Call me a fool? I do not need a bashing here, I am just letting you know I am giving TD Ameritrade's program a go. I start in April for 12 months $3900, stocks and options + 3 months extra for free. I figure, as new people enter the market, other people leave, so there is always room at the top. I have been beating my head against the wall for a year and a half trying to learn all I can without spending much money. Well, my comissions on a less than stellar outing, would easliy had paid for this program, not to metion my losses on my mutual fund holdings. I could have gone to an Ivy League, and no one is going to help me bring all this into perspective for free. I know of similar programs working out very well for people. There probably is better services out their, but learning is better than not learning. Not trying to push TD, but my available trading capital @ 10K, no trading capital left. I think th CBOE has a similar program to TD. Those who can't, teach? That is weak. If you do understand trading, you learned somthing from someone, didn't you, possably a teacher, or mentor? Any educational advice, i.e. good books, would be much appreciated. Consider that a request.
Are they pushing this as teaching you to trade or teaching you to invest? From the site: Obvious question before you sign-up: ask to see the account history for the previous year of the person who will be coaching you.
Good question. I am really trying to learn to trade, day\swing not invest. Looks like mostly investing from that quote. But when I spoke to them they said they have trader coaches so I did not think much about it ?? Edit: then again it mentions "trading" quite a bit and "investing" could be simply relate to earning money?
I bet its investing not day trading. Maybe swing which is more like investing but I bet they have a longer time horizon then you want. I didn't even know they offered this and I've had an account for many years...in fact I've never been to the "education" tab on the site before.
They actually have some good video webcasts you can view and learn from under that tab. I heard they just started about 6-9 months ago with this coaching program. ** Also the options part sounds interesting as I have not done ANY options trading. They are supposed to provide booklets and weekly 50 min coaching sessions.
I have some info as I just went through the solicitation / presentation phase of the coaching program. I spoke with a really skilled communicator (and nice guy) named Rob. 1. CAVEAT: TDA is my broker, chosen on a competitive basis. I value the relationship. As a broker for beginning investors and beginning traders, I cannot recommend TDA highly enough. I love the software. The staff is knowledgeable and helpful. I have good fees, very courteous and competent help every time I call, and now terrific help from the strategy desk as I am learning to write stock scans and exit algorithms on my own. The help is free and valuable to me. The staff goes overboard to help. So preserving this relationship (i.e., not letting any adverse events occur) is one of my concerns in evaluating the coaching program. 2. Re: The Coaching Program. . . I asked about the skill level of the coaches and why - if they were successful traders - were they working as a coach for TDA. Answer - none of the coaches had less than 25 years experience and all had been or were successful traders. These were retired or semi-retired folks who wanted to do this for various reasons other than money. To me, this was a credible explanation. 3. According to the info on THIS site, the cost of the coaching program is negotiable. I was quoted $4,500 for a year - 6 mos for stocks, 6 mos for options, plus an extra three months that is only available if I sign up this week. That's more than others were quoted. Granted the 'offer only good for a few days' is a bit flaky. But these days many things are negotiable. 4. I have some question whether the program is suitable for learning to trade, although I have been assured that it is. I do (or plan to do) about 12 trades (entry + exit = 1 trade) a day. I mentioned this to Rob in the context of TDA's offer of 25 free trades that come with the coaching program - - for me two free days of trading. The response was that most program participants do that number of trades (12) in a year. That's investing - not trading. 5. There are only six scheduled lessons - a 50 min session once a week x 6 - that are guaranteed. Plus a workbook of approximately 250 pages. Whether you sign up for three months or six months, my understanding is that that is it for the formal commitments. The rest is an "informal commitment" of access to a toll-free coaching line 24/7 to speak with any of the coaches for as long as I wish about any investing or trading topic I wish to discuss. 6. At the end of the presentation, I was asked to decide immediately. (I declined to do so because I tend to be impulsive.) I promised to respond within two days. What would then occur if I decided to enroll was that I would pay the fee and I would have a recorded phone call lasting 15-20 minutes in which I would be asked to confirm a series of commitments on my part. For reasons not relevant to this discussion, I am not going to enroll. If I did decide to enroll, this is what I would prefer from a contract perspective . . . Regarding the recording, I would like to read the statements I would be asked to agree to ahead of time. That would eliminate verbal misunderstandings. I would not want a written contract because I believe it would contain tons of fine print, a requirement of binding arbitration, and other provisions favorable only to TDA. I think that is what a written contract drafted by lawyers would have to say. Rather, I would simply want more information of the type discussed here (eg., addressing questions asked on this site) to be discussed on TDA's personal coaching program website. (For example, a few sample CV's of coaching staff.) Info that would suffice to define the material terms of TDA's contract 'offer' in non-legalese. This is a relatively simple solution. ----------------------------- I repeat again in closing the high regard I have for TDA, its staff and its services. I hope the coaching program works out well for all concerned. Peggy Parker <vector@fairpoint.net>
Wow. 4 different people posting for the very first time on the same subject. I wonder how that happened?