT FINGERS TO KEYBOARD, THINK A LOT MORE ! I apologize yet again to the OP --- without this outside interference, your account would be substantially moving to the upside at this point --- I always knew it would, but you were too afraid to understand ! trade well my friends, come over to sho and get my free trading systems --- THEY ARE PROVEN, OVER A 5 YEAR PERIOD, TO WORK !!! and PLEASE --- let this be a valuable lesson and DO NOT terrify a man who is already terrified, or besmerch a reputation, earned thru the battles of the penny stock world, available for all to judge and which is the hardest world to stay alive in -- THE REASON WHY (to me) Forex is so easy ! And with the results that are happening now, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY THAT ! enjoy and trade well my friends this is not the first, nor will it be the last time that people are exposed to my trading ----- not too shabby, huh ? mp
I thought you stated the open position when the guy first came to ET for advice was an aussie position. That has barely moved? and if you still think leveraging an account up so highly that it requires additional margin within a week is a good trading style then you are a truly appaling trader. The way you are now trying to twist facts you suit your story proves you are a scammer and never should be allowed to trade a penny of other peoples money.