Hi, Just wondering if anyone has heard or had any experience (s) with a training program called BetterTrades.com. I did attend one event and liked what I heard but I have been around the block enough times to realize it pays to get as much information before making any commitments............so if anyone has any feedback it would be appreciated.
Not only have I been "around the block," I have been around much of the world. From visiting the Far East where one can find the "land of the morning calm" (South Korea), to travels across the middle of Africa (from Kenya to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea) and Europe, all people are one as relates to the need of leveraging capital.
I have handled PowerPoint presentation development for Managers and their subordinates at many brokerages pitching all sorts of financial tools and working with many different mindsets.
Now, I have just completed (12-13 November, in E. Rutherford, NJ) "the basics" seminar instructed by Mr. Robert Roy. "Rob" offers contracted services to BetterTrades.com.
My B.S. degree is in Accounting ('71). I am qualified to speak to many matters of diverse financial interest having worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Morgan Stanley and more. From income receipt to income preservation (it is not how much you earn but how much you hold onto), I have handled audit compilations and tax preparation work of highly complex nature.
The completeness of two days of education can only be considered in light of not what some may think should be added but in terms of what some might think should be omitted.
Now, consider just who sits in the seminar. I sat next to a retired Eastern Airlines pilot of some 20+ years. To my other side was a US Post Office mail carrier. Three rows in front (and in the front row) was a man well beyond 70 years in age. There were single parent women and there was one woman who stated she is an MD in the specialty of being a neurosurgeon.
That one speaker could speak to such a diverse group for more than 15 hours in two days is a rare occurance in its own right. But that the instructor also brought more than a rudimentary schedule of his own trading portfolio and had ability to field questions of active traders as well as persons who had not even owned a financial instrument, was nothing less than really awesome.
A family affair? Yes, BetterTrades.com does suggest that one bring their teenage children (at no additional cost) as they may be helpful in helping good ole dad/mom overcome adversity to using the high tech of wireless networking and/or aircard connection of their laptop.
Motivation is the key. There is far more to be gleaned and perhaps much to be gained both financially and otherwise.
Yes, the seminar package is a significant sum when considering how one might spend over two grand for just two days of informational content available from many sources at little or no cost. But it is in the packaging that a difference is experienced. Not just in the fact that one cannot discern any portion as mere filler, but also in the fact that critics would be hard pressed to cite "sins of omission."
Most important, the mail carrier does not leave with the idea that he has been given a sure bet at finding a pot of gold any more than the retired airline pilot (with a huge sum of 401K assets and a high net worth) thinks he can better handle investment practices without having to give up some of his own "freetime" pleasures such as being an actor in a performing theatrical company and/or reduce his second career -- 40-hour per week employment with the FAA.
But both gain confidence that they are potentially better managers of their life since having opened to page one of the syllabus some 48 hours earlier. And they both know the sense of being well counseled in there being no such thing as small or large acts, just small or large actors.
Participants gave a high approval rating to the content just by the fact that they stayed the course. Hard to do in a place like the environment of NY-NJ-CT where the "New York minute" is known far better than are puts and calls.
Is the seminar cost the end? Is more sold? Oh yes, much more is offered as "tools" for the new endeavor that many are confident to begin pursuing. And the toolset offering is merely that: an encouragement to become professional by helping one be organized in analyzing, evaluating and executing trades. But just as the carpenter depends on a toolset, the logic of use of trading tools does not replace the need for knowledge and experience in their usage.
Still, the school of hard knocks need not be the only way to grow wealth. Indeed, one does not need to reinvent the wheel.
The toolsets are enablers that help encourage best practices and do not in any way suggest themselves as being the primary key to buy/sell decisions. Just as a carpenter has proficiency from use of an air hammer rather than mere brute force, no one felt that if he only had a hammer all could be solved. There is no escaping the need for many hours of disciplined learning and practice. In fact, three paper trades per day, each and every day were explictly suggested for a period of several months. One should complete as many as 200-300 paper trades as well as re-listen (using the supplied CDs) to the basics and repeatedly review the videos (using the supplied DVDs) until a significant percentage of a particular kind of trade produces favorable results. Only then is one encouraged to move to real money trading.
So, the BetterTrades.com basics' course is life "as good as it gets" in matters of asset accumulation and asset preservation. From income generation to viewpoints on tax minimizing strategies, nothing is left untouched. And neither is your wallet. But if being parted from one's money is the most difficult item for a person, it is also an indication of how strongly is the need for empowerment.
The last sentence of the Declaration of Independence reads:
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
Carl Becker, 1873-1945, (an American historian, Professor of History at Cornell, 1917-1941) deemed the last sentence of the Declaration of Independence to be "perfection itself."
It is true (assuming that men value life more than property, which is doubtful) that the statement violates the rhetorical rule of climax; but it was a sure sense that made Jefferson place "lives" first and "fortunes" second. How much weaker if he had written "our fortunes, our lives, and our sacred honor"! Or suppose him to have used the word "property" instead of "fortunes"! Or suppose him to have omitted "sacred"! Consider the effect of omitting any of the words, such as the last two "ours" -- "our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor."
No, the sentence can hardly be improved.
And in my opinion, the teaching of Rob Roy in his contracted services for BetterTrades.com can only evolve in its already high value offering. Just as there are two sides to a coin, one can certainly gain more perspective with each opportunity of meeting with Rob. (And yes, re-takes of the seminar are possible for a fee of only $99.) Re-takes are encouraged in as few as 1-2 months after the initial class and then on a continuing, annual basis.
