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Sorry to hear that about Larry Williams. Just goes to show again, nothing can be fully trusted. I'm beginning to hear
more radio ads for trading schools like OTA (Online Trading Academy) and some other "trading gurus" promising extra "monthly income" no doubt to advertise to everyone in desperate straits from the media pushed false "recovery" and the dire economic times for the middle class. Usually the ads start playing after 9pm. Larry Williams was even mentioned as an example in an ad. Far better chance to learn how to trade profitably from resources and links from places like futures.io (formerly BMT) than any of those radio vendor ads for the masses.
regarding OTA, hope this helps and isnt too irrelevant-
sam seiden's articles, though repetitive and partially PR for OTA, greatly helped me understand suppy and demand. fitting this into my style of trading turned out to be a missing link in my system. i was very grateful so when they came to town about 6mos ago i checked out the free mini intro session.
i ended up investing $200 in a 3-day hotel seminar weekend and it was money very well spent. not only for the new ideas and structure they bring to the markets (can't speak for their execution/track record and dont care) that i could take and make my own, but mainly because it refreshed my head at a tough time.
since they have to cater to general folk/non-traders it was remarkable how deep they managed to get into some of their concepts. certainly enough for an experienced trader to add a few tools and increase my world view about trading for a living, like diversifying with long term strategies as well.
i try not to judge little purchases like this too much, i just try to get something worthwhile out of it. sometimes it's not information, it can be motivation or some other reason.
definitely got more than the $200 worth and the 2 long days. as far as signing up for $20k worth of trader education, um, thats where i draw the line...
Sounds like you got a great deal for a 3 day seminar for only $200. And you weren't constantly approached and pressured to sign up for more expensive materials during that time? But great that it worked out for you for that weekend seminar.
There are horror stories about OTA reviewed with the seeming consensus that the organization is mostly about their marketing and sales. Many get caught up spending at least $4k to $6k for the "basic course".
yes actually you are pushed in a sense of sitting down with someone and 'reviewing each other' to see if u r a good fit. it is easy for them to not accept everybody (and therefore look more exclusive) because some audience members were completely out of touch and would not be good students. when i heard they let a guy in and were going to give him $20k financing after he just had a bankruptcy and a new baby, and this was just over a quick conversation no paperwork/formalities whatsoever, it sounded more shady, almost loansharkish. also you could just avoid the 3rd (last) day which is where the heavier sales pressure comes on.
ppl love to worry and talk about the problems of things like this but dont get caught up in that. evaluate it for what it is, for yourself. u might waste time and have to drop out of some new stuff but other stuff will make it worth it. effort in, results out:
if you are clear about your goals and your budget and u take responsibility for your own decisions then no one can really pressure you into anything. really a prerequisite for trading in the first place right. confidence comes from a broad perspective on what you really want in life and making sacrifices for it. boy do i digress
everyone needs diff input at diff times. but i was actually so impressed with the the gaps OTA was filling in to my trading approach like the focus on long term financial planning, trading options, strategy tips, etc. that i was ready to sign up. but the cost is ridiculous so you go home, do some research, find all this negative stuff about them, then u get more realistic and say do i want to deal with that, if that happens to me (constant sales pitches, underqualified instruction, whatever) or u incorporate the good stuff from what you just paid for over the tryout period and u leave it at that. no hard feelings
so i say if interested, take it for what it is and deal with some sales BS. have a plan X (excuse) in case u get really annoyed. just be smart and practice being level headed. this is what we need most for trading anyway
Interesting to hear that they still did the upselling pitches . Sure, everyone can make their own judgment and decisions based on their current experience and it's good to be informed by other reviews beforehand if nothing else to gauge what is overcharged and how OTA operates in many cities and the turnover of their own instructors. Now the ads are airing more often, with OTA just one of them.
Lots of free info on the web can be learned instead of what OTA promises. Plus our own journals here on nexusfi.com (formerly BMT). Like this thread of links for instance:
Isn't this the catch 22 situation that most find themselves in? How does one learn to trade for themselves? If vendors don't teach trading who does?
I keep hearing that 95% fail. I hear you need 10000 hours of screen time to become a successful trader.
The tuition that the market charges for your education is very expensive. I can attest to that.
I hear that you have to find a mentor, but if successful traders are few and far between how do you manage that?
The other side of the coin is that many aspiring traders want to be told what to do and are not willing to do the work required to become successful.
I know I have offered to help several traders but as soon as I mention developing a trading plan and trading it on demo I don't hear from them again. Why do I offer to help? Because no one offered to help me when I started and I sure could have used the help.
In the 5 years that i've been trading I learnt that most of these people selling and advertising these PDFs, systems, methods, programs, DVDs, etc ,etc. They are horrible at trading and make absolutely no money but they are very good teachers.
Its 100 times easier making money in this business by teaching others how to trade than it is to actually make money trading.
Many traders have traded for years and failed, instead of just moving on they want to sell their experience and ideas and get something out of it.