Last weekend I saw a TV commercial for forex trading seminar. It was one of those infomercials you have already probably seen for various other products and information. They advertised a free seminar for three separate locations and dates near my area. I wrote down the details and I went there yesterday late afternoon.
The presentation was at the local Holiday ‘Turf Inn’ Hotel. It sure was nice and cool in there considering lately it has been about 90+ degrees fahrenheit here. Only about five or 6 people showed up. It was basically a sales pitch for 4x made easy software. They are trying to market forex trading the mass public. It was a pretty light presentation and I really did not learn that much new other than a few minor facts (ie. that the forex markets have only started to open in America since the year 2000).
Their software is simply a trend following system that appears to use MACD as a buy and sell indicator and then gives buy or sell signals on various time frames. The approach sees somewhat workable for someone completely new to trading, never having done it before. And I like the fact that they emphasized the use of stops.. although he mostly or only talked about trailing stops.
The problem with this type of mechanical system is that it does not take into account the actual price bar interpretation and other technical factors that are always crucial for trading any type of market. Following MACD like a blind mouse can get you into trouble. At least it is always a good measure to use classical trendline, and TA pattern analysis to supplement a simple oscillator. An indepth understanding of price action itself, supply, demand, support and resistance is crucial in my opinion.
But now here is the real kicker..
They wanted $3000.00 for the software!
There really should be no need for anyone wanting to get started in forex trading to have to spend that amount of money. There are enough online courses books and other information that are more than suitable for the new trader to enter these markets with a reasonable degree of confidence…
If you are completely new to trading in general or forex for that matter, do not get suckered into a sales pitch like this. There are plenty of very good informational resources and $50 to $100 kits and tutorials to help you learn the essentials of forex trading.
If you need some recommendations then send me an email or post a comment here.
Thomas
Forex Comments (6)
Thomas, do you know if anyone actually went for it? 3k for a simple trading system is outrageous, software or not!
As far as I know, no one did, however the turnout was pretty low there.. The guy making the sales pitch was very clever however and a pretty good salesman…
He did seem quite upset however that most of the people there were not too excited abou this product ;) He said something about how bored we all seemed.. haha
Unfortunately I bought the software. I was a newbie with extra money in our account. The good news is that I have learned a lot since then in technical trading.
It seemed the signals were a crapshoot. They tell you 4 green arrows you buy. Well, I bought and then the arrows turned on me.
Much better signals for free.
Buyer beware…
Hello Thomas, Please let me know if there are any good ebooks / website from which i can start learning Forex. I’m a newbiee to this business.
Hello Pradeep, thanks for your comment. Well I can tell you that in the last month I have bought two books about forex. I am new to forex as well and it is partly the reason why I started this website. I want to build an information resource around ‘getting started in the forex market’.
Anyway, one of the books I bought is called Forex Simplified. It is written by Marilyn Mcdonald, a former professional forex trader… It is definitly a very light intro book to the forex market place. I have read half of it so far and it covers most of the basics of this market and will give you at least a good overview.
The other book I bought is Currency Trading for Dummies. I am about half way through that one as well. This one offers a little bit more detail and is written very well and enjoyable to read…
After I am done reading them I will write up a post about what I learned from them on here…
Cheers,
Tom
For what it’s worth, my experience has taught me the following lessons. You cannot follow a system unless you are it’s creator and have tested it extensively. When systems suffer their eventual adversity and drawdown period, and they all do, it will tests your metal and “stick to it ness” to no end. To stop trading in these tough times usually always means ending in failure. To be the developer, quant and creator on the other hand is the only way to get this strength. Get yourself a good porfolio level backtesting engine like Amibroker Pro and a high quality historical dataset like from these guys http://www.forextickdata.com and begin your journey.
Best of luck with your trading endeavors.
Cheers – David