Here's something that's been bugging me. It seems virtually all the vendors our there who purport to train traders FAIL to show proof of their ability to actually trade. And yet people still shell out thousands of dollars for their unproven training. wtf? Personally I believe any vendor should be able to produce their trading blotters (actual REAL recent trading records) to be credible. (IB screencaps, Schedule Ds etc) If all they're doing is talking without PROOF (eg IB statement screencaps etc) of their personal trading success, then I'd avoid them. That's my 'show me the money' challenge that I'll be bringing in front of the industry moving forward (at my trading expo talks, online, all the new ads I'll be publishing in trade magazines this year and beyond, etc)... -- nobody should trust a vendor unless they can show documented PROOF of their real, recent actual trades, and that they're successful, eg net profitable. Vendors *without* blotters/proof of their actual ability to trade live real accounts profitably = not as valuable as people to teach. Make them show you their Schedule D/(or IB etc statement) that proves they're net profitable as a trader. Am I wrong in thinking this should be a new required standard of competency for trading vendors, eg at LEAST show me you're a profitable trader? Sound off.. -ken p.s. that's not to say there's nothing to learn from unsuccessful traders or people in the industry who don't trade... it's just that those who Do trade, and post records, should be trusted more, I think...
Theres one born every second. Look for a developer that provides an independent system audit (by a known quantity of course). Seeking Alpha is an OK place to start your search for reputability.
Ken- As the last poster said-there is one born every day. Let me see if I have this right? You have admitted that you have trouble trading so called larger size-as in 5K+-yet you now say that you will put forward your profit details at trading expos and magazines, etc, etc. Something does not add up from where I am standing. Would it be possible that you are what is called a small time trader-is that the correct term or have I spelled it out wrong-and that you try to make some money by trying to sell small time trading techniques to the ones who are born every day? The General
How do you know the Schedule D was the one the vendor filed? How do you know the blotter or account statement is not Photoshopped? To me, the only way to prove anything, is to go to one of the handful or tracking sites, and build an independently audited track record: FuturesTruth, TimerTrac, Collective2, Striker or Attain Capital (brokers), Robbins World Cup Trading, the CNBC contest, etc.
I will say that from working with Tim, who is the top ranked trader on Covestor, I'm starting to change my opinion about whether or not vendors should show their actual trading statements or not. Having Tim so highly ranked there obviously makes it pretty easy to sell his services to anyone who has half a brain. That said, a lot of people on ET don't have even half of one.....
I had a look at this Covestor site and it is nothing short of rubbish-for the trader who wantsâ to make money at least-not give away money to those who get "compensated as if they were a pro"-what a laugh. A mining engineer places a trade and everyone else follows him-I wonder if he fell into a black hole would everyone else jump in as well-thinking that maybe he was gone in to catch something. Take charge of your own finances-learn what you need to know and do what you need to do. Trading then becomes a joyous activity-what it should be. The General
I find this quite ironic : this vendor comes here to complain that vendors should post evidence of results and he has never done this himself LOL
It is not that ironic at all. The real Ken Calhoun is too busy selling seminars with Mr. Steve Candlestick-teaching so called "professional" trading techniques. Ken Calhoun is a small time trader-always has been and always will be-this is why he must supplement his trading income with seminars and DVDâs of him sitting in front of multiple screens trading Nas Tech Stocks-maybe he has moved on since the dot com bubble-but I doubt it. I am not sure what purpose one has in trying to impersonate Ken Calhoun-but they picked the wrong guy-that is for sure. The General