Wow. I just attended one of the 2 hour "infomercial" presentations for Optionetics and it looks like I'm glad I'm a skeptic. The presenter was a great speaker. Very convincing, and engaging. But I just noticed he was mentioned in AlexJ's post detailing their attempts to get a refund.... http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showt...&perpage=6&highlight=optionetics&pagenumber=1 And to think, I watched more than half of the people there register for the course....I hope it works out for them. Thanks to all who posted with alternate ( read cheaper ) resources that can provide the same information. I'll have to find that McMillan book soon. Here's a quick question: If anyone attended their 2 hour presentation, did a "fellow member of the audience" try to convince you to register with them? He may have been legit. But, as soon as a fellow member of the audience was trying talk me into plunking down 3 grand.....I couldn't find the door fast enough. In hind sight, it reminds me of the presentation I sat through for a forex software product, that shall remain nameless. Thanks to the mystery lady sitting next to me who offhandedly told me "gee that looks like a MACD chart". Saved me 2 grand that day. I guess that leads me to another question: Are there any really and truly valuable seminar packages out there?
My buddies went. I heard that the seminars are not a total waste of money. However, you will get much more bang by reading Lawrence MacMillan's books and attending his seminars if you can. I would first read the books, then you would have some good questions for him when you go to the seminar. "Options as a Strategic Investment" is the bible. Macmillan's other books are also more useful than anything out there. These books will not explain how to get rich, but they will give you ideas on how you can limit losses. If you have any questions, let me know.
If you would like a good basic and a little advanced options training for FREE log onto the OIC site at www.optionscentral.com and sign up for their free training. You can also call them at 800.options. I personally attend every class they have when it comes to my area. I always pickup some small tidbit of info I did not have before.
That thing is ridiculous, I went there just so I can feel better about myself and look at the all the losers out there that think they're going to get rich quick by buying when the stupid line says green and selling when it's red. I wanted to ask a bunch of questions that there's no way they'd be able to answer but they don't even let you do that in front of everyone else during the lecture because they know it's a bunch of garbage.
The main problem I saw with Optionetics is that it does not take into account the person's background who is taking the course. If you are a newbie to the stock market in general, than starting with options is like starting math by learning calculus. A good portion of attendees know nothing about the stock market and I have no idea how they expect to trade options which are derivatives of the market. Also, options takes more than 2 days to master, I have been trading 10 years and still find myself learning at times. Optionetics might be a good jump start up the learning curve but people should expect to walk in and walk out an expert ready to start trading. Some people complain that the marketing makes it seem that why but I always say that no one can sell you what you do no want to buy. ANy intelligent person can understand that 2 days is not enough to master a complex trading instrument such as options. SO those who go to the seminar believing the marketing hype or doing themselves a disservice. Everyone should take marketing claims with a grain of salt. Even common sense should tell you that a 2-day seminar cannot be a shortcut to trade a security that hedge funds and institutions use and experts take years to learn to master. That is why despite the marketing, each person is still repsonsible for buying into it and being that gullible. If you go into the seminars with an open mind and with the goal of learning and studying as much as possible and re taking the seminars as much as possible, than perhaps that is the right frame of mind and for some people the $3,000 would be worth it. But the real problem is not the seminar, it is people's lack of common sense in thinking that there are short cuts to trading success and a 2-day seminar is all an investment newbie needs to become a successful trader. These are the people the seminar make the most money on and the people who lose the most money in the market and give options the bad reputation it has. Just some thoughts.... I agree with everyone here that with the CBOE and OIC free educational materials and a few books (McMillian's for sure) you get just as good an introduction for a price of under $100 for a few books. Phil
The CBOE puts on training classes throughout the US. I attended one about 5 years ago and found it very good. It was free when I attended and they even gave out a book or two. Much of the material is on their web site now. Here's one good link: http://www.cboe.com/LearnCenter/OptionsInstitute1.aspx
There are no courses out there worth anything. Read a few books and you'll get the same knowledge and then trade it.
Excellent points. From the late nineties to 2002, or so, wasn't it ol' Wade Cook who song-and-danced his way to options course megabuck$ until the FTC finally caught up with him? thinkorswim.com and its OptionPlanet, and TOS Liquid platform seem legit; their various 1 and 3 day classes are $199... Comments anyone?
Something that I had forgotten that I ordered was a home study course on options trading from a company called Top Trader. It just arrived in the mail (book with 3 CDs) and a quick read is that it might be helpful to beginners not sure about those of us that are more advanced. I will start going thru it tonite. I think the advert I purchased from said something about tips from a pit trader. If you get it from their site they say it will cost you $149.00 plus shipping, but if you call them at 800.230.3602 you can get it along with some "freebies" for $39.95 plus shipping. For the price I felt it was worth a look, plus they offer a 30 day money back guarantee. ...can't remember if you need the marketing tracking number to get it at the reduced price if so here it is from my mailing...M0441504A