************************************************** Exactly what I have been saying and some others. You can learn more from a free group than the expensive "academy" Not only is retention negligable because the instructors (many of them, not all of them) are not that good, but attrition rate is very high. Find a local group and pass on the Online Trading Academy farce.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The guy says he traded "live" in a futures class. It is true. At least when I was there and went through harassment of their used car salesmen, I was told that live trading is only done at the Pro Trader stock class. Looks like another OTA employee posing as a "satisfied client" got busted.
Wow I find the tax situation interesting. That is certainly a new spin on things to me. Mr. green is the authority on trader taxes, so u gotta believe him on that aspect. Ota must have totaly changed gears recently. When i first took courses with them in 2010, I was recommended to a reputable accountant for trader taxation, who is definitey reputable. (i know this for a fact). Also, mr. Greens name was brought up in class as well, so it didnt "used to" be that way. I guess they were upset when mr green i assume told them where to go when they wanted him to be their "bitch". They didnt used to sell the tax deductuion game to students, which it seems they are now doing per mr. Greens post. Thats certainly a really bad and stupid thing for them to do. When i would ask tax questions, they would say they dont know, and to talk to a trader tax cpa professional or to go to mr greens website.... 2 years ago when i took classes, Ota, i believe was a good place to start for education Seems like a lot has been moving in the wrong direction. They have been growing it seems, but perhaps not in the right direction... When i took classes, i was taught all the basics which i needed at the time, and they sold me that it was not a get rich wuick scheme and hard work was required to get where i wanted. They taught support and resistance and trendlines as being the key to all. Indicators as tertiary. (which is still fine ) Each instructor had their own niche, which was to help us "find ourselves", and they all were different and complemented each other. one would be able to use what worked for themselves and teach it how they wanted to. The teachers were given a lot of freedom which was a good thung, It now appears as if the game has changed. In order to be a teacher, seems like u must conform to the ota way of tradng and teaching, which is by strictly using the simple "supply and demand" method. (support and resistance). This is taught as a holy grail simple way of trading and it sounds good, but its just a counter trend trading which is great when it works!!! And It is a good sell, cuz eventually u will hit one out of the park, and u can put it up as a selling point and say that u called the top or bottom!! They have lost s lot of their good instructors. Probably the ones who refused to teach students a system that wasnt really viable anymore in the current mkt conditions. Still some good teachers there, but they do have to conform to the ota supply demand thing, so u domt get as much from them as u used to. They seemingly refuse to admit that the market changes each and every day, and one needs to adjust for mkt conditions to be consistant. They want to make it sound simple And that it can be done over and over again the same way (to get more clients). The fact is, u gotta adapt and be a camillion to survive. Regarding tradestation: i do still get ota comission rebates. I doubt it will ever pay for the courses i paid for, but i do get the rebates. And yes, tradestation is the best charting platform around still regardless of ota's obviously tight relationship with them. Hope i helped someone out there. Hit me up with questions. I am free of charge.
Stock class- (pro trader), yes we did trade 10 shares in stock class with stocks that they pick for u and they show u how to enter stops and make sure u always habe ur stop in place. it was fun for a beginner. Futures- we traded on live simulator which was fine. Other classes are all on simulator i believe, but each location has a different franchise owner, so it is probably up to them if they want to trade live or not since they are responsible for any losses The owner of the branch i used to go to has moved on, and the teachers followed.. I dont know what happened there, but "corporate" took over and it is not as "loose". Used to be able to walk in and ask questions whenever u wanted, and feel like u were part of something, but now it doesnt work like that anymore..i havent been to a center in over a year. Ive moved on in my trading, and i will say that ota helped me get farther along and quicker than i would have for sure. But ive had struggles as everyone else does. Doesnt matter what education u get, u will have hurdles. if u stick it out , u will get there eventually. Hopefully u womt spend too much money before u realize you need to do your own work and u will realize there is no holy grail.
******************* When I first started at OTA, some of the instructors seemed ok, many were lousy.I have heard too that many instructors and other personel have moved on, leaving OTA for various reasons. The manager kept moving me from class to class because I was experienced in the markets and found their courses all overly basic. When I enrolled, I was told that I would recieve advanced training. None of the classes impressed me. Not sure what they consider advanced. And you are right about the rebates. While perhaps not an outright scam, it is a misreperesentaion of sorts. nobodyt hat I know ever got their money "reimbursed" on rebates. It's a "gotcha" As far as growth, from what I am hearing, growth has slowed down substantially. One thing that had been keeping OTA going was sales of franchises. I'm been hearing that franchisee's are selling their centers back to corporate (for substantially less than what they paid for) taking big losses and moving on. And not many new centers have been opening, so I've been told. Don't know where the growth is you mentioned. The economy I am sure is not helping. And the nature of the industry hurts OTA as well. Anyway, good to connect with some real traders on here. Sure as heck did not find much help at OTA.
---------------------------------------------------------- Nah you're kidding! OTA lied or misrepresented themselves? I am shocked.
--------------------------------------------- I have a substantial amount of experience trading and signed with OTA looking for more advanced training. The presenter at the PTW and the educational representatives (all used car salespeople) certaintly indicated that OTA offered advancded training for people like me. What I got was more general basics. I previewed the XLT program and Pro picks and was wholly dissappointed with that information. Was not helpful at all. Just more and more of the same. I heard about OTA jointly via postcards as a IBD subscriber, ads on CNBC and heard their (OTA) dumb radio show on my local radio station. Query: If OTA has so many satisfied clients, who do they have to advertise so heavily and why are their classrooms so empty?
One thing I learned about infomercials, is that if you see them 2 weeks in a row then they are effective, If the product doesnât sell they kill the commercial. I would guess the same applies to other forms of advertising. Gotta figure if there are lots of ads out there that they are working. You realize that you are also a subtle form of advertising and you are not even getting paid. Every time you post, you bring OTA to someoneâs attention. I understand that you are trying to warn people about them but some will check them out anyway. ET after all has its share of bitter failed traders who blame everyone but themselves.
Its not just the online trading academy, but its the entire web which is filled with fraud. I see stock trading subscription chat rooms go up all the time usually for about a hundred a month. I mean there are countless "services" on the web to spend your money on. Each person claims to have the answer or at least implies it. However, none will actually work...