tj, you really have to stop beating this dead horse... Would you like me to try answering your questions, just to put this to bed, even though I don't teach anything?
If he disclosed his performance of 18 year consecutive profitable years , no need for all the above BS, now you know why he needs to offer all of the above to convince people. P.S. I averaged 8%/year for the last 22 years , do you want to take my course ?
In other words, no, you haven't done any research - just as I'd thought. Lack of willingness to do research might explain the 8% only, though there could be other reasons.
If I was looking to still take a course and if you were actually being serious, I would at least look into it, but you'd have to give me a bunch of information. This would include a : 1. resume 2. list of professional references 3. price 4. what the course would entail. Like what would you be teaching and how much time or you going to devote to me each day/week. 5. I'd also like to see at least some track record of people who were happy with your course. I got all of that from him, and there is no way I'm going to believe that he wasn't profitable. I'm sure he had to show some track record to these companies he has worked with, and in trading people only care about how much can you make. They aren't going to hire him to be nice. The difference is THEY deserve to see some track record but not the people here as they are dealing in millions of dollars. If you can't infer that he was/is a good trader from the information he gave, you're just being close minded.
More than half of the 33 clients I have signed from ET exposure have never posted on ET, and I have been a little shocked at the quality of some of the clients I've been able to sign from ET - three clients are by my guesstimate well into 7 figures and one is into 8 figures a year. People have a legitimate right to be very skeptical about trader training, books, seminars, forums and the ilk because that part of the business is full of scumbags and by default I get lumped in there with them. People also have a right to question why someone would rather give up screen time trading and exchange that time for consulting - that is, until they are 50 years old with a house full of kids and they've done it as long as I have. I still trade two or three days per week for my own account and almost always have a few swing trades working at any point in time. I also work with the occasional fund, prop group, or CTAs. This year alone I've completed projects for 3 funds in the NorthEast. Another consideration is that most people confuse money management credentials with training credentials - I have never made market calls, I don't solicit OPM, I'm not a CTA, and in fact the only money I make out of this venture is the consulting fee by choice so that in the final analysis I have the client's best interests at heart when brokerage/clearing, charting packages, execution platforms, and those other associated expenses come to play. Of course, someone would have to be insane to post any sort of legitimate financial statements on a public forum, and I find it fascinating that Linda Bradford Rashcke, Pete Steidelmayer, and all the other trader training "gurus" have never posted any statements and everybody seems to accept whatever is written or said at face value. Truth be told, if you are a very good futures trader you can state a ridiculous return due to the levering capabilities inherent in the space - many good futures traders can make, for example, $50K per month gross using no more than $50K per day of margin - it's in fact a common occurrence here in Chicago with the better traders. In the Chicago prop business model, the firm tries to take as much as they can from a trader in terms of commission overage and all sorts of desk fees - you have no choice but to return 100% per month on your daily margin if after it's all said and done you want to take anything home worth getting excited about. It would be reckless and irresponsible for me to promote that kind of return in a public space (and I could) because in fact no one can predict how another person will perform - every one of us walking this earth has different risk appetites and emotional baggage we tote around. A trader will also be able to generate greater returns with a $50K account than a $500M account for a number of legitimate reasons. In the end, any logical person who chooses a training program based upon the stated returns thrown around by a vendor is somewhat dellusional and shallow. Anybody who has seen another trainer's lefit statements, like LBR's for example, please post them and maybe I should then reconsider.
This only shows that there are 33 people on ET without any sense. 99% + of offerings like yours do not work. Calling anonymous clients has little value to a potential customer. How do you determine whether it has good expectancy and trading measurements, it is just hold & hoping (for no black swans)? Unless there is documented, audit-tracked proof, it is a lot of flap gumming and luring the unwary Post your 3 years of personal statements showing the serious profits that your methods can outperform, or else it is $6,000 or whatever swirling down the toilets. As you said prospects could contact other customers, I will ask YOU directly, how much has your OWN personal accounts grown in the last 3 years? the last 18 years? - ignoring any added/subtracted additional funds? What is your Sortino or Sharpe? What are you 3 biggest drawdowns? How did you do during Sept - Dec 2008? IF your stuff worked reasonably well, you could make $10 million + from a financial firm. But the uneducated are easier prey. But of course, you will either ignore this, fume or try a clever retort. It is a lot easier than direct proof.
Agreed. A perspective student shouldn't give a shit about his wife and family. That's just creepy. When you get right down to it, spot-checks of his supposed employers and clients are irrelevant too - they could easily be shills, or simply cherry-picked. Really, only two things matter: 1) records that reveal how much money he won, and lost, and when, using his methods. These records need to cover the full 18 year period he's touting and any gaps need to be clearly explained. 2) Assuming the records from 1) show substantial profits, an explanation of why he's now selling training for a fee much lower than his trading profits is required. Without those two pieces of information, he's just another scam.
Your correct answers would not mean that the next guy will know how to answer the same questions. They are test questions--You cannot put a test question to bed, because the issue is the knowledge of the person answering not the questions. Go ahead, and give the answers. If someone were to copy your answers (assuming they are correct), then I can ask that person another question and I will know whether his answers emanate from a correct understanding, or from just a copy and paste.
What is the factual basis of your opinion? Not doubting you, but simply curious to know the factual basis if any.