Definitive Guide To Trading Courses 3 (2024)

Mini-Class 3 – "Due Diligence"
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Today is the fun day! Today we start to look at the details of the courses you are considering. In business, it is called “due diligence.” Simply put, it is an in-depth look at the course, before buying.

Just doing some simple searches, and asking the right questions, can lead you to a proper decision.

Click the spreadsheet icon below to download it.

Before we begin, at this point you should have 1 to 5 trading education packages picked out. If you don’t, go back to mini-class #2 and complete that first.

For each package, you should look into each of the areas detailed below. To help keep “score,” I have created a spreadsheet to help you evaluate the trading package.

Course Details
Does the course cover all the topics you want it to? There is nothing like buying a course, only to find it covers only a portion of what you need to succeed. Make sure you get an in-depth list of topics covered.

Instructor Details and Background
Who is the instructor, and what are his/her credentials? You really want to learn from someone who has actual trading experience. Unfortunately, many so-called instructors do not have any real experience.

Trader p*rn
Does the course/website show a lot of “trader p*rn?” Trader p*rn consists of photos of fancy cars, exotic locations, bottles of expensive liquor, scantily clad women, etc. Or, does the website talk incessantly about how easy trading is, how it only takes 10 minutes a day, etc.? That is a form of trader p*rn, too – selling the dream.

Make sure you check the vendor’s Twitter and Instagram accounts, since this is where most trader p*rn shows up. Here are some examples:

Anything you see or read that focuses on the wealth you’ll supposedly achieve, instead of the details of the course, is a red flag.

Course Cost
Does the course seem too cheap, or does it seem too expensive? Both can be bad. A course that costs $10,000 or more might be very good, or it could be way too expensive, given your risk capital. A higher cost does not always mean it is better.

On the other hand, if the course is only $99, maybe it is too cheap. After all, what kind of trading secrets are worth only $99? This low price could be just a way to get you “in the pipeline,” where the vendor will eventually try to sell you something much more expensive.

Investigate the array of products offered. If it seems like you will be pressured into buying more and more expensive products over time, be careful.
Based on my experience, a reasonable price to pay for complete and quality information is anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000.

Free Information
Most vendors provide quite a bit of free trading information on their website. This could include articles, videos, interviews and more. Carefully examine all the information. If the free information is good, if you learn from it, and if it resonates with you, then the paid material will likely be just as good or even better.

Free Webinars
Most vendors provide webinars so you can see the educator in action. Look for education first - did you learn something during the free webinar, or was it one big sales pitch? The answer will tell you a lot!

Extra, Add-Ons
Check to make sure if the trading package requires any special software from another source. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the important thing is that you account for it in any cost analysis.

Support
What kind of support is provided for the class? Is support from the instructor, or is it outsourced? Many trading courses have unqualified 3rd parties provide support. This is a good question to ask when you contact the vendor via e-mail (see below).

Check Review Sites
While there are ways that vendors cheat the system, in general published reviews and testimonials on websites are usually fairly accurate. Some sites to check:
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Ripoffreport.com
Bbb.org
Yelp.com
Tradingschools.org
Elitetrader.com
Futures.io
Trustpilot.com

Check each site, and see what others have experienced with this vendor. One key to remember – most 3rd party review sites offer vendors something called “reputation management.” For a fee, the review site will hide or delete some of the bad reviews.

Review Website History
Not many people do this, but head over to archive.org and enter the trading course website in the Wayback Machine. You can then look at snapshots of the website through time. This may bring up more questions to ask, such as “why is your site only 1 year old, when you claim to have helped traders for 10 years?”

Contact Vendor Via E-Mail
Send the vendor an e-mail. How quickly do you get a response? If it takes a week to get a response (or if you get no response), just imagine how bad the support will be AFTER the vendor has your money!

Some possible things to ask the vendor:

1. Can you give me names and contact information of a few students that I could talk to?
2. Can you give me the names and contact information of a few students who returned your material?
3. Do you trade actively right now?
4. Can you share a recent brokerage statement? (Realize though that statements can be photoshopped)
5. Why should I NOT take your course?
6. Why do you sell the course, if you are such a profitable trader?
7. Who will provide me with support after the class? You (instructor), an underling (do they trade?), someone else?
8. Have you ever been convicted of a crime?
9. Have you ever been sanctioned/disciplined by a financial regulating authority?

Contact Vendor Via Skype

If the vendor is willing to talk, definitely do this. Does he try to sell you, or does he try to help you? A simple conversation will go a long way in helping you make a good decision.

Contact Happy Students
If you ask the vendor for a list of students, contact a few of them at random. Try to get them on a Skype call if you can, since some vendors are actually the people behind the e-mails of some of their “students.”
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If you are really paranoid/suspicious, check the IP addresses of their e-mails. That might tip you off that the vendor is pretending to be a student. (By the way, you might think this is crazy, but there have been cases where a vendor or vendor’s employees pretends to be a student).

Contact Mad Students
Ask the vendor if you could contact a student or 2 who returned the education package. Now, these people might not be willing to talk, but if they do talk to you, you could get an interesting perspective. The vendor may say no, and the former student may say no, but it does not hurt to ask!

Check Testimonials - Reverse Google Image Search
I remember a few years ago viewing a trading website. There was a nice testimonial from a “Nail Ryan.” He had very nice things to say about some trading room. Problem was that the photo was of ME!

I immediately contacted the website, and eventually the testimonial disappeared. Fake testimonial busted!

I suspect there are a ton of fake testimonials floating around, so it is worth checking them out. You can google names when possible, and do reverse image searches with:

https://tineye.com/
https://images.google.com/
https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a25226475/how-to-do-a-reverse-image-search/

Obviously, if you find a fake testimonial, that package should be eliminated from consideration!


Gut Feel
I don’t like intuition for trading, but for buying a trading course? Sure.

If something feels off, sounds strange, or rubs you the wrong way, just walk away. That is your intuition speaking, and usually it is right!
In cases like this, listen to your gut.

Money Back Guarantee

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​Don’t buy a course unless it has a money back guarantee. Preferably, such a guarantee will be “no questions asked.”

I remember the first trading course I ever bought had a money back guarantee. But, to get it, I had to keep good records of trades, positions, etc. I did, and to my astonishment, the vendor actually refunded my money!

A money back guarantee is good to have, because even if the vendor balks at returning your money, Paypal and credit card companies generally will find in the consumer’s favor when disputes arise.

Figure Out Why It Is Priced So Low – Where Is This Headed?
Maybe a trading course for $99 is a great deal. Or maybe it is just a teaser for a $15,000 package. Many trading educators just want to get you to buy something – anything – because then they can focus their efforts on selling the high priced (for you), high profit (for them) item.

Just be sure to ask the vendor if there are additional up-sells coming your way. They may be worthwhile, they may not be, but at least you’ll know.

Scammers Will Scam
Regardless of the amount of due diligence you do, realize that scammers will always be trying to scam you. Fake statements, photoshopped trade histories, exaggerated claims, fraudulent testimonials – the list goes on and on. Just be skeptical, and be careful.


Today’s Homework Assignment:
Before going to the next section, be sure to complete these tasks:

HOMEWORK TASK 1: Run through the checklist for each trading course you are considering.
HOMEWORK TASK 2: Pick the best course (you can use scoring spreadsheet as excellent guide), and buy it! Or, redo earlier steps if no course meets your requirements.

Previous Class #1
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Previous Class #2

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About The Author: Kevin Davey is an award winning private futures, forex and commodities trader. He has been trading for over 25 years.Three consecutive years, Kevin achieved over 100% annual returns in a real time, real money, year long trading contest, finishing in first or second place each of those years.

Kevin is the author of the highly acclaimed book "Building Algorithmic Trading Systems: A Trader's Journey From Data Mining to Monte Carlo Simulation to Live Trading" (Wiley 2014). Kevin provides a wealth of trading information at his website: http://www.kjtradingsystems.com

Copyright, Kevin Davey and ​KJ Trading Systems. All Rights Reserved. Reprint of above article is permitted, as long as the About The Author information is included.