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I did McDowell's mentorship program a while ago (maybe 2 years ago). After a few weeks I quickly realized there was nothing there. At the time Bill did not show his DOM, ninja chart markers, trade list, or anything else that would prove he was profitable. All he showed was an excel tradelog. His method was based on buying breakouts of cup patterns, but he had a keen ability to skip the losers and only take the winners. When I asked why he'd just say "that didn't look good". When he got a winner he'd show a screenshot showing the winning trade only. One could not see the previous trades. I felt he was hiding his losers. I was willing to part with my $3k but I was not willing to waste 3-6 months on it. So I left.
My advice is this: Without seeing actual broker statements, run away from any trading room / coach. They're all scams. I did two trials last week and will be posting more about them on my blog but the fact is I have yet to see one honest. Actually Kam from L2ST did show his DOM for a few weeks and he did make a little money but it was not very impressive. It was no where near the $4k/day he claims to make.
So just run away from these and save your money. Read the Dalton books & watch his free webinars and practice. It takes a few years. There are no shortcuts you have to put in the time.
This is the first time I write about my experience in Bill's room and that's because I was ashamed of having lost my $3k on it. I felt it was my fault for falling for a scam. But now I see they're all scams so I don't feel as bad and I want to warn others.
The only proof is a brokerage list of executions. There is absolutely no reason why a real coach wouldn't show this but they will all come up with a variety of excuses. If they don't show them then just assume they're a scam and move on.
I know Kam and he does not strike me as a liar. If he says he makes $4k then I would tend to believe that is what he makes. He trades the DAX and so does most of his trading prior to teaching in the L2ST room.
Trading is a journey and I firmly believe if you have the desire to learn something you will. Is it likely to to be a costly affair, more than likely. Like you I have spent loads on education and wished I met someone like me when I first started but we evolve as proceed and I am still learning but I know a hell of a lot from when I first started. I have never met a successful businessman that never lost money or made mistakes and more importantly was afraid to fail in his attempt to learn. Put it all down to experience.
If Kam makes $4k/day then all he has to do is post a few brokerage reports showing his trades. Or the execution log from his X_Trader. He prefers not to do that. I'm not saying Kam is a scam, I learned a lot in his room despite the fact that his "method" didn't work for me. But I don't believe he makes $4k per day. I'm saying I do not believe ANY trader until I see proof. That keeps me out of trouble.
I think the key component is whatever it is the person is teaching you resonates with you and are you are able to apply it and make money from it over time. You hit it on the head when you said his “method” did not do it for you, which is the only thing that really matters not seeing his DOM or account, but whether you can implement it, modify it if need be and then make money from it. After all we are only ever trading our beliefs - according to Van Tharp. That is why you can give someone a system that you are making money from and when someone else trades your system they lose with it. The best way is as you said find a method and style that suits you and then that is the key to your success. Know Thy Self and Thy Plan.
I agree 100%. I think everyone has to learn their own method. Can be based on others' ideas but the method has to be your own. There is no right or wrong answer. I've tried trading like other people and it just never worked. But over time I have been able to come up with my own method that is unique to me.
I think the only way to learn to trade someone's method is to have private lessons or at least a very small group, see the persons DOM all the time, see all his charts all the time, ask questions, get feedback on your own trades, etc. I'd even say it should be in person. That is very time-consuming for a profitable trader to do all that and most don't because they don't need to. That leaves the scammers. They have no choice, they have to do it in order to have an income. So they hide things, get as many people in the room as possible, etc. And they can't give good answers because they really don't know how to trade themselves.
I plan to do a whole blog series on this. I've uncovered several scams lately. It's really pathetic that people stoop that low and the sad thing is no matter what, there will be lots of people ready to hand over their money and sign up. The people at futures.io (formerly BMT) should know better but all those traders just getting started don't. They get hooked by a "free webinar" and it's like signing up for the next Tony Robbins seminar. You feel great about it and do it and then when you have second thoughts you realize there is no refund and you've been had. Even sadder is some stay in these rooms for a year or more, not knowing they're being suckered.
Anyway.. can't save the world but I at least like to put the information out there so if people good it they'll find it. When I googled Bill McDowell there was nothing out there. And now there is.
I have trialed the L2ST room. I like their setups.
It is true, however, most of the trades were called after the fact, i.e. " we had a lovely divergence here, there was a great entry there" etc...while Kam was chatting away during the trading session, making it hard to focus.
I have also been following FT71 and he is probably THE trader you can trust on the internet !
I have found that commenting on trades & setups and actually placing trades are two completely different things. PLacing a trade you have to time entry, determine your stop, manage your trade once it's on, etc. It's easy to call them in hindsight.
For a few weeks Kam was trading showing his DOM (supposedly real money) and the results were not impressive. Just above breakeven. For some reason he stopped that, I assume because he wasn't able to trade profitably, otherwise he would have continued.
Be careful of "setups". That implies a mechanical way of looking at the market, which is dynamic. Each situation is unique.
I learn a lot from FT71, in a more conceptual nature. He often tweets things before they happen rather than commenting in hindsight. And it's free. I can't see any reason to pay someone to comment in hindsight when you can follow FT71 for free.
