First of all revealing a profitable strategy will likely destroy it if enough traders, funds, black boxes, get their hands on it. And second, its better to help people help themselves instead of just giving a 'handout'. That being said I wouldn't want a mentor (if I had one) to just give me a strategy. I'd want him to point me in the right direction as far as understanding the market and trading it with discipline.
What strategy do you speak of? Nobody has revealed any Profitable Strategies quite yet.. Maybe some indicators that has the potential. Maybe, the Turtle Trend following one when it did come out at first, but it did come with a catch.. because it was only a strategy where you could go long periods making nothing, you had to have an iron will to follow it. **No Profitable Strategies are out there**
You answered your own question, profitable strategies don't get revealed. I just read a story on Bloomberg about their Alpha Fund, they would not even confirm the name of it. But gee, you can buy some on the net for $50 a month.
The question is flawed, a profitable strategy is 5% of trading, giving it away doesn't mean it will teach the other 95%
We have a real-time example in progress on Spydie's Hershey futures thread. The problem is that we may never know if it was revealed, much less if it was profitable. But I still have hope!
You can give away profitable strategies, that doesn't mean that they are ruined...it's a misconception in my opinion. Most people will always want to mess with a system, tweak it and experiment. No two people will use it exactly the same way, their entries and exits will all vary slightly but a system is only a small piece of the puzzle. As professional traders know, consistent profitability isn't dependent on a holy grail system, it's conquering psychological issues and money management issues. That's why you can give away a system, but the trader who is more concerned about finding a system is probably the kind who hasn't dealt with psychology and money management and will blow themselves out, system or not.
I've revealed lots of stuff because I thought showing the structure might help others. I don't worry about strategies going away because the markets are not static. Since they constantly change, it's up to us to change with them. If the markets were static, quants would rule and everyone else would lose. In reality it's a right-brainers world when it comes to strategies. Left brainers are good at emulation but will never be any good at inspiration. In the end, it doesn't matter if a strategy is revealed and mined...it's all fleeting.
Don't confuse a profitable system with a winning system. Some people have gotten the idea that just because a system ends up with more money than it began with, it's a success. But what about the buy-and-hold? For a system to be a winner, it not only has to make a profit, it has to outperform the buy-and-hold case, or what's the point of trading and paying all those commissions? I've seen plenty of "profitable" systems that weren't worth the time of day, much less my money, because they didn't beat the market. And beating the market IS the whole point of trading; otherwise, just remain an investor and stick with the Granny "strategy" of holding on for dear life until you retire.
usually people who are looking for strategies wants a "Red-Light/Green-Light" method. They will NEVER "get" it. A profitable strategy is NOT an art. A profitable strategy is NOT a science. A profitable strategy is a philosophy. To "get" it, you have to meditated it, live it, breathe it and experience it. You will not "get" it until you have transcend the mortal writings of rules and techniques. You will "get" it when you and the market are one. Instead of seeking signals from the market, the market will speak to you.