I've thought a lot about this and I do believe Al is a profitable day trader, for a few reasons. If you have been around the markets for a while and read Al's books, you realize that the ideas he puts forth must have taken years if not decades of trial and error to formulate. The insights he has to trading simply do not come to a person who hasn't dedicated much of their life to this craft. I do not believe a trader would spend years doing the excruciating analysis required to draw the conclusions Al has drawn, unless they were making money from trading and wanted to make more money...there is simply no way an individual could retain the motivation long enough if they weren't seeing any fruit from their labor. Secondly, the most important question is whether what Al says in his books actually happens in real-time in the markets? Those who have spent the time reading his books know the answer to that question. If I read a book about how to successfully perform surgery (trade the markets), and then was given the chance observe a team of doctors perform surgery (observe the markets), if I saw the surgeons doing exactly what the book I read told me they were going to do, would I question whether the author of the book knew personally how to perform surgery? Nope. With that said, do I think Al is making $5 million per year trading the Emini? No I do not. I think he is most likely a 10-lot trader, and would not at all be surprised to find out he is clearing a very respectable $2,000 a day trading his own accounts. "So if he such a great trader, why doesn't he reveal his account statements to the public?" What does he benefit from this? Everyone's information is public record nowdays, including home addresses of himself and his daughters. Would you want the entire world to know that you were sitting in your house everyday extracting xxxx dollars every single from the markets by simply clicking your mouse? If he were trying to raise money from a fund that would be one thing, but to release that information for sole purpose of satisfying the curiosity of some unsuccessful 1-lot traders? No thank you, that attention is simply not worth it. "So if he is such a great trader, why write books in the first place?" Well, you can look at the sales data and conclude that he isn't making much money from his books. So why do it? Well, he used to teach medicine and has published various peer reviewed articles related to medicine...perhaps he enjoys this type of work, and wants to leave behind some legacy in the trading world after he dies? Also, as wonderful as consistently making money as a trader sounds to an unprofitable trader, after a while it does get boring/lonely and a person does need to find other outlets in order to have meaning in their life....I can assure you that a single guy, living alone in his 60's making 5 grand a day trading with no other human contact/outlets is going to a be very lonely and unhappy person without other outlets to put their energy into....also, perhaps Al feels his books/trading materials will hopefully provide a small royalty stream for his 3 daughters after he dies - just speculation on my part.
A small group of us had a ventrilo chat room. We would all both post charts and setups but also email back and forth charts and ideas...trading mostly the old ER. Al and I would also talk about other common interests like track and field and NCAA football, his daughters, tennis etc..
Different traders have different perspective about authors. In reality, all you have to ask the same question about any book, seminar, mentor, etc. "Can I take the elements presented and develop a coherent and simple method to trade?" Many times (sadly) the answers would be no. If it is a yes, then you do not need anyone's opinion.
https://www.tradingschools.org/reviews/al-brooks-trading/ Al Brooks is a palm reader.With his nerdy demeanor, he holds your palm and starts pointing to lines that supposedly tell the future. He suggests that a straight line here, with a squiggly line over here, and a strange line there means that something amazing could happen to you at any moment. Never does he take out his own palm and tell you what is happening with him, its always about playing into the imagination of his audience. He is an eye doctor, and he can see things really well, and his daughter is going to an Ivy League college which means that he is successful and can afford such a thing. And that since Futures Magazine publishes his articles that they have witnessed his grandeur and endorse his predictive abilities. And since he is a “speaker” at Traders Expo, that he is authentic, and the multiples of books and video courses are yet more proof of his amazing abilities. But the sad and simple truth is that Al Brooks has no trading record. He is just a simple little man projecting something that he is not. He is not a successful trader. Just another vendor, selling the dream. Of course, I would love to be wrong. And it would be so incredibly easy to prove me wrong, by releasing a performance record, but Al Brooks knows that he can never do this.
In other news, traderob is still marching around ET blaming others for him being a losing trader even after supposedly trading for almost 14 years. Please give it up and blame yourself Rob. And quit advertising that website for free here @ ET. Maybe you should be paying Baron for the free advertising.
By differentiating himself from the many charlatans out there who refuse to provide any track record whatsoever. If the likes of Kevin Davey can do it, why can't he? http://kjtradingsystems.com/workshop-details-09.html
In his position, Pete, my own reasons for refusing to do it would include ... (i) the fact that doing so implies on some level a connotation of implying something like "I can make money doing this and if you read my books, you'll be able to, as well" - something Dr. Brooks is actually ethical and careful enough not to claim; (ii) it would increase expectations and probably result in some additional sales of the books being made to people who imagine that they can make money trading simply by "copying something that just 'works'," rather than by developing skills through education and practice (just the type of potential readers most unsuited to benefitting from these books) ... in other words, it might lead to there being some dissatisfied customers; (iii) the fact that I'd hate to imply (even inferentially, even to the uninitiated) that I'm presenting any kind of "guarantee"; (iv) the fact that it really isn't anyone else's business; (v) the fact that my own backstory (i.e. Al's backstory) is sufficiently well-known and well-established as to make it entirely unnecessary, and ... (vi) the fact that it really isn't relevant anyway. Of course, I recognize that there are also many who disagree with this perspective ... just as I recognize that there are some who have bought the books and not been happy with them, because they've found them a real struggle to read (which indeed they were for me also, though I have at least the excuse that this isn't my first language). These books are clearly "not for everyone". None of the above, however, changes the reality that there are also impressively large numbers of long-established, independent members in many trading forums happily mentioning that Al Brooks' teaching was highly influential in their developing the ability to become consistently profitable in their own trading. (And, again, I'm one of them. And again, however much Al Brooks is badmouthed in forums, fortunately for us none of us ever has to pay back to anyone the money we've made by following his teaching.) In my opinion, given that reality, for people to be alleging that "he won't produce trading records because he has none to produce" is (a) virtually indistinguishable from trolling and (b) defamatory. (And yes: I recognize that there are people who disagree with that, too.)
To quote the tradingschools.org website: 'Is showing a record of trades a criminal act? TradingSchools.Org, in the past two years, has written extensively about trading educators. Not once have we ever witnessed a trading educator getting into trouble for being honest with consumers. In fact, we have been closely involved in both the criminal and civil prosecution of over a dozen fraudulently promoted trading educators and trading systems. In speaking with CFTC and SEC investigators directly, they simply laugh whenever they hear this well-worn piece of urban fiction. There is nothing illegal with showing a trading record. However, it is fraudulent to show a trading record that has been falsified for marketing purposes. Perhaps this is the reason why Al Brooks does not publish a trading record? Of course, trading educators like Al Brooks will attempt to obfuscate and confuse this point. They will say things like, “I talked to an attorney and they said it’s against the law”. This is pure nonsense. Securities regulators love disclosure. The more the better.' Sorry, but I cannot see why favouring a disclosure of trading performance is trolling or defamatory in any way whatsoever. Maybe even someone else could demonstrate Al Brooks teachings in forward testing, ie live entries and exits with a chart and breif description later on.