This report is to warn people to be sure to understand what they are getting into if they sign up for training with On-Line Trading Academy.
Their 6 or 7 day classes are $4,999 each in Atlanta, and you can retake them for life (not sure whose life that means). I don't think they will be around in another 5 years or so. You can possibly get them cheaper at some centers as I found out at the Tampa Center. In Atlanta they now require a $250 deposit be paid 14 days in advance for any retake, and if you don't show up for the class they may keep it per their new policy of April 1, 2010.
In addition On-Line Trading now has what is known as "XLT sessions (Extended Learning Track) which are "interactive webinars" over the Internet. A 12 week series of these is $6,000, and for an additional $4,000 you get them "Lifetime". Again whose lifetime that is, who knows. I think OTA may not be around all that long for most to have use of it that long.
I have taken the Pro-Trader class twice and the Forex Class once. My "counselor" threw in the Forex Class as a "freebie" (one time only) as enticement to sign up for an XLT. I paid the full price for Pro-Trader in June of 2009 but had an unexpected expense happen that required me to ask for a refund more than three (3) days after the agreement. That request was denied and I was unable to attend the class until 11 months later in May of 2010.
Each time you are involved in any class, or in special classes, OTA "coaches" use high pressure sales tactics to entice you to sign up for more and more "programs" even though you tell them you can't afford to if that is the case, as is mine. I signed up for an XLT program not understanding it was for only 12 weeks for the $6,000 fee. I couldn't get involved in the program until I had paid for it in full, and now will not get use of it after paying them $2,026. In the process of getting me to sign up for the XLT I was given another class "free". That being Forex, which I thought I had on the same lifetime basis as the Pro-Trader class but that turned out to not be the case, which I found out when I tried to schedule a re-take and was denied.
I have tried to take advantage of other training with OTA such as archived webinars only to find out there is no way to get questions answered by the instructors so they are kind of a waste of time in many respects. I was on one "live" Webinar where the instructor was so completely lost it was a joke. One of the webinars is called "Trading With The Pro's" on Thrusday evenings at 6:00 PM Eastern Time. The particular one I want to mention here was on June 24th. 2010. At 6:23 PM I gave up and signed out as I was not going to waste my whole evening on this kind of nonsense. I was on another one I can't remember the date of but it was also late getting started.
Just like any other school, or trading class, if you dare ask the instructor why they are teaching when they could be trading, and supposedly making a lot of money, you get the same BS story, and are then called names. Names like "Seminar Junkie" or as John Hyland of ISI did a, "crap magnet".
In my opinion On-Line Trading Academy is no better or worse than others like "Teach Me To Trade/Star Trader", "Invest Tools", "Better Trades", and others I have checked out. They have a concept very similar to most with some different ideas of their own of course.
Whether or not their teaching works I don't know, and may never know because I was "suspended" when I responded in the "Chat" on a live Webinar, to somebody asking about the XlT program. I said I was not impressed with them and thought they were not worth the price. I also stated I wished I had never heard of OTA. The "moderator" cut me off from posting anything further and I was subsequently cut off from everything with OTA. So be aware you better not say anything negative about OTA, and also be aware of the "High Pressure Sales" not unlike "Used Car Salesmen" as a friend of mine told the individual he talked to at OTA. Just like any other business, follow the money and the money is in teaching not trading as this again proves. I have been around a long time and the old saying "Those Who Can Do" and "Those Who Can't Teach" is nowhere as true as in the "Trading Industry".
The first time I took the Pro-Trader class it was good from the standpoint of the instructor knowing the material but from the so called "live trading" standpoint a waste of my time. By the time it takes to learn the Trade Station Platform, only being allowed to trade with a small stop loss, and only one trade at a time you do not learn much at all about live trading. That part of the class is a waste of time since most of the students will not even use Trade Station after the class. This was the instructor that labeled me a "seminar junkie" when I told him all the different schools and classes I had checked out.
The second time I took the Pro-Trader class I was not that impressed. The instructor had different ideas than the first and one thing stood out. He said he didn't fully understand the MACD indicator and didn't really use it that much. In as much as the MACD and Stochastic are the two most widely used technical indicators by traders I find that inexcusable. His concept of plotting support & resistance being contrary to what the other instructors say to use. With this kind of inconsistency how anybody can become successful is beyond me. I suspect just like with any "method" or "system" 85 tp 92 percent of traders using On-Line Trading methods will fail.
The Forex class was very marginal at best. Without the prior knowledge I had about Forex concepts and terms I would have been lost at the end of that six day class to be sure. We didn't even get the correct class manuals until the 4th. day of the class.
After I made the statement in the Webinar I was denied further attendance in any more classes so I stopped paying for the XLT. On-Line Trading Academy can sue to their hearts content but they will not get another dime from me.
One of the big factors that motivated me to sign up in May of 2009 was the tuition rebate from brokers. That proved to be a joke and a major con game by OTA.
online trading academy takes your money. the oral agreement as to why i agreed to enroll does not match the written contract. i am being assured of the full refund of $4,000.00 am still waiting although a month has passed.
Online Trading Academy free workshop and professional trader Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio Texas
The free workshop of online trading academy is totally free. It is a promotional 1/2 day to sell their courses. Nothing wrong with that. It has a bit of "bait and switch" because they tell you in the workshop that you need to take the course to learn about level II trading. Then the first day of the course, you learn you don't need level II at all -- it is not usefull anymore.
The course is nothing more than learning how to trade -- reading charts mainly. You can buy a book or take the course. It is high level on the charts and technical analysis so you will still need a good book or two after the course. You do need to know the little details of technical analysis that the course doesn't tell you.
Some of their instructors are not that good.
This company is not a ripoff but you should consider carefully if you want to spend $29 for a book (which you'll need anyway) or $$$$ for the course. Some people probably do need the "hands-on" course because they don't learn that well from a book.
I'm writing this as a reply to a question posted on this site.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Online Trading Academy is not your friend. They're in the business of selling overpriced education packages. Mine was $12,500.
What they won't tell you up front is that in order to generate the income you dream of, you MUST have a trading account of AT LEAST $5000, and $5000 is a pitiful trading account.
Most of my fellow students were of retirement age and were driving up in junk cars. It was obvious to me that they were desperate for a financial bonanza at this stage of life. Several of the students had very little computer training to speak of. I was helping some of them as best I could.
In February 2012, the week after the course ended, I went to speak to the owner in his office. I told him about my observations, as stated above. I was calm and well-mannered. He had sweat trickling down the side of his face. It's not warm and humid in Minnesota in February.
If I had any money left, I'd have hired an attorney, but OTA's pockets are deep, and their contracts are skillfully written. If there is ever a class-action against OTA, I will sign up.
ONLINE TRADING ACADEMY - BOSTON OTA Norwood , Massachusetts
You have had to be this planet a few years to understand this sophisticated, high pressure setup, but I cut throught he net just in time with all of my money intact.
The setup is the mailing entitleds R.S.V.P and your name along with an enticing invitation to a Power Trading Workshop. An addtional SPECIAL OFFER of a 2GB USB flash drive loaded with four home study courses, FREE, never materialized during my 3 of the intended 5 hour introductory session.
I was the first to show up, reasonably professional set up with 2 well equipped trading rooms, completely empty at 9:40AM EST on a weekday! There was an immediate notice of my needed inention to leave prior to the close. Hmmm, a bit strange I thought.
The session began with 8 in the room, the desperation was palpable and the collective intelligence struck me as moderate to low. The pedel went down and a Type A personality led the introduction asking several trading questions to feel out the room, followed by looks of surprise and comments of us being on the naive side and that we were lucky to be there, huge red flag.
The President came in and he was very impressive, so much so I almost bought into him soley. But he session proceeded to be high pressured.
Bottom line, without them needign to tell us, none of us were getting out that door without a lot of pressure and tactical selling, including "just for today" discounts and all of the used car methods.
A cute number of $6995 for Part 1 & 2 was plastered on the board and quickly justified about how fast that would get made back once the OTA methods were mastered and deployed.
Conclusion: You may be drawn to one of these sessions, hold your ground and by all means DO NOT sign up that day, take 24-48 hours and let it sink in and you will arrive at this board I'm sure.
$7000 buys one hell of a lot, including the best books available, the best trading web platform available, a new ultra fast computer and a few dinners for treating your friends who are successfully trading to teach you, which they'll probably do for free anyway.
Trading is not rocket science, it just takes a good brain and the commitment to learn it, the knowledge is all around us for little to no cost.
Online Trading Academy (OTA) is a professional Sales and Marketing Company that sells you your dream, and it starts with their courses starting at $6,000. Their goal is once you have bought into your dream of becoming a successful trader, they up-sell you during your seven-day class, hoping you purchase up to another $30,000! ... and if you do not choose to be up-sold, you will if you choose to re-take your class.
ALL the Sales people, called Education Counselors, work on Straight commission. They are trained professionals, or should I say, they have people who think they are professionals that have been trained by Online Trading Academy headquarters (four days!). The San Jose office has hired and fired more than 30 sales people within the last two years. The CEO could care less about his employees, his clients, etc, he is only concerned about one thing, how to turn your money into his money. He's a true professional sales person, and he is selling his employees, who are selling you!!! He learned that he'll make more money if has hundred's of people selling for him, and he teaches them how to sell the client's DREAM, totally based on emotions, nothing else. That's why they try so hard to sell you when you show up for your first Power Trading Workshop. They will even say "if you don't sign up today, we are unable to offer you x,y,and z in the future.
If you want to know how to trade, purchase five trading books and read them all. If you are unable to put the time in and read the books, you certainly do not have the discipline to put the time in and learn how to trade. So if you want to take the easy way out, attend one of their Power Trading Workshops, but when you register, dont tell them much on the phone, especially personal information.
When you attend a PTW (Power Trading Workshop), mingle with the other people and don't sit with any of the EC's (Sales People) because they are selling!
The bottom line is they are SELLING YOU YOUR DREAM! And if you think that after seven days you will become a professional trader, you deserve to loose $6,000 to Online Trading Academy, which will be first of many loosing trades. Really bad business model, which by the way, are all franchises except a few. Much the opposite of Mac Donald's, which at least provides value!
Online Trading Academy Online Trading Academy of Orlando, Florida
First of all, let me start off by saying that I really should list this as entertainment or some other category than finance/investing. It would be funny and entertaining if it didn't cost so much.
I was invited to one of their Power Trading Workshops sometime ago. It was supposed to be on a Saturday morning. When I called, a guy with a thick New York accent tells me that the workshop was cancelled. Then he quickly tells me to hold on a minute. I heard him cover the mouthpiece and then he comes back and tells me that the workshop is on.
Needless to say, I was a little confused but drove across town from the Clermont area to Orlando where their office is located. It was a 50 minute drive one way on a Saturday morning.
When I get there I noticed that there was only one car in the parking lot. So I call again on my cell phone to make sure that I am in the right place. I am assured that I am and am prompted to come in which I did.
By the way, I forgot to mention that on their website this workshop was listed as "sold out" but when I arrived I was the first and only one there. So I walked into their office and was led to a b ack room by a older white guy with a thick Italian accent. This guy looked like he could have been part of the mafia.
A few seconds later, a younger black guy walks in and turns out he is the mouthpiece of the two. He welcomes me and begins his presentation at around 10:15am, about 15 minutes late. About this time two other guys walk in. They are seated and like me wondering where the heck everybody is since t his was supposed to be "sold out."
The black guy responds that the workshop was actuually cancelled but these two decided to run it anyway since I had called. And now that there were three of us, they had an event. Another guy asks why it was listed as sold out and the black responds that it "looks better" to say sold out.
I just laughed and started to wonder what else they may alter or say because it "looks better."
All three of us walked out after 20 minutes of this very impromptu and unprofessional event. To humor us we were invited back to another workshop that would be held the following week. I workd during the week and the next workshop was scheduled for Thursday. Turns out I was able to get off that day and was going to drive a friend to the Orlando airport whichi s only a few miles from the OTA facility.
So I went and this time the parking lot was full. The office had some people in it and the star presenter was a guy that flew in all the way from California. He was supposed to be an experienced trainer. Turns out he was a experienced presenter/speaker aka salesman. This guy started by telling us (a group now of about 8 people) that we would not learn how to make money, but how not to to loose money. WOW!
Then he went on to make wise cracks about CNBC, especially Jimmy Cramer. He showed two video's of Cramer. One called: Cramer -Manipulation s supposed underground video with Cramer saying some things you wouldn't expect and then another video where Cramer talks about how silly it is to sell Bear Stearns as it was about to be a takeover target. The presenter goes on to say that Cramer was half right, Bear Stearns was a takeover target but the stock dropped by 60 points before it happened. All of us were already aware of this and I failed to see the point to this other than the presenter trying to make a case against CNBC and Jimmy Cramer.
Next the presenter shows a chart of a stock that seriously reversed. He used this as a seqway to discuss shorting stocks. I had seen this exact same chart in a Bill O'Niel book. It wasn't news. I elbowed the guy next to me and said, "I bet he talks about the double top next." Didn't even get the words out of my mouth and the double top thing came out. This is nothing new.
He then goes on to talk about shorting and says that shorting is no riskier than buying stocks. ENT!
I beg your pardon! When you buy a stock, you risk your entire investment. There is limited risk. When you short, you in ieesence borrow money to sell a stock that you don't own. If the stock goes the opposite way (as it frequently does) you use your entire investment plus much more. Shorting has unlimited risk and you have to be precise. It is a fact that more people loose money by shorting than by buying stocks.
Next event was to talk down mutual funds and mutual fund managers. The presenter says that you can't make money in mutuals anymore. ENT! A quick look on the internet proved that I was right. Over the last three years, I found over 50 mutual funds that produced an annual return ov over 20%. In fact, I even found several mutual funds that are up over 25% over the last 6 months and one that is up 38% in the last three months. But this presenter, supposedly an expert says that you can't make money in mutuals anymore. BULL!
Next he throws up a chart of the S&P 500 from 1970 to 1999. He demonstrates how "buy & hold" used to work. Then he throws up a chart of the S&P 500 over the last 10 years which obviously shows a very choppy market including the crashes of 2000 and 2008. Funny why he didn't use alonger chart. Probably figured the longer time line would dilute the turbulence.
As we broke for lunch we were treated to a decent catered lunch with hot food. While I was eating, I was approached by one of the counselors, the older Italian guy. Who pulls me into an office and talks to me while I am eating. Just makes small talk at first. Then he begins to ask me about the seminar.
"Seminar? What seminar" I respond. This was a blatant sales pitch and very misleading at that. He then asks me if I learned anything from it. I respond only that this was a a high pressure sales pitch much like Time Share and I was turned off by it. I asked him when the strategies would be discussed. He commented after lunch. I politely asked him to let me eat in peace and after the third time he got the hint.
So I went back outside to the break area at which time another counselor, the black guy from the week before comes over. Same speel. Small talk and then right for the jugular. I told him that I just told his buddy to leave me alone. This guy was more persistent and downright rude. At this point the white guy came back and told his buddy that I wanted to see some strategies and then told me that this guy would show the trading platform after lunch. If the white guy hadn't come I would have walked out.
I went to use the restrooms. What a joke. You need a code to get in and once you get in, you'll wish you hadn't. The place was a mess with paper towels and toilet paper spread all over and residue of urine and fecal matter on the walls. Looked worse than a grade school restoom. I almosy upchucked my lunch.
I went outside to smoke a cigerette and spoke with some lovely girls who worked in the complex. They suggested that I watch my car. When I asked why I was told that some cars had been borken into and that other vandalism occurred here.
So as I was about to get in my car and leave, the black guy comes out after me and tells me that the seminar is about to continue and assures me that it will be worth my while and won't take long. So I figure, what the hell and go back in.
This young black kid pulls up the trading platform. He starts drawing charts with lines going all over the place. He appeared to know what he was doing untill he came back to the charts and since this was live trading on demo account while the market was open we could follow the stock trades. They all went in the opposite direction. Five of us were left and we all giggled. One guy yelled, "OOPS??"
Obviously this kid was not very skilled in what he was trying to do. Now the presenter comes back and tries to patch us this mess. He reviews the benefits of OTA. He tells us that this has a value of at least $14,000 and is usually sold for $6990 but we would be recieving a fast cash shcolorship of $2,000 bringing the price down to a "mere $4990", his words, not mine.
He tells us that there is a tuition reimbursement available if we put up another $5,000 and sign up with their broker recommendation. This tuition reimbursement is ajoke. You get a 20% discount on commissions which are already higher than the industry standard and you have to pay a $99 monthly fee. This broker also has the highest margin interest around. Did I forget to mention that during the "seminar" the presenter was very liberal about using margin and said it was safe?
At this point the black guy tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to follow him to the office. Here it comes I thought and boy was I right. Another high pressure sales pitch much worst than the first one.
I got so mad that I walked out and this guy, the black guy followed me outside to my car. Even while I am in my car, he motions to me like a cop to roll my window down. I ask him what the hell he wants and he responds, "Sure you won't change your mind." At which point I hit the gas pedal and peeled out.
My advice is to stay away from these guys. That is unless you really need an free meal real bad and are willing to be hit with high pressure selling tactics.
It had reached the end of the training class taught in greenville sc time to sign up. When i said i would talk to my wife one of the men was very beligerent told me if i could not make that decision i was not a man. Then continued to tell me no one could teach me and he would not let them teach me anyway. I felt as though he had attacted me personaly because i wanted to talk it over with my wife.
Online trading academy, ota tax pro's aka ota tax pro's irvine california
This review is in regards to their tax division Ota tax pro's). I had the pleasure of having a consultation with a former tax consultant there earlier this year and she was a pleasure to deal with and a wealth of knowledge. Unfortunately, she is no longer with the company for various, dis-pleasurable reasons. I discovered recently that she is suing the company and the tax dept director, michael atias for sexual harrassment. I knew when i was there, i specifically requested not to meet with mr. Atias because he rubbed me the wrong way, he gave off a bunch of negative energy and struck me as very chauvinistic.
I couldn't deal with him, he was creepy. I've since spoken to the former employee and heard some of the details that are outright disgusting. Shame on you online trading academy for employing such trash!!! after doing some simple google research on this character i found a very interesting article/complaint on another site that really gives you an idea of who this character is. Here is the complaint and link to the court documents.
"ota tax pros is a spin-off of online trading academy. Although i learned a lot attending the classes at the academy, the so-called tax director, michael atias, seemed to rub me the wrong way when he did a presentation during one of my courses in irvine. So, i decided to do my due diligence and check him out. Turns out he used to work for united revenue service in the same office where the principals were indicted for tax fraud. This explains his questionable sales tactics. Do yourself a favor and do the research before committing to anything this guy has to offer; hes shady. There are more reputable tax preparation services out there.
Online Trading Academy promises a lot. When I walked in I specifically asked if such a program was designed for someone like me, at that time I was working construction (real work)had a lot saved up and I was just starting a family. I went to a free seminar and they made it seem easy to win large amounts of money in stocks and futures. Next came the payment I paid 10K for a 5 day class and a life time of online classes and support called XLT (extended learning). Since the online class was great but only at teaching basics of market terminology and market theory but i had thought it was about trading live and making money (that is what I had been led to believe). Next, i found out there was another class that was trading live and making money so after talking to the salesman I spent another 8K for that class plus a package of all the other asset class classes. Needless to say my stock trading account dwindled severly and I was out the 18K for OTA and now the 25K from failed trades. I didn't give up and decided to take their other classes in forex and futures since I had those classes in my package. I took them and did both the futures trading and fiorex and have never made a dime. I even ended up signing up for another 5K class for online help with forex trading. If I was a rich retiree or something in a way it would be understandable but i am a young man with three children and a family working a real job and they ripped me off with false promises and grass is greener in other classes ideas. If you are intrested in trading online save yourself some money just open a forex account for free, read Mark Douglas for mental stuff, and check out you tube for free videos by various traders that are actually into helping people and for free.
Online trading academy trading academy marietta, georgia
The 'half day seminar' is just an orientation about the school and the 'classes' they offer. There is no trading here. It's deceptive. It is a high pressure sales pitch! classes are $6999.
I took the first 7 day class in june. I was told there would be forex training in the class when i signed up and paid for the class. There was not! when i inquired about that i was told, 'that is another class'. Which, you guessed it! is another $6000! i was a little annoyed since that was specifically the class i said i wanted when i signed up. And then ota wants you to take classes in a certain order, which are all $6-7000.
The first class is on stocks, $7,000! it was not worth that. A lot of the time was spent sales pitching the other classes. And the instructor busy trading his own account. There is some good info for newbies but not $7,000 worth!
I signed up to take another class during a one on one sales pitch by one of the coaches. There was so much pressure put on! i felt very bad about the decision i made at the time and i continued to feel that way later so i cancelled the class i was sched for well in advance and ask for a refund of the money i put down for that class. I just found out i am being transfered by my job, which i told them also.
I haven't received a returned call or email since from any of the 3 people i've contacted!
Online Trading Academy Online trading academy Salt Lake City Nationwide
Online Trading Academy held a free information session to promote a three day "Market Timing Program" for USD 300. The program is nothing but a sales pitch to promote Online Trading Academy's tutorial programs and they make you pay to attend their sales pitch. I attended the session with a view to learn about forex markets but they had nothing much to offer; their entire focus was on selling their programs and their platform. I will not comment much about the tutorial programs as I decided not to attend this but much of this is available else where at 1/4th the cost. On the second day of the program, I expressed my displeasure to my contact ( educational counselor aka sales guy ) on why the "market timing session" turned to be nothing more than a sales pitch; he immediately said he would refund my 300 USD even before I asked for the same. Guess they knew that some would definitely react. His immediate senior wanted me to walk out of the session and said that they did not find me a right fit. The guy was very curt and was probably concerned that I might negatively influence other prospects. A very poor attitude for sales guy.
One of the attendees who left along with me mentioned that Online trading Academy is selling several similar programs (CDs and books ) on Amazon.com for 100-150 dollars, which they never mentioned during their sales pitch.
I generally don't write reviews but had to write this and alert others so they may think twice/ thrice before they spend their hard earned money on programs like this.
After what i witnessed at the free power workshop seminar program all i can say is... This cant be real. First, the intructor made up amounts of money trading options --- after quitting being a broker for many years. This is sad. I looked this up on finra, he was never a broker, and his wife was in the audience. Then he claimed the company had a patent on supply and demand? Supply and demand is how a price is formed in a market. When asked about this -- the instructor's go to line --- "we'll talk more after class" always rescused him. Also, the system they preached could make money for anyone, even if the market goes up down or sideways. When asked about it, he let an audience member explain it. It was awful and embarrassing for the intructor. After showing one concept about buying low, putting a stop loss in, and trading high, or vice versa selling high and buying low. That was it. Then before the break, which is about 20 minutes left of the workshop is when a team member came over
He only was interested if i was in finance and in sales. I said i wasn't, however, i saw notes in his hand from other people in the class. It was like watching wolves going after sheep, being trapped in a room. You could not leave until you spoke to many "brokers". They wanted your credit card information to open an account with fxcm for 2000, which would negate the cost of 300 dollars, for 3 more days of "learning and counseling". When asked how much is the forex class, the answer was --- thats what you would find out during the 3 days. So wait. Its 300 or 2000 to find out about how much the classes are for the three days? This was a joke. When i asked about the next half of the class the car salesman, hes a real one, actually googled his name from their own website, said well thats about another 20 minutes of confusing charts. A guy who claimed to work for the exchange was googled also, hes an insurance salesman. Fraud. This is illegal to lie to people for personal gain or commission.
After the seminar they sent another salesman out, or who they call, educational counselors, to keep people from complaining to other people coming outside. We we're talking about how ridiculous it was to have a patent on supply and demand, and their amazing partnership with nasdaq. Looked this up, its pretty easy to get a partnership with nasdaq. Basically, this salesman listended to our conversation then eventually stepped in and said we had it all wrong. He was asked if he was in sales, and said no, he was a "counselor" so yes he was a salesman. He just kept repeating we had it all wrong. He just wanted us to disperse, before we poisened their waters - so to say. I cant believe this place exists.
It was sad to see and listen to so many babyboomers, who are looking to trade, in their retirement years ---being misled. Their only testimonial was from 2012. I hope these guys get exposed for their fraudulent behavior, so people do not lose money to people who lie right to their face. Unbelievable.
FREE SEMINAR WHICH IMPLIES THEY HAVE SECRET SAUCE OF TRADING. EXTEMELY GOOD SALES PITCH WITH THE 'BEST' SALES PRESENTERS. CAREFUL; LEADS TO INEXPENSIVE 2 DAY SEMINAR WHICH IS ALL INTENDED TO LAND U FOR THEIR VERY EXPENSIVE 2 WEEK SEMINAR WHICH COULD BE TAUGHT IN 2 DAYS. REPETITION OF INFO WHILE ALWAYS AVOIDING RESULTS OF PROGRAM. WHEN U PUSH FOR RESULTS THEY SAY IS IMPROPER OR ILLEGAL
TOTALLY FALSE! OTHER TRADING ED SERVICES PUBLISH RESULTS. WHEN U TRY TO FOLLOW UP TO REPORT FALLCIES OF SYSTEM THEY RIDICULE AND PUT U OFF AND EVENTUNALLY DON'T RETURN CALLS. LOST 5K ON THEIR SYTEM PLUS 12K FOR COURSE
Online trading academy is unique in teaching a patented strategy to buy and sell in any market condition, combined with intensive coaching to help students develop the skills and gain the self-discipline to make consistent decisions that are not guided by emotion. Past Defunct) competitors offered road show classes in rented halls; we teach in a hands-on environment either at our physical campuses or online, where students use professional workstations and applications to trade like professionals.
Most of our classes include live market exercises, and in our core strategy class, students trade live in the markets on our accounts with our money. Students follow the instructor’s example as he or she weighs opportunities in real time and makes go or no-go decisions. This, combined with education in key investing principles, lays a solid foundation for the new investor as well as experienced traders seeking to improve their skills.
Online trading academy students also have access to a comprehensive support system including online resources, readily available technical support and a community of fellow student-investors. In addition, students may retake any paid on-location course or live online course at any time, at no charge, to improve their knowledge.
First of all they use a high pressure sales technique to brainwash those who have money into wasting it on a simple scam. Second they only give you parts of a trading strategy in each step in their education. Third is the education is not equal to each person who pays.
To elaborate. I have been trading this way for 5 years and I have lost 5 figures on my account, not including the educational price, so I have thought through the trading strategy they present quite thoroughly. It is a scam. During their high pressure sales lectures at their bases they run through images of "core strategy" working and making money. For every one that works and makes money there are two that don't. They don't show you those. Their core strategy is based on when market makers enter the market. So you are supposed to enter when they do. The thing is that you don't know what the market makers intentions may be. I have spoken with market makers who have worked for banks, that have said they have been instructed by the banks to create false moves and lose money for the bank. It's a given that sometimes you lose in the market and sometimes you win. The core strategy characteristics are quite vast and are based on human judgement. Given that fact people make errors. Any error in any part of the plan can cause you to lose. Given the fact that you can not know what the market maker is doing and human error this core strategy is extremely risky. I have hit wins with their strategy but I have hit many more losses do to those reasons. They also don't teach chart patterns or indicators, at least not at my level, and instruct you to stay clear of those and only use price action. This is because you will have greater results with these methods than their core strategy. Their core strategy is in itself a chart pattern and I supppose if you were to enhance your trading with other patterns then you wouldn't need to pay them for the next level in education. I am just now begininng to break away from their instruction, because I lose more than I make when I listen to them.
I only got as far as the XLT program because I wanted to see if the strategy would make me money and then I could move farther forward. It does not produce the resluts expected so I did not move past the XLT. However when you ask for assistance at one of the branches or even online the answer is that you will always need to purchase something else. So I did, several times. I have actually been threatened online that I will lose my privelages if I complain.
The only thing that has helped me there is the purchase of one instructor's signature series. I purchased it because I had heard his method was more consistent than the original core strategy that I paid 5 figures to obtain. This instructor does not use core strategy and his method is the only one that is consitently working for me and I am now beginning to improve my loss ratio. However... the only way I could purchase this was through the "signature series" at a cost of $3000. Every student purchasing this class had to pay $3k. The problem is that not all students paying $3k will get the equal intruction. Since I am only an XLT member I paid the $3k for three days of direct teaching. If you are a mastermind member and had dumped out more money in the other "core strategy" education you pay $3k for three days of direct teaching and get a weekly online classes with the instructor. This class is sold as aseperate enitiy for the mastermind. It's just another sales ploy to get you to dump another 5 figures into mastermind community so that you can get the extra instruction, since 3 days is not near enough to fullly comprehend a strategy. They offered other core strategy reinforcement courses to make up for what I was not getting... but why would I care about that? I don't want to trade like that anymore. So everyone pays equal price for the course but some get more than others but only if you dump more money into other classes.
I attended their free one half day introdution program and was intrigued enough to return for thier 4 day program in preparation for the thier actual "trading program". I paid $299 as an advance for the future "training program" with the assurance that the advance would be refunded if I did not choose to take the program. For serveral reasons, one of which was the payment of $25,000 (thats twenty-five thousand dollars) for the one week course, I decided not to proceed. I have spoken to three people and sent two requests for a refund. Nothing.
I have read the reviews of their successful students and I have my doubts as to thier authenticity. The other problem I have is that if the instructors are themselves so adept at trading, why are they spending their time teaching? The only answer I can think of is that the whole thing is a scam to get the people's money and deliver an expensive and probably worthless product.
Online Trading Academy....STAY AWAY...!!! I wasted $40,000.00 on their fast paced learn how to trade program. I took the free class which amounted to nothing more than a high pitched sales presentation. They make it look easy but it is not. These guys are professional marketers. They do subcontract professional traders to teach some basic fundamentals. The counsellors talk you into purchasing their Pro Trader course for $5000.00 and will even finance it for you (really a credit card from a bank). Then they hurry you to take a sold out class with two or 3 seats remaining. After that class is taken you are invited to a seminar at a local fancy hotel where you watch a professional trader make real trades and several thousand dollars. There is another repeat of the same sales pitch for another class or classes.
In my case I was offered a bundle of three remaining classes called a Platinum XLT (Extended Learning Track) for $20, 000.00 but since I had already graduated from the Pro Trader Class I was given a special one time price of $15,000.00 . They saw me coming and reeled me in. I was encouraged to take the classes before they filled up so within 9 months I had taken 4 classes. It all became information overload which I attributed my not being able to quite get a hold of things. Finally at the end of my last class I was offered a lifetime membership for everything ever currently offered by Online Trading Academy now and in the future for $25,000.00 but since I was already a Platinum XLT member I would get a one time price of $20,000.00 . Why didn't someone hit me with a baseball bat and knock some sense into me. I fell for that one also. $30,000.00 total and I to this day I have not made a penny. I had actually lost $2700.00 trading when I decided to call it a learning experience. One last thing to top it off was the entire $30,000.00 I spent was put on credit cards or personal loans. If I can steer one person away from Online Trading Academy I will think I helped them.
I reserved a spot on their beginning market trading 3-day seminar. I was unable to attend and cancelled before time of seminar. Online Trading assured me that I would recieve a full refund of $100 (per email that I still have). This was in July 2014. I have not received it yet.
I am going to provide you with a real honest review of Online Trading Academy (OTA). This is based on my experience of attending the introduction of OTA on Dec 3, 2016.
Before I get into my review, I want to tell you the reason why I decided to attend the introduction course offered by OTA.
I am involved with internet marketing. When I received OTA’s offer on my Facebook wall, it caught my attention. Being that I am always looking for other streams of income, I took a look into this and signed up for the course about 10 days before the day of the event.
I received 2 reminder calls from their office in Irvine. The calls were their way of making sure that I was going to attend the event. They also asked me if I knew anyone else that was interested in learning how to trade. I did not so I attended the seminar / sales pitch alone in Woodland Hills, CA.
Oh….during the phone calls from the representative at their Irvine office, I was told that I would receive a tablet for attending….more on that later……
So I show up on a Saturday morning for the event. The first thing I noticed is the location was in a very nice building. Once I got inside, I signed in at the front desk and was told to have a seat in the lobby until the class began.
Since it was early in the morning, it was pretty nice that they had hot food out. It was early and I had not eaten breakfast, so that was perfect timing. I remember that they had eggs, bacon, and potatoes. I have to say, the food was not bad at all. …… Or maybe I was hungry as hell because my stomach was empty.
After a quick bite to eat and waiting in the lobby for about 15 mins, a gentleman came out and introduced himself as the instructor to about 8 of us waiting in the lobby.
Online Trading Academy Reviews
Online Trading Academy, Marietta, Georgia
This report is to warn people to be sure to understand what they are getting into if they sign up for training with On-Line Trading Academy.
Their 6 or 7 day classes are $4,999 each in Atlanta, and you can retake them for life (not sure whose life that means). I don't think they will be around in another 5 years or so. You can possibly get them cheaper at some centers as I found out at the Tampa Center. In Atlanta they now require a $250 deposit be paid 14 days in advance for any retake, and if you don't show up for the class they may keep it per their new policy of April 1, 2010.
In addition On-Line Trading now has what is known as "XLT sessions (Extended Learning Track) which are "interactive webinars" over the Internet. A 12 week series of these is $6,000, and for an additional $4,000 you get them "Lifetime". Again whose lifetime that is, who knows. I think OTA may not be around all that long for most to have use of it that long.
I have taken the Pro-Trader class twice and the Forex Class once. My "counselor" threw in the Forex Class as a "freebie" (one time only) as enticement to sign up for an XLT. I paid the full price for Pro-Trader in June of 2009 but had an unexpected expense happen that required me to ask for a refund more than three (3) days after the agreement. That request was denied and I was unable to attend the class until 11 months later in May of 2010.
Each time you are involved in any class, or in special classes, OTA "coaches" use high pressure sales tactics to entice you to sign up for more and more "programs" even though you tell them you can't afford to if that is the case, as is mine. I signed up for an XLT program not understanding it was for only 12 weeks for the $6,000 fee. I couldn't get involved in the program until I had paid for it in full, and now will not get use of it after paying them $2,026. In the process of getting me to sign up for the XLT I was given another class "free". That being Forex, which I thought I had on the same lifetime basis as the Pro-Trader class but that turned out to not be the case, which I found out when I tried to schedule a re-take and was denied.
I have tried to take advantage of other training with OTA such as archived webinars only to find out there is no way to get questions answered by the instructors so they are kind of a waste of time in many respects. I was on one "live" Webinar where the instructor was so completely lost it was a joke. One of the webinars is called "Trading With The Pro's" on Thrusday evenings at 6:00 PM Eastern Time. The particular one I want to mention here was on June 24th. 2010. At 6:23 PM I gave up and signed out as I was not going to waste my whole evening on this kind of nonsense. I was on another one I can't remember the date of but it was also late getting started.
Just like any other school, or trading class, if you dare ask the instructor why they are teaching when they could be trading, and supposedly making a lot of money, you get the same BS story, and are then called names. Names like "Seminar Junkie" or as John Hyland of ISI did a, "crap magnet".
In my opinion On-Line Trading Academy is no better or worse than others like "Teach Me To Trade/Star Trader", "Invest Tools", "Better Trades", and others I have checked out. They have a concept very similar to most with some different ideas of their own of course.
Whether or not their teaching works I don't know, and may never know because I was "suspended" when I responded in the "Chat" on a live Webinar, to somebody asking about the XlT program. I said I was not impressed with them and thought they were not worth the price. I also stated I wished I had never heard of OTA. The "moderator" cut me off from posting anything further and I was subsequently cut off from everything with OTA. So be aware you better not say anything negative about OTA, and also be aware of the "High Pressure Sales" not unlike "Used Car Salesmen" as a friend of mine told the individual he talked to at OTA. Just like any other business, follow the money and the money is in teaching not trading as this again proves. I have been around a long time and the old saying "Those Who Can Do" and "Those Who Can't Teach" is nowhere as true as in the "Trading Industry".
The first time I took the Pro-Trader class it was good from the standpoint of the instructor knowing the material but from the so called "live trading" standpoint a waste of my time. By the time it takes to learn the Trade Station Platform, only being allowed to trade with a small stop loss, and only one trade at a time you do not learn much at all about live trading. That part of the class is a waste of time since most of the students will not even use Trade Station after the class. This was the instructor that labeled me a "seminar junkie" when I told him all the different schools and classes I had checked out.
The second time I took the Pro-Trader class I was not that impressed. The instructor had different ideas than the first and one thing stood out. He said he didn't fully understand the MACD indicator and didn't really use it that much. In as much as the MACD and Stochastic are the two most widely used technical indicators by traders I find that inexcusable. His concept of plotting support & resistance being contrary to what the other instructors say to use. With this kind of inconsistency how anybody can become successful is beyond me. I suspect just like with any "method" or "system" 85 tp 92 percent of traders using On-Line Trading methods will fail.
The Forex class was very marginal at best. Without the prior knowledge I had about Forex concepts and terms I would have been lost at the end of that six day class to be sure. We didn't even get the correct class manuals until the 4th. day of the class.
After I made the statement in the Webinar I was denied further attendance in any more classes so I stopped paying for the XLT. On-Line Trading Academy can sue to their hearts content but they will not get another dime from me.
One of the big factors that motivated me to sign up in May of 2009 was the tuition rebate from brokers. That proved to be a joke and a major con game by OTA.
Online Trading Academy n.y./ secaucus, New York
online trading academy takes your money. the oral agreement as to why i agreed to enroll does not match the written contract. i am being assured of the full refund of $4,000.00 am still waiting although a month has passed.
Online Trading Academy free workshop and professional trader Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio Texas
The free workshop of online trading academy is totally free. It is a promotional 1/2 day to sell their courses. Nothing wrong with that. It has a bit of "bait and switch" because they tell you in the workshop that you need to take the course to learn about level II trading. Then the first day of the course, you learn you don't need level II at all -- it is not usefull anymore.
The course is nothing more than learning how to trade -- reading charts mainly. You can buy a book or take the course. It is high level on the charts and technical analysis so you will still need a good book or two after the course. You do need to know the little details of technical analysis that the course doesn't tell you.
Some of their instructors are not that good.
This company is not a ripoff but you should consider carefully if you want to spend $29 for a book (which you'll need anyway) or $$$$ for the course. Some people probably do need the "hands-on" course because they don't learn that well from a book.
I'm writing this as a reply to a question posted on this site.
Online Trading Academy Bloomington, Minnesota
Ladies and Gentlemen, Online Trading Academy is not your friend. They're in the business of selling overpriced education packages. Mine was $12,500.
What they won't tell you up front is that in order to generate the income you dream of, you MUST have a trading account of AT LEAST $5000, and $5000 is a pitiful trading account.
Most of my fellow students were of retirement age and were driving up in junk cars. It was obvious to me that they were desperate for a financial bonanza at this stage of life. Several of the students had very little computer training to speak of. I was helping some of them as best I could.
In February 2012, the week after the course ended, I went to speak to the owner in his office. I told him about my observations, as stated above. I was calm and well-mannered. He had sweat trickling down the side of his face. It's not warm and humid in Minnesota in February.
If I had any money left, I'd have hired an attorney, but OTA's pockets are deep, and their contracts are skillfully written. If there is ever a class-action against OTA, I will sign up.
Don't give them your money or your time.
ONLINE TRADING ACADEMY - BOSTON OTA Norwood , Massachusetts
You have had to be this planet a few years to understand this sophisticated, high pressure setup, but I cut throught he net just in time with all of my money intact.
The setup is the mailing entitleds R.S.V.P and your name along with an enticing invitation to a Power Trading Workshop. An addtional SPECIAL OFFER of a 2GB USB flash drive loaded with four home study courses, FREE, never materialized during my 3 of the intended 5 hour introductory session.
I was the first to show up, reasonably professional set up with 2 well equipped trading rooms, completely empty at 9:40AM EST on a weekday! There was an immediate notice of my needed inention to leave prior to the close. Hmmm, a bit strange I thought.
The session began with 8 in the room, the desperation was palpable and the collective intelligence struck me as moderate to low. The pedel went down and a Type A personality led the introduction asking several trading questions to feel out the room, followed by looks of surprise and comments of us being on the naive side and that we were lucky to be there, huge red flag.
The President came in and he was very impressive, so much so I almost bought into him soley. But he session proceeded to be high pressured.
Bottom line, without them needign to tell us, none of us were getting out that door without a lot of pressure and tactical selling, including "just for today" discounts and all of the used car methods.
A cute number of $6995 for Part 1 & 2 was plastered on the board and quickly justified about how fast that would get made back once the OTA methods were mastered and deployed.
Conclusion: You may be drawn to one of these sessions, hold your ground and by all means DO NOT sign up that day, take 24-48 hours and let it sink in and you will arrive at this board I'm sure.
$7000 buys one hell of a lot, including the best books available, the best trading web platform available, a new ultra fast computer and a few dinners for treating your friends who are successfully trading to teach you, which they'll probably do for free anyway.
Trading is not rocket science, it just takes a good brain and the commitment to learn it, the knowledge is all around us for little to no cost.
Online Trading Academy OTA San Jose, California
Online Trading Academy (OTA) is a professional Sales and Marketing Company that sells you your dream, and it starts with their courses starting at $6,000. Their goal is once you have bought into your dream of becoming a successful trader, they up-sell you during your seven-day class, hoping you purchase up to another $30,000! ... and if you do not choose to be up-sold, you will if you choose to re-take your class.
ALL the Sales people, called Education Counselors, work on Straight commission. They are trained professionals, or should I say, they have people who think they are professionals that have been trained by Online Trading Academy headquarters (four days!). The San Jose office has hired and fired more than 30 sales people within the last two years. The CEO could care less about his employees, his clients, etc, he is only concerned about one thing, how to turn your money into his money. He's a true professional sales person, and he is selling his employees, who are selling you!!! He learned that he'll make more money if has hundred's of people selling for him, and he teaches them how to sell the client's DREAM, totally based on emotions, nothing else. That's why they try so hard to sell you when you show up for your first Power Trading Workshop. They will even say "if you don't sign up today, we are unable to offer you x,y,and z in the future.
If you want to know how to trade, purchase five trading books and read them all. If you are unable to put the time in and read the books, you certainly do not have the discipline to put the time in and learn how to trade. So if you want to take the easy way out, attend one of their Power Trading Workshops, but when you register, dont tell them much on the phone, especially personal information.
When you attend a PTW (Power Trading Workshop), mingle with the other people and don't sit with any of the EC's (Sales People) because they are selling!
The bottom line is they are SELLING YOU YOUR DREAM! And if you think that after seven days you will become a professional trader, you deserve to loose $6,000 to Online Trading Academy, which will be first of many loosing trades. Really bad business model, which by the way, are all franchises except a few. Much the opposite of Mac Donald's, which at least provides value!
Online Trading Academy Online Trading Academy of Orlando, Florida
First of all, let me start off by saying that I really should list this as entertainment or some other category than finance/investing. It would be funny and entertaining if it didn't cost so much.
I was invited to one of their Power Trading Workshops sometime ago. It was supposed to be on a Saturday morning. When I called, a guy with a thick New York accent tells me that the workshop was cancelled. Then he quickly tells me to hold on a minute. I heard him cover the mouthpiece and then he comes back and tells me that the workshop is on.
Needless to say, I was a little confused but drove across town from the Clermont area to Orlando where their office is located. It was a 50 minute drive one way on a Saturday morning.
When I get there I noticed that there was only one car in the parking lot. So I call again on my cell phone to make sure that I am in the right place. I am assured that I am and am prompted to come in which I did.
By the way, I forgot to mention that on their website this workshop was listed as "sold out" but when I arrived I was the first and only one there. So I walked into their office and was led to a b ack room by a older white guy with a thick Italian accent. This guy looked like he could have been part of the mafia.
A few seconds later, a younger black guy walks in and turns out he is the mouthpiece of the two. He welcomes me and begins his presentation at around 10:15am, about 15 minutes late. About this time two other guys walk in. They are seated and like me wondering where the heck everybody is since t his was supposed to be "sold out."
The black guy responds that the workshop was actuually cancelled but these two decided to run it anyway since I had called. And now that there were three of us, they had an event. Another guy asks why it was listed as sold out and the black responds that it "looks better" to say sold out.
I just laughed and started to wonder what else they may alter or say because it "looks better."
All three of us walked out after 20 minutes of this very impromptu and unprofessional event. To humor us we were invited back to another workshop that would be held the following week. I workd during the week and the next workshop was scheduled for Thursday. Turns out I was able to get off that day and was going to drive a friend to the Orlando airport whichi s only a few miles from the OTA facility.
So I went and this time the parking lot was full. The office had some people in it and the star presenter was a guy that flew in all the way from California. He was supposed to be an experienced trainer. Turns out he was a experienced presenter/speaker aka salesman. This guy started by telling us (a group now of about 8 people) that we would not learn how to make money, but how not to to loose money. WOW!
Then he went on to make wise cracks about CNBC, especially Jimmy Cramer. He showed two video's of Cramer. One called: Cramer -Manipulation s supposed underground video with Cramer saying some things you wouldn't expect and then another video where Cramer talks about how silly it is to sell Bear Stearns as it was about to be a takeover target. The presenter goes on to say that Cramer was half right, Bear Stearns was a takeover target but the stock dropped by 60 points before it happened. All of us were already aware of this and I failed to see the point to this other than the presenter trying to make a case against CNBC and Jimmy Cramer.
Next the presenter shows a chart of a stock that seriously reversed. He used this as a seqway to discuss shorting stocks. I had seen this exact same chart in a Bill O'Niel book. It wasn't news. I elbowed the guy next to me and said, "I bet he talks about the double top next." Didn't even get the words out of my mouth and the double top thing came out. This is nothing new.
He then goes on to talk about shorting and says that shorting is no riskier than buying stocks. ENT!
I beg your pardon! When you buy a stock, you risk your entire investment. There is limited risk. When you short, you in ieesence borrow money to sell a stock that you don't own. If the stock goes the opposite way (as it frequently does) you use your entire investment plus much more. Shorting has unlimited risk and you have to be precise. It is a fact that more people loose money by shorting than by buying stocks.
Next event was to talk down mutual funds and mutual fund managers. The presenter says that you can't make money in mutuals anymore. ENT! A quick look on the internet proved that I was right. Over the last three years, I found over 50 mutual funds that produced an annual return ov over 20%. In fact, I even found several mutual funds that are up over 25% over the last 6 months and one that is up 38% in the last three months. But this presenter, supposedly an expert says that you can't make money in mutuals anymore. BULL!
Next he throws up a chart of the S&P 500 from 1970 to 1999. He demonstrates how "buy & hold" used to work. Then he throws up a chart of the S&P 500 over the last 10 years which obviously shows a very choppy market including the crashes of 2000 and 2008. Funny why he didn't use alonger chart. Probably figured the longer time line would dilute the turbulence.
As we broke for lunch we were treated to a decent catered lunch with hot food. While I was eating, I was approached by one of the counselors, the older Italian guy. Who pulls me into an office and talks to me while I am eating. Just makes small talk at first. Then he begins to ask me about the seminar.
"Seminar? What seminar" I respond. This was a blatant sales pitch and very misleading at that. He then asks me if I learned anything from it. I respond only that this was a a high pressure sales pitch much like Time Share and I was turned off by it. I asked him when the strategies would be discussed. He commented after lunch. I politely asked him to let me eat in peace and after the third time he got the hint.
So I went back outside to the break area at which time another counselor, the black guy from the week before comes over. Same speel. Small talk and then right for the jugular. I told him that I just told his buddy to leave me alone. This guy was more persistent and downright rude. At this point the white guy came back and told his buddy that I wanted to see some strategies and then told me that this guy would show the trading platform after lunch. If the white guy hadn't come I would have walked out.
I went to use the restrooms. What a joke. You need a code to get in and once you get in, you'll wish you hadn't. The place was a mess with paper towels and toilet paper spread all over and residue of urine and fecal matter on the walls. Looked worse than a grade school restoom. I almosy upchucked my lunch.
I went outside to smoke a cigerette and spoke with some lovely girls who worked in the complex. They suggested that I watch my car. When I asked why I was told that some cars had been borken into and that other vandalism occurred here.
So as I was about to get in my car and leave, the black guy comes out after me and tells me that the seminar is about to continue and assures me that it will be worth my while and won't take long. So I figure, what the hell and go back in.
This young black kid pulls up the trading platform. He starts drawing charts with lines going all over the place. He appeared to know what he was doing untill he came back to the charts and since this was live trading on demo account while the market was open we could follow the stock trades. They all went in the opposite direction. Five of us were left and we all giggled. One guy yelled, "OOPS??"
Obviously this kid was not very skilled in what he was trying to do. Now the presenter comes back and tries to patch us this mess. He reviews the benefits of OTA. He tells us that this has a value of at least $14,000 and is usually sold for $6990 but we would be recieving a fast cash shcolorship of $2,000 bringing the price down to a "mere $4990", his words, not mine.
He tells us that there is a tuition reimbursement available if we put up another $5,000 and sign up with their broker recommendation. This tuition reimbursement is ajoke. You get a 20% discount on commissions which are already higher than the industry standard and you have to pay a $99 monthly fee. This broker also has the highest margin interest around. Did I forget to mention that during the "seminar" the presenter was very liberal about using margin and said it was safe?
At this point the black guy tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to follow him to the office. Here it comes I thought and boy was I right. Another high pressure sales pitch much worst than the first one.
I got so mad that I walked out and this guy, the black guy followed me outside to my car. Even while I am in my car, he motions to me like a cop to roll my window down. I ask him what the hell he wants and he responds, "Sure you won't change your mind." At which point I hit the gas pedal and peeled out.
My advice is to stay away from these guys. That is unless you really need an free meal real bad and are willing to be hit with high pressure selling tactics.
Online trading academy charlotte north carolina
It had reached the end of the training class taught in greenville sc time to sign up. When i said i would talk to my wife one of the men was very beligerent told me if i could not make that decision i was not a man. Then continued to tell me no one could teach me and he would not let them teach me anyway. I felt as though he had attacted me personaly because i wanted to talk it over with my wife.
Online trading academy, ota tax pro's aka ota tax pro's irvine california
This review is in regards to their tax division Ota tax pro's). I had the pleasure of having a consultation with a former tax consultant there earlier this year and she was a pleasure to deal with and a wealth of knowledge. Unfortunately, she is no longer with the company for various, dis-pleasurable reasons. I discovered recently that she is suing the company and the tax dept director, michael atias for sexual harrassment. I knew when i was there, i specifically requested not to meet with mr. Atias because he rubbed me the wrong way, he gave off a bunch of negative energy and struck me as very chauvinistic.
I couldn't deal with him, he was creepy. I've since spoken to the former employee and heard some of the details that are outright disgusting. Shame on you online trading academy for employing such trash!!! after doing some simple google research on this character i found a very interesting article/complaint on another site that really gives you an idea of who this character is. Here is the complaint and link to the court documents.
"ota tax pros is a spin-off of online trading academy. Although i learned a lot attending the classes at the academy, the so-called tax director, michael atias, seemed to rub me the wrong way when he did a presentation during one of my courses in irvine. So, i decided to do my due diligence and check him out. Turns out he used to work for united revenue service in the same office where the principals were indicted for tax fraud. This explains his questionable sales tactics. Do yourself a favor and do the research before committing to anything this guy has to offer; hes shady. There are more reputable tax preparation services out there.
Online Trading Academy Nationwide
Online Trading Academy promises a lot. When I walked in I specifically asked if such a program was designed for someone like me, at that time I was working construction (real work)had a lot saved up and I was just starting a family. I went to a free seminar and they made it seem easy to win large amounts of money in stocks and futures. Next came the payment I paid 10K for a 5 day class and a life time of online classes and support called XLT (extended learning). Since the online class was great but only at teaching basics of market terminology and market theory but i had thought it was about trading live and making money (that is what I had been led to believe). Next, i found out there was another class that was trading live and making money so after talking to the salesman I spent another 8K for that class plus a package of all the other asset class classes. Needless to say my stock trading account dwindled severly and I was out the 18K for OTA and now the 25K from failed trades. I didn't give up and decided to take their other classes in forex and futures since I had those classes in my package. I took them and did both the futures trading and fiorex and have never made a dime. I even ended up signing up for another 5K class for online help with forex trading. If I was a rich retiree or something in a way it would be understandable but i am a young man with three children and a family working a real job and they ripped me off with false promises and grass is greener in other classes ideas. If you are intrested in trading online save yourself some money just open a forex account for free, read Mark Douglas for mental stuff, and check out you tube for free videos by various traders that are actually into helping people and for free.
Online trading academy trading academy marietta, georgia
The 'half day seminar' is just an orientation about the school and the 'classes' they offer. There is no trading here. It's deceptive. It is a high pressure sales pitch! classes are $6999.
I took the first 7 day class in june. I was told there would be forex training in the class when i signed up and paid for the class. There was not! when i inquired about that i was told, 'that is another class'. Which, you guessed it! is another $6000! i was a little annoyed since that was specifically the class i said i wanted when i signed up. And then ota wants you to take classes in a certain order, which are all $6-7000.
The first class is on stocks, $7,000! it was not worth that. A lot of the time was spent sales pitching the other classes. And the instructor busy trading his own account. There is some good info for newbies but not $7,000 worth!
I signed up to take another class during a one on one sales pitch by one of the coaches. There was so much pressure put on! i felt very bad about the decision i made at the time and i continued to feel that way later so i cancelled the class i was sched for well in advance and ask for a refund of the money i put down for that class. I just found out i am being transfered by my job, which i told them also.
I haven't received a returned call or email since from any of the 3 people i've contacted!
Very unprofessional!
Buyer beware!
Online Trading Academy Online trading academy Salt Lake City Nationwide
Online Trading Academy held a free information session to promote a three day "Market Timing Program" for USD 300. The program is nothing but a sales pitch to promote Online Trading Academy's tutorial programs and they make you pay to attend their sales pitch. I attended the session with a view to learn about forex markets but they had nothing much to offer; their entire focus was on selling their programs and their platform. I will not comment much about the tutorial programs as I decided not to attend this but much of this is available else where at 1/4th the cost. On the second day of the program, I expressed my displeasure to my contact ( educational counselor aka sales guy ) on why the "market timing session" turned to be nothing more than a sales pitch; he immediately said he would refund my 300 USD even before I asked for the same. Guess they knew that some would definitely react. His immediate senior wanted me to walk out of the session and said that they did not find me a right fit. The guy was very curt and was probably concerned that I might negatively influence other prospects. A very poor attitude for sales guy.
One of the attendees who left along with me mentioned that Online trading Academy is selling several similar programs (CDs and books ) on Amazon.com for 100-150 dollars, which they never mentioned during their sales pitch.
I generally don't write reviews but had to write this and alert others so they may think twice/ thrice before they spend their hard earned money on programs like this.
Online trading academy new york new york
After what i witnessed at the free power workshop seminar program all i can say is... This cant be real. First, the intructor made up amounts of money trading options --- after quitting being a broker for many years. This is sad. I looked this up on finra, he was never a broker, and his wife was in the audience. Then he claimed the company had a patent on supply and demand? Supply and demand is how a price is formed in a market. When asked about this -- the instructor's go to line --- "we'll talk more after class" always rescused him. Also, the system they preached could make money for anyone, even if the market goes up down or sideways. When asked about it, he let an audience member explain it. It was awful and embarrassing for the intructor. After showing one concept about buying low, putting a stop loss in, and trading high, or vice versa selling high and buying low. That was it. Then before the break, which is about 20 minutes left of the workshop is when a team member came over
He only was interested if i was in finance and in sales. I said i wasn't, however, i saw notes in his hand from other people in the class. It was like watching wolves going after sheep, being trapped in a room. You could not leave until you spoke to many "brokers". They wanted your credit card information to open an account with fxcm for 2000, which would negate the cost of 300 dollars, for 3 more days of "learning and counseling". When asked how much is the forex class, the answer was --- thats what you would find out during the 3 days. So wait. Its 300 or 2000 to find out about how much the classes are for the three days? This was a joke. When i asked about the next half of the class the car salesman, hes a real one, actually googled his name from their own website, said well thats about another 20 minutes of confusing charts. A guy who claimed to work for the exchange was googled also, hes an insurance salesman. Fraud. This is illegal to lie to people for personal gain or commission.
After the seminar they sent another salesman out, or who they call, educational counselors, to keep people from complaining to other people coming outside. We we're talking about how ridiculous it was to have a patent on supply and demand, and their amazing partnership with nasdaq. Looked this up, its pretty easy to get a partnership with nasdaq. Basically, this salesman listended to our conversation then eventually stepped in and said we had it all wrong. He was asked if he was in sales, and said no, he was a "counselor" so yes he was a salesman. He just kept repeating we had it all wrong. He just wanted us to disperse, before we poisened their waters - so to say. I cant believe this place exists.
It was sad to see and listen to so many babyboomers, who are looking to trade, in their retirement years ---being misled. Their only testimonial was from 2012. I hope these guys get exposed for their fraudulent behavior, so people do not lose money to people who lie right to their face. Unbelievable.
Online Trading Academy San Jose California
FREE SEMINAR WHICH IMPLIES THEY HAVE SECRET SAUCE OF TRADING. EXTEMELY GOOD SALES PITCH WITH THE 'BEST' SALES PRESENTERS. CAREFUL; LEADS TO INEXPENSIVE 2 DAY SEMINAR WHICH IS ALL INTENDED TO LAND U FOR THEIR VERY EXPENSIVE 2 WEEK SEMINAR WHICH COULD BE TAUGHT IN 2 DAYS. REPETITION OF INFO WHILE ALWAYS AVOIDING RESULTS OF PROGRAM. WHEN U PUSH FOR RESULTS THEY SAY IS IMPROPER OR ILLEGAL
TOTALLY FALSE! OTHER TRADING ED SERVICES PUBLISH RESULTS. WHEN U TRY TO FOLLOW UP TO REPORT FALLCIES OF SYSTEM THEY RIDICULE AND PUT U OFF AND EVENTUNALLY DON'T RETURN CALLS. LOST 5K ON THEIR SYTEM PLUS 12K FOR COURSE
VERY EXPENSIVE LESSON BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE
TOM, SAN ANSELMO, CALIF
Online trading academy is unique in teaching a patented strategy to buy and sell in any market condition, combined with intensive coaching to help students develop the skills and gain the self-discipline to make consistent decisions that are not guided by emotion. Past Defunct) competitors offered road show classes in rented halls; we teach in a hands-on environment either at our physical campuses or online, where students use professional workstations and applications to trade like professionals.
Most of our classes include live market exercises, and in our core strategy class, students trade live in the markets on our accounts with our money. Students follow the instructor’s example as he or she weighs opportunities in real time and makes go or no-go decisions. This, combined with education in key investing principles, lays a solid foundation for the new investor as well as experienced traders seeking to improve their skills.
Online trading academy students also have access to a comprehensive support system including online resources, readily available technical support and a community of fellow student-investors. In addition, students may retake any paid on-location course or live online course at any time, at no charge, to improve their knowledge.
First of all they use a high pressure sales technique to brainwash those who have money into wasting it on a simple scam. Second they only give you parts of a trading strategy in each step in their education. Third is the education is not equal to each person who pays.
To elaborate. I have been trading this way for 5 years and I have lost 5 figures on my account, not including the educational price, so I have thought through the trading strategy they present quite thoroughly. It is a scam. During their high pressure sales lectures at their bases they run through images of "core strategy" working and making money. For every one that works and makes money there are two that don't. They don't show you those. Their core strategy is based on when market makers enter the market. So you are supposed to enter when they do. The thing is that you don't know what the market makers intentions may be. I have spoken with market makers who have worked for banks, that have said they have been instructed by the banks to create false moves and lose money for the bank. It's a given that sometimes you lose in the market and sometimes you win. The core strategy characteristics are quite vast and are based on human judgement. Given that fact people make errors. Any error in any part of the plan can cause you to lose. Given the fact that you can not know what the market maker is doing and human error this core strategy is extremely risky. I have hit wins with their strategy but I have hit many more losses do to those reasons. They also don't teach chart patterns or indicators, at least not at my level, and instruct you to stay clear of those and only use price action. This is because you will have greater results with these methods than their core strategy. Their core strategy is in itself a chart pattern and I supppose if you were to enhance your trading with other patterns then you wouldn't need to pay them for the next level in education. I am just now begininng to break away from their instruction, because I lose more than I make when I listen to them.
I only got as far as the XLT program because I wanted to see if the strategy would make me money and then I could move farther forward. It does not produce the resluts expected so I did not move past the XLT. However when you ask for assistance at one of the branches or even online the answer is that you will always need to purchase something else. So I did, several times. I have actually been threatened online that I will lose my privelages if I complain.
The only thing that has helped me there is the purchase of one instructor's signature series. I purchased it because I had heard his method was more consistent than the original core strategy that I paid 5 figures to obtain. This instructor does not use core strategy and his method is the only one that is consitently working for me and I am now beginning to improve my loss ratio. However... the only way I could purchase this was through the "signature series" at a cost of $3000. Every student purchasing this class had to pay $3k. The problem is that not all students paying $3k will get the equal intruction. Since I am only an XLT member I paid the $3k for three days of direct teaching. If you are a mastermind member and had dumped out more money in the other "core strategy" education you pay $3k for three days of direct teaching and get a weekly online classes with the instructor. This class is sold as aseperate enitiy for the mastermind. It's just another sales ploy to get you to dump another 5 figures into mastermind community so that you can get the extra instruction, since 3 days is not near enough to fullly comprehend a strategy. They offered other core strategy reinforcement courses to make up for what I was not getting... but why would I care about that? I don't want to trade like that anymore. So everyone pays equal price for the course but some get more than others but only if you dump more money into other classes.
I attended their free one half day introdution program and was intrigued enough to return for thier 4 day program in preparation for the thier actual "trading program". I paid $299 as an advance for the future "training program" with the assurance that the advance would be refunded if I did not choose to take the program. For serveral reasons, one of which was the payment of $25,000 (thats twenty-five thousand dollars) for the one week course, I decided not to proceed. I have spoken to three people and sent two requests for a refund. Nothing.
I have read the reviews of their successful students and I have my doubts as to thier authenticity. The other problem I have is that if the instructors are themselves so adept at trading, why are they spending their time teaching? The only answer I can think of is that the whole thing is a scam to get the people's money and deliver an expensive and probably worthless product.
Online Trading Academy....STAY AWAY...!!! I wasted $40,000.00 on their fast paced learn how to trade program. I took the free class which amounted to nothing more than a high pitched sales presentation. They make it look easy but it is not. These guys are professional marketers. They do subcontract professional traders to teach some basic fundamentals. The counsellors talk you into purchasing their Pro Trader course for $5000.00 and will even finance it for you (really a credit card from a bank). Then they hurry you to take a sold out class with two or 3 seats remaining. After that class is taken you are invited to a seminar at a local fancy hotel where you watch a professional trader make real trades and several thousand dollars. There is another repeat of the same sales pitch for another class or classes.
In my case I was offered a bundle of three remaining classes called a Platinum XLT (Extended Learning Track) for $20, 000.00 but since I had already graduated from the Pro Trader Class I was given a special one time price of $15,000.00 . They saw me coming and reeled me in. I was encouraged to take the classes before they filled up so within 9 months I had taken 4 classes. It all became information overload which I attributed my not being able to quite get a hold of things. Finally at the end of my last class I was offered a lifetime membership for everything ever currently offered by Online Trading Academy now and in the future for $25,000.00 but since I was already a Platinum XLT member I would get a one time price of $20,000.00 . Why didn't someone hit me with a baseball bat and knock some sense into me. I fell for that one also. $30,000.00 total and I to this day I have not made a penny. I had actually lost $2700.00 trading when I decided to call it a learning experience. One last thing to top it off was the entire $30,000.00 I spent was put on credit cards or personal loans. If I can steer one person away from Online Trading Academy I will think I helped them.
I reserved a spot on their beginning market trading 3-day seminar. I was unable to attend and cancelled before time of seminar. Online Trading assured me that I would recieve a full refund of $100 (per email that I still have). This was in July 2014. I have not received it yet.
I am going to provide you with a real honest review of Online Trading Academy (OTA). This is based on my experience of attending the introduction of OTA on Dec 3, 2016.
Before I get into my review, I want to tell you the reason why I decided to attend the introduction course offered by OTA.
I am involved with internet marketing. When I received OTA’s offer on my Facebook wall, it caught my attention. Being that I am always looking for other streams of income, I took a look into this and signed up for the course about 10 days before the day of the event.
I received 2 reminder calls from their office in Irvine. The calls were their way of making sure that I was going to attend the event. They also asked me if I knew anyone else that was interested in learning how to trade. I did not so I attended the seminar / sales pitch alone in Woodland Hills, CA.
Oh….during the phone calls from the representative at their Irvine office, I was told that I would receive a tablet for attending….more on that later……
So I show up on a Saturday morning for the event. The first thing I noticed is the location was in a very nice building. Once I got inside, I signed in at the front desk and was told to have a seat in the lobby until the class began.
Since it was early in the morning, it was pretty nice that they had hot food out. It was early and I had not eaten breakfast, so that was perfect timing. I remember that they had eggs, bacon, and potatoes. I have to say, the food was not bad at all. …… Or maybe I was hungry as hell because my stomach was empty.
After a quick bite to eat and waiting in the lobby for about 15 mins, a gentleman came out and introduced himself as the instructor to about 8 of us waiting in the lobby.