Coach, Investools is one of the biggest crackpot late night infomercial get rich quick wannabe educational groups I have ever seen. TOS just shot their credibility in the foot by letting this deal happen. You can justify anything you want and what do you think TOS is going to tell you when you call them? LOL. This would be akin to Interactive Brokers teaming up with Michael "Waxie" Parness in a joint venture. And btw, there is zero correlation between the economy and the stock market, trade accordingly.
Well I did not call them about the deal, I usually chat with Joel and we were talking about it and he was giving me his honest take on it. Personally I do not care about Investools as long as ToS stays as it is with the same people in charge. And my point was, that is what is happening now. I can easily ignore the IT part and be happy with the same platform and customer service that makes them #1 in my book. I think all current customers will find no difference in the way the Toms and Joel run the show.
Phil, I understand you have a law background, but take a look at Optionx Express and the quality of their product after they went public and became uber rich overnight. Not that OX was that great before the IPO, after the IPO it became a train wreck. Where did all the money go? LOL.
I used opex for options also -- agreed, they used to be a lot better. still one of the better ones for options though.
Well, not sure how the law background is relevant but OX is still one of the best for retail option traders. I prefer ToS but OX is a close #2. Anyway my point was that Investools could be dreck but ToS will still be ToS in my opinion. Ok back to spreads
VIX is coming back down to it's recent floor around 11. I am basically at break even my diagonals right now when you throw in slippage, would like to see the VIX pop in the next few weeks so I can possibly grab a decent profit and look for a new reentry point (Oct or Nov diagonals). I got in late on Oct plays, almost went straight to Nov but found an Oct entry that worked for me.
Just wanted to say I attended an Investools 3hour Free recruiting seminar. Those guys got the marketing/selling scheme down to perfection. They hit your emotional side.. family, grand children... then it's off to the working hours and retirement lifestyle... then it's back to the emotional self assessment speech... and and finally the multiple discounts... throw ins.. etc. I was just blown away by the quality of the presentation. They didn't miss a beat... they have it down to a science... they could have sold half those people anything. You couldn't ask a question.. interupt the flow.. or even misdirect any part of the speech. It was flawless.... I did inject as to why he recommended Covered Calls... his reply was... "they're one of the safest trades out there'.... I then rudely asked if he considered trading broad based options so he could take advantage of 1256 contracts.... he had never heard of these.... We called the head presenter, John Davidson, the next day. He actually answered the phone. He mentioned that he invests on the side for personal clients.... so we put him to the test. After a half hour conversation... here is the scoop. He manages 25million. Minimum 25K accouts. He has all the funds in one account... no diversification as far as type of account. He uses three (3) different strategies distributed evenly. Strategies: Covered Calls, Sector Rotations, ETF's. Time frame is longer term. Uses the Whitney signal for buy/sell. Commission is 2% plus 20% of profits. A few minor options for bigger/smaller accounts. He would not disclose a track record or an approximate return.... although he said his goal is 2% a month. Never shorted stock, never traded spreads, doesn't buy puts, doesn't understand the tax benefits of section 1256 contracts..... and a whole lot more. And to top it off.... over 200 people signed up for a two-day seminar at $2,000 I mean a basic introductory class on how to use the software.... and second day is just a sales pitch to buy the more advance course... and finally the 'platinum' series.. When you're all said and done... it's around $20K... and you are now considered a perfect "red" "green" arrow reader. Hope I didn't offend anyone... but SIX of our club memebers are investools members... and I constantly remind them how important is was for them to spend all that money.... I guess if you spend the money... you feel more obligated to 'learn'. It's like "commitment to the dollar". Maybe if we started charging at the GrandRapidsInvestmentClub... we'd probably get more members. Now there's somthing to consider.... maybe even throw in all the bonus sessions... for a measely... $1995... if you sign up today... and today only. M~ PS.. So why did I attend.... just to recruit some of those poor people and let them know there is a support group for them after they learn about the RED and GREEN arrows. By that time.. we usually have to recommend a good shrink....
Well put..here in "THE OC" Southern California, I heard something like 80% used time-bomb loans: ARMS, IO, Neg AM, etc. because "Real Estate always goes up". Here's some happy reading: www.thehousingbubbleblog.com http://ocfliptrack.blogspot.com/