Tasuki 

So far, it looks like Pa Dax is the only one who gets it. I looked at the list of stuff you get with the paid membership, and nothing there stands out as being worth a hundred bucks. For example, the trading world is awash in free trading webinars. Do you know how many free videos come through my inbox every week? Dozens upon dozens, every single week. All of them free, at least half of them worthwhile. Yeah, OK, not all of them, but if you only subscribe to good trading websites, you get more free videos than you can possibly watch in a lifetime. Some of them, like those from Market Geometry, are so good that you have to watch them over and over, and there are just so many hours in a day. As it is, I don't have the time to watch a tenth of the free webinars that are offered in my Inbox. So, bottom line, an active trader wouldn't necessarily find 325 trading webinars to be a good reason to shell out money. Ditto for the indicators. There might be something I could use buried among your 1503 indicators offered behind your paywall, but every trading platform that dares to remain competitive provides dozens to hundreds of free, built-in indicators, and there's just so many you can squeeze on a chart! (and besides which, they're all lagging, well, almost all). Actually, from what I've seen so far, the most valuable part of Futures io seems to be its sense of community. Lots of forums are moderated and keep out the trolls, Big Mike, but yours is one of the very few that feels like a family. That's not something you're likely to find in the Tradestation forums, or the ToS forums, or EliteTrader, or even Trader's Lab. The fact that so many members have responded to support your elite membership is quite impressive. Tasuki

what do you do in between setups.. sometimes hours go by and there aren't any setups to take... those webinars become very useful on keeping your mind in the trading realm of things.

-P

Tasuki 

So far, it looks like Pa Dax is the only one who gets it. I looked at the list of stuff you get with the paid membership, and nothing there stands out as being worth a hundred bucks. For example, the trading world is awash in free trading webinars. Do you know how many free videos come through my inbox every week? Dozens upon dozens, every single week. All of them free, at least half of them worthwhile. Yeah, OK, not all of them, but if you only subscribe to good trading websites, you get more free videos than you can possibly watch in a lifetime. Some of them, like those from Market Geometry, are so good that you have to watch them over and over, and there are just so many hours in a day. As it is, I don't have the time to watch a tenth of the free webinars that are offered in my Inbox. So, bottom line, an active trader wouldn't necessarily find 325 trading webinars to be a good reason to shell out money. Ditto for the indicators. There might be something I could use buried among your 1503 indicators offered behind your paywall, but every trading platform that dares to remain competitive provides dozens to hundreds of free, built-in indicators, and there's just so many you can squeeze on a chart! (and besides which, they're all lagging, well, almost all). Actually, from what I've seen so far, the most valuable part of Futures io seems to be its sense of community. Lots of forums are moderated and keep out the trolls, Big Mike, but yours is one of the very few that feels like a family. That's not something you're likely to find in the Tradestation forums, or the ToS forums, or EliteTrader, or even Trader's Lab. The fact that so many members have responded to support your elite membership is quite impressive. Tasuki

I'm getting the impression that you are so cheap you bought a used keyboard that didn't have the [ENTER] key on it.

No wonder you're questioning the Elite Membership "fee" you're clearly a cheapskate.

CenFlo 

I'm getting the impression that you are so cheap you bought a used keyboard that didn't have the [ENTER] key on it. No wonder you're questioning the Elite Membership "fee" you're clearly a cheapskate.

Sorry, we were having a worthwhile conversation here. I think that insults and namecalling should be left out of the discussion. Please.
Tasuki

Tasuki 

Sorry, we were having a worthwhile conversation here. I think that insults and namecalling should be left out of the discussion. Please. Tasuki

I added my input, you don't get to "try on" the Elite Membership as you have so eloquently complained about already.

Bottom line, it's worth it (IMO). You can choose to pay it or not, no problem there. You're merely beating a dead horse at this point in time and wasting bandwidth + database space.

Tasuki 

General question: why does this forum have an "elite" section"? Just curious---what's the point? Seems, I dunno, elitist, doesn't it? Kind of off-putting to me.

Have you ever had a $100.00+ stop? Place the trade, and find out if it is worth it to you? At the end of the day, $100.00 USD is not life changing, I guess it would be if you lived in poverty, but then again, if 100.00 is life changing you shouldn't be trading.

Tasuki 

General question: why does this forum have an "elite" section"? Just curious---what's the point? Seems, I dunno, elitist, doesn't it? Kind of off-putting to me.

Because running a forum, attending to it, and keeping it orderly costs money and lots of time.
Second, this is a commercial site and the fee is an exchange of ideas and education in return for a one time(!) fee.
And the third reason is that Mike Can. This is a business model, and while you have the right to refuse to become an Elite Member you also have to respect the business model one chooses to operate.

Matt Z
Optimus Futures

There is a substantial risk of loss in futures trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

mattz 

Because running a forum, attending to it, and keeping it orderly costs money and lots of time. Second, this is a commercial site and the fee is an exchange of ideas and education in return for a one time(!) fee. And the third reason is that Mike Can. This is a business model, and while you have the right to refuse to become an Elite Member you also have to respect the business model one chooses to operate. Matt Z Optimus Futures There is a substantial risk of loss in futures trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Very well put, Mr. Z and I completely agree.

I bought elite to support mike and the forum and to have a trading journal that's not open to anyone. 10 years of trading futures, 3 full time. Not something I care to have open to the public. I've created what I called auction zones, up/down candle ratios, and other trading ideas on how to exploit short term market imbalances. I talk to many members via pm and email regarding my thoughts on trading. However, I'm just 1 guy. There are tons of other traders in here with private journals that are much more interesting and innovative than mine.

it's semantics. elite is a divisive sign, I get that.

From 2009 after I created the forum:

Elite Members - Welcome to The Elite Circle The name "The Elite Circle" has special meaning for me. This Elite section of the forum is created for the people who have donated to support the site, in a way to show appreciation. Around 1992 (I was a young teenager) I ran a very large BBS …

The reason the name is "Elite". It dates back to a business I ran in 1992 as a teenager named The Elite Circle.

Mike