Online Trading Academy Review
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Value
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Versatility
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Ease of Use
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Quality of Education
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Quality of Support
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Actionable Information
Summary
Online Trading Academy is one of the biggest market education services. The company offers a variety of online and offline courses with a broad range of topics, including stocks, options, forex and more. Read this review to see if the service is a good fit for your trading style)
About Online Trading Academy
Online Trading Academy is a comprehensive trader training and education organization that has been in business for over two decades. They are a marketing powerhouse that markets their services and products through infomercials, television, and radio ads to draw people to their free live seminars. These seminars are used to pique the interests of the attendees who are then offered the opportunity to attend an advanced trading class and become further immersed into their training programs. They have trained over 200,000 students worldwide since their inception in 1997 as the training arm of Block Trading. The organization has grown to over 40 on-location training centers spanning globally from the Americas to the Middle East, Europe, Canada, and Asia. Most of the office locations are individually franchised, but all follow the proprietary curriculum.
While Online Trading Academy provides quality education, we recommend online services like Investors Underground for education and Motley Fool Stock Advisor for stock picks.
Trading Style
OTA covers all trading styles ranging from intra-day scalpers to multi-day swing traders to longer-term investors with an emphasis on explaining the hows and whys of market forces. They balance fundamental analysis with technical analysis techniques to provide students with a full range perspective of the markets. I’d say that as students progress through the courses, the emphasis leans more heavily towards technical analysis which favoring scalping and swing trading styles.
Trading Courses
Online Trading Academy is all about the courses they provide on-location at the various worldwide offices and online through interactive remote access sessions. OTA slowly transitions would-be traders from the free half-day presentations to discounted multi-day live and remote courses that progressively get more advanced and intricate as traders move forward. Heavy emphasis on technical analysis is covered with classic patterns, and many patented and proprietary indicators and techniques, including supply and demand lines.
The free half-day live workshops are the gateway introductions to OTA. These are often marketed through various media channels. Potential students are given the opportunity to continue their training with limited-time discounts at the seminars.
The pricing can vary depending on the individual’s experience and financial situation/goals. Once students pay for a course, they are allowed to re-take the courses anytime they find a scheduled opening.
They teach diversified strategies for trading multiple financial trading products, including stocks, options, Forex, and futures. The courses start from scratch educating investors on the basic working of the markets and market timing to trading tools and methodologies.
Core Strategy Courses
The Core Strategy courses are split between Income Solution and Wealth Solution, which basically differentiate between traders and investors. Income is more intra-day and actively managed trading compared to less aggressive and more passive mid to longer-term swing traders and investors. The path of each set of courses leads ultimately lead to the elite Mastermind Community program.
Remote Online Classes
While the on-location live training courses the most immersive ways to learn, OTA also provides remote training sessions as well. These sessions include a live instructor that shares his screen with live charts and notes marked up so that attendees have all the materials in place. Participants can communicate through the chat and ask questions.
XLT Courses
Students that graduate the Core Strategy program can extend their learnings through XLT courses. The Extended Learning Track (XLT) courses are a combination of remote live and self-paced and interactive training sessions that extrapolates and applies principles from the Core Strategy Course covering stocks, Forex, options, and futures markets. The All Asset Mastery course is the ultimate combination course that integrates all the tools and resources for the most ambitious traders and connects them with other students in the Mastermind community.
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The Mastermind Community Program
Membership into the Mastermind community is only given to students that complete three qualifying XLT courses. The cost is $15,000 for the first year and $5,000 per year afterward or $25,000 for the first year and access for life. Mastermind Community membership gives access to the XLT- All Asset Mastery training, Pro Picks from each XLT, Daily watch list, Market Screener and special trading chatrooms, and priority access to OTA instructors.
Specialty Courses
These courses cover topics like real estate investing and wealth management, which includes tax and estate planning to address more conservative long-term planning. OTA is always adding to these courses, which are a very diversified way to fortify the financial base outside of active trading for many students.
Power Trading Radio
OTA also runs a daily podcast called Power Trading Radio hosted various instructors, including Merlin Rothfield and Mike McMahon and Tillie Allison, after the market close. They interview various industry guests that provide unique insights covering the most active financial markets. A lot of good free information can be found in these interviews. Podcasts are available for download on Itunes and Google Play Store.
What Type of Trader is the Service Best For?
OTA has done a great job of simplifying the markets so that newbies can onboard easily and proceed towards reaching the level of a seasoned trader in time. These guys cater to every level of trader, including intra-day, swing, and long-term investors in a complete and comprehensive process-oriented education model. It’s one of the few organizations that have something for everyone. The specialty courses are a nice touch that lends towards integrating more diversification outside of trading for students.
Is the Service a Good Value?
The pricing for the courses can vary based on individual experience and financial situation. Each student meets with specialists to determine their individual goals and ability to finance the courses. The half-day workshops are free, and the follow-up courses apply in-person discounts ranging from a few hundred to thousands depending on how many courses are purchased. The Mastermind Community program is for the elite students that put in the time and money commitment necessary to gain acceptance. The quality if good, but the pricing can be lofty, especially when compared to basic investing programs like Motley Fool, GuruFocus, or Investing Business Daily. Similar programs provide trading/investing ideas and education for a much lower price; however, in-person classes are much harder to find.
Pros
- Very structured training programs and courses for all levels of investors
- Impressive roster of professional instructors
- Over 20 years in business
- Multimarket and specialty training courses help diversify efforts
- Innovative remote training platform
- Can re-take courses once they are purchased
Cons
- Pricing can be inconsistent by individual case
- Mastermind Community is expensive
From scheduling until the I left the building going to the “Free Half Day Class of On-line Trading” was something I never want to repeat again. Once you sign up, get ready for all the reminder calls, I actually did not go the first time because of all the annoying phone calls. I signed up again, I guess they teach their Customer Service people to really make sure we totally understand the date and time. I had a handful of questions and I was excited to learn, there were a total of 4 students and of course an instructor. Not sure if it was his first class teaching or if he had an argument with his significant other before class. Long story short, if you are looking for any trading information, it is not going to happen. The entire reason for the repeated calls to make sure you are going is because they want to pay for classes. First, I did not know anything about the money, you would think in all those annoying calls someone would have told me. The “Live Classes” looked great and the students were interacting with the instructors, that is what I wanted. Why did they put their weakest instructor on “trying to sell the school/classes” to new recruits? Why have have first day of “free half-day trading class” at all. It is a lie for one and if you can’t sell your product without deceiving people, you need to come up with a better marketing plan.
Its all about sales and not about teaching they couldn’t care if you are successful or not.
Plus $60000 is too much to pay for at best is a beginner class.
I heard that the education counsellors are on 10% of what ever they sell.
They trick you by making you feel that your life is awful and lie about results.
honestly i never made it to day 3…the fact that they “wanted” you to “put money down” on day 2 was a very basic, objective red flag for me. No company, product, or person needs to do this if this outcome is that exceptional. Thinks about that. f not for that I would have likely come on day 3 and ponied up money. Part of me is glad they gave me the cheap sales pitch on day 2.
Lizzie from reading your comment could not tell what they lied about. You may very well have had a bad instructor, but all I get from your comments is annoying phone calls. Yesterday I attend the “half” day class and did learn a lot. Have a lot of notes and could work at a basic level much better now than before. I am planing on going to the 3 day course and see what they have to provide there. I am not a fool and know that they ease you into spending money on courses. That is now a standard and proven success rate for most any sales. I would bet you get your furnace and or AC “cleaned and checked” if not every year every few years. Thats my field and your getting ripped off but don’t even know it.
Alex, how is your experience for the 3 day course? Do you think their course is worth the value?
Spent two and a half days with this company before i was told that tuition was “on sale” for only $25,000 !!! for their entry level of education.Prices ranged to $50,000 . Hard to describe how angry I was / am. My thinking is that if their plan works perfectly, the first 25 grand of profit would go to them, less taxes, unless i trade thru an LLC and BTW that class is $7,000 ! Warning, before you take these education classes (I paid $300.00) read these reviews.
Unfortunately, I did buy into a reduced plan. I would have been better off staying with a broker that managed my account, with my oversight. This is truly a scam, but I honestly believed that they had my interests at heart. Now, they have a pathetic trade platform called Clik. It has been a debacle. Schwab and TD Ameritrade (among others) have much better support. Do NOT get sucked into this scam.
What a scam. They make you believe you have potential to earn a lot of you take their courses which are thousands of dollars. It’s not easy to make the money they promise, you’ve got to work harder than any other job you may have worked. If you have a wife and kids, don’t plan on supporting them with what you earn here unless you are one of the 10% who does succeed. I found out that they set people up in their training courses to spark conversations with potentials on how great the classes are. People don’t leave negative comments because I think they’re humiliated they were sucked in to spend 10’s of thousands of dollars.
Galvin I hate hard sales, I’ve been in sales all my life, have attended more sales training courses than I can remember. I can also tell you that most everything you stated above you have NO proof of and your made at your on failures. I have only attended the half day class and did and learned a lot of very basic stuff in a very short period of time for free. If you can’t afford to train yourself move on and don’t blast what your are not a professional in.
i am laughing at you because you clearly work for or have an interest in this company.
you say you’ve been in sales your whole life.. so tell me what other profession has over a 90% fail rate.??? especially with educated people with money??
yet you’re trying to justify the high cost and high pressured sales tactics of OTA. who are in the business of sucking every penny out of you (just like the markets).
get a life! there’s a reason why so many people fail at day trading.. not because they’re not intelligent enough to trade the market.. but because the whole enchilada is specifically designed to steamroll the small guys/girls.
tell your lies walking.!
ps.. i do have experience to comment… i worked on the floor of the nyse for 20 years before sh*t hit the fan in ’08.
no its just fine tuned computer algorithms running the show.
Mike is right. Big financial institutions does more than 8-% of their trades via high power computing with AI algorithms. By the time you see the signs, it’s already too late.
OTA is a great resource. However, when caught three times on changing their ‘picks’, after they executed, I was told a variety of inaccurate responses. I documented all three and was discouraged from taking more XLT courses, because of this. Obviously, I was very disappointed.
I attended the half day and three day class. The half day was to give me an idea of the investment field and to see if I was interested in doing this type of investing. the second course of three days at $300 shared information on stocks, bonds, futures mutual funds, options, forex and typical mistakes retail investors make. the class was very rich in information and invaluable. No financial advisor, stock advisor or banking advisor had ever shared that information with me.
After the first half day class on March 31st I sold half my position the following Monday and saved myself from a -5% loss for the week. They did not tell me to do this but the information made led me to this decision. I have found that the information will continue to save my retirement and help me preserve my nest egg. The program is expensive and I am putting off buying a new car. But losing your life savings by investing in mutual funds and following the TV guys can cost you your retirement. When I am successful here I will buy a new car for me and one for my wife. Be ware this is not a get rich quick scheme or lotto. It is a system for investing and cheaper than going back to school. Success is built on dedication to the topics, working smart , practice, self restraint and doing your homework.
Would very much appreciate an opportunity to speak with you.
Likewise @Richard Royster
i need to talk to you before I take my 3 day.
I WILL BE TAKING THE 3 DAY CLASS ON MARCH 1ST-THE COST WAS $200. , I THINK I WILL GET THE KNOWLEDGE AND INSIGHT I NEED TO TWINK MY INVESTMENTS-I HAVE NOT INTENT ON SIGNING UP FOR THE TOTAL PROGRAM-I,M 76 YEARS OLD, SO MY AGE WORKS AGAINEST ME FOR LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP.
hi Richard, i saw that u attended 3 day course for 300 dollars at OTA.
do they teach u day trading basics with how to find stock scanners for pre market and how to pik the right ones and when to get/out. do they provide better tools than Warrior-trading and investors underground.
i plan to take half-day seminar this saturday. do u recommend it.
can u make living doing day trading after their 3 day course
how do u compare them with warrior trading and investors underground
do they have live chat room with live traders recommeding top gappers with best stock scanners based on trade-ideas
what kind of charting/halt tools they provide to help u become good profits on daily basis.
please help me
I invested $199. in the “free” seminar before reading these reviews! I have never purchased,etc. Should I continued?
i am taking my 3 day course starting Friday the 22nd. went for my hour interview yesterday (Saturday) and saw classrooms full of people. from all parts of the city. you dont get the patented process from the 3 day, it comes beyond that if you go down that path. i think they have something good here, whether its overpriced is TBD. if it works and with a little time becomes profitable, then it would be worth the cost of the education. can it be found elsewhere and maybe cheaper? maybe, but do they also have a patented rule based process? do they audit their instructors like OTA does? lot to think about..
@Harv, I purchased the most expensive program at OTA last year in December. Here’s a spin down on what the classes provide
1. The free half day class gives an overview of the potential OTA can offer, no material or techniques provided, just a few terms that most of us novices need to check the dictionary.
2. The second class was $300 when I took it and is called Market Timing Strategy which lasts 3 days (Friday through Sunday for me), they go over all the asset classes and what track is available, it does not cover any techniques
3. The third class is called Core Strategy which is a 5 day course when I took it, I checked the other day, it is a 7 day class now. This is where the professional instructors come on site and teach the basics of trading, this is the class where they start teaching you true technique. This class is a pre-requisite to all other classes.
From here, you will have the option of taking the asset classes you are interested in, which are
1. Foreign Exchange (Short term income)
2. Futures (Short Term Income)
3. Options (Long term Wealth)
4. Equities (Long term Wealth)
5. Proactive Investors (Long Term Wealth)
each class usually lasts 5 days, some asset classes have multiple classes.
For those who are interested, I went with the Master Mind Community, now is it worth the investment, I think it is highly dependent on your age. I am in my early 30s, so I have 40+ years of time to take advantage of this. Do note that they won’t charge you extra moving forward, unless you want to take more new classes. The Master Mind package includes 3 asset classes.
COMMENTHi Nike 284,
It has been 7 + months since your post.
Can you tell us how it is going?
Are the course worth the cost?
Have you made a portion or better back to pay for your education?
Did they negotiate the price at all?
What would you have done differently?
I just took the 3 day class and am trying to decide on whether or not to go forward.
How is the class working out for you? I just took the 3 day class.
I see people are still signing up for this. There is nothing tight here that can be found on the Internet for free. I took their course in 2015 never having traded before. I was foolish and believed the sales pitch that anyone can learn to do this and make money easily. After attending a few follow-up evening seminars I realized there are many students still struggling. Everyone wants to make money but the record of demo Trading they do is at best a 50% win rate. Then you add the 60% tax you pay and the many hours spent studying and staring at screens I don’t think it’s worth it. The Cadillac courses $50,000. How long will it take you to make that back? They have called me twice inviting me back for more. I have declined. I wish I had researched it before I spent the money. Like most of the Internet Google use they are making their money selling the classes. If they were making it trading why wouldn’t they be on their boat or Island?
there are a few people who are successful at trading, if trading was so easy, everyone would be doing it. Trading is not for everyone, which might include myself. I’ve seen successful cases, it really depends on the person and if it fits you. Everyone wants to be greedy and rich, but it’s not easy.
Exactly my thinking and that’s why I walked out at lunch on the second day… wonder if I can get my money back for sitting thru a sales pitch?
I’m posting this as like so many, I feel aggrieved at the service I received from Online Trading Academy.
Firstly, I signed up for a ‘free’ seminar that was hosted by a gentleman who wouldn’t be amiss on TOWIE….gave him the benefit of doubt as the Councillor ‘salesman’ was fairly knowledgeable.
I paid £200 for the all important next stage.
3 days at the same tired, old, depressing looking industrial unit.
I was constantly bombarded with calls and emails prior to the 3 day event. I was asked to complete a very intrusive questionnaire type thing that I found very odd. I was also grilled by my newly assigned ‘counsellor/coach’ (they couldn’t even make up their mind as to what they were called. Let’s call them sales prevention officers for the time being.
So, I attend the 3 day selling event where I am very entertained by the seemingly knowledgeable presenter. He doesn’t want us to get screwed over and showed us how we could be earning millions in the next 2 years by following their patented (but not in the UK) methodology.
All this comes at a cost that would make even the Hinduja family wince.
My coach, Jordan, was clearly not making any money from trading as why would he dress and look as he does and waste a weekend working to ‘not sell me’ this amazing education. Oh, hello, are you stupid guys. If he could make £200k pa trading do you think he’d be wearing battered shoes, terrible hair cut and even consider wasting his weekend working…….
A special mention must go to Pearl or Opal or Gem…can’t remember her name but she is the ‘finance’ person. What an absolutely rude, unhelpful and utterly ridiculous consumer facing employee. She alone was enough to put me off.
Big red flag from me. Not sure their selling techniques are even legal particularly their financing over promising.
Waste of money and time.
Had a cursory look at their accounts and they have filed losses amounting to over £2m during the last few years. Maybe the company itself should practice what it preaches and trade those very substantial losses away.
I did the three day course about three or four years ago. I decided not to continue because I judged that the cost was far too high. I’ve learned volumes about trading since then, and come to realize that trading is extremely hard. Very few are consistently profitable. I’ve also learned that with the rare exception trading instructors/gurus do not trade live accounts. If you’ve ever traded risky, highly leveraged products, you will realize that there is a qualitative difference between trading a simulated account and a live account. The psychological state in which you trade a live account is a factor that you have to experience to appreciate. If I were just starting out, I’d ask the instructors there at OTA if they are trading live accounts. Ideally, they’d put their company’s money on the line to demonstrate their confidence in their method. If I ever decide to go for formal education again, I’d do it at a proprietary firm where they place you alongside of the firm’s traders who are trading company capital.
HI Chris,
I just completed the 3 Day course a week ago and they said that they do trade live accounts and then or when or if I decide to join I will be trading with their Capital in the 7 day Core Strategy program.
Do you think that they lied or what?
Thanks
Ed
Did they lie? Of course. I knew everything about them just listening to the gloom and doom radio program Sunday mornings. The guy kept talking about bear markets, stock dips, and all the other crap associated with someone trying to sell you the Brooklyn bridge. It was hysterical in light of the fact that Trump will NEVER allow the market to go down or for a bear market at least until AFTER the elections next year. I’m totally in stocks even though I’m in my 70s. The clown on the radio kept talking about the mild correction last December which was caused by the Fed; Chief screwing up and nothing else. The announcer cited 7 percent losses or more. I guess I’m doing something wrong because my retirement fund shows a 26.8 percent increase in just this first quarter! Maybe I should start teaching investment classes? LOL
OTA has a policy not to trade a live account, now they will allow you to trade under the OTA simulation account. Their definition of Live account and your definition of live account will vary
Thank you for being the first person to write something worth reading, and without obvious grammatical errors. It’s tough to take anyone’s opinion seriously who spells every 20th word incorrectly.
The instructors do trade live accounts and are successful traders. Students know this because they have access to classes where it is being done right in front of them. Don’t know where you got your information. The school is expensive, but they offer many resources for learning and are dedicated to helping you succeed. The potential for success is high for those who apply themselves. It is not a get rich quick scheme. Success comes with continued learning and practice.
Agreed. I am a OTA student. It is the. est financial education I have ever paid for. I am a Forex student.
how much was the Forex program
How long before you earn your tuition back less 60/40 taxes?