MERIT PAYCHECK – Trading the QQQs. from Wendy KirklandHas anyone had any dealings with this service? All I’m finding is some great commentary and high recommendations from review sites. Is the ”P3 squeeze” for real? Would be very interested in any comments from anyone who has had time to check this out!
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I’ve read a bit of Wendy Kirkland’s first book and received her email promo about her Merit Paycheck service. The results she promises seem too outrageous to be possible. Checking online, at first I only found “reviews” that are actually PR releases if you look at the URLs. Finally I found a blog written by a trader who knows Wendy personally, has read her books, has traded using her system, and has moved on. http://bevjackson.blogspot.com/2011/10/options-animal-wall-street.html
Bev Jackson doesn’t trash Wendy at all. She merely says that Wendy’s system works only in up markets so when the market went down, Bev (and others who added their comments to her blog post) lost a lot of money. Bev says Wendy is a talented trader but she doesn’t use spreads so if the trade goes bad, you can have big losses. After reading this blog post and many of the comments below it, I’ve decided not to spend $1,000-2,000 on Wendy’s advisory service. Hope this info helps others. I’ve spent a lot of money learning to trade options. I’m having some success after 3+ years of study and trading. Best to look elsewhere for better trading results.
That’s not really fair as her experience of using her system was admittedly from several years ago. I’m sure the system has been updated somewhat since then, but nobody has the holy grail. In the end, no matter how good the service may be, the buck stops with you. Learn the art and craft of trading and expect to put in many years and some hard earned money in the process.
That’s absolutely true, Dan. It’s not fair to judge Wendy on my very OLD experience when she was first getting started. I only wanted to underline the fact that I spent thousands of dollars on people’s mentoring programs, and lost money in every case. My blog is to encourage people to educate themselves with the TON of available FREE information on the internet. I think Wendy is smart and creative, and not meaning to ever bad mouth her.
Bev .. is there someone or service for trading options you recommend ?
I have some doubts. She wants almost two thousand dollars up front with no money back guarantee
Dan, “that’s not really fair” to be critical of her? There are too many trading advisory services out there making very lofty claims. With that, they better be good! Yeah, nobody has the holy grail as you say. Yet they all claim that they do! And Wendy Kirkland certainly claims she has the holy grail. You sound very naive.
Wait a minute! It’s not advertised as do-it-yourself learning. If I’m going to learn to be profitable by myself, why should I spend $1997 for Wendy’s alerts? This is a product, and as such it should have some value.
As for your criticism that this is old data, how about this? I subscribed to the QQQ “merit paycheck” service in November 2017 after seeing Ms Kirkland’s ads for many years. The trade frequency was very low, and the trades were very unsuccessful. I asked to be switched to the Triumph program (trades a selection of ETFs) to have a higher trade frequency. I followed the service alerts exactly and my account nearly disappeared within 8 trades. I continued to follow her alerts, obviously without trading them. After one year, 44 trades, the average loss not counting commissions was over 19%. This is current data.
This method might have worked in the past, but I have lost quite a lot of money with this system during the last year, not least the $1997 one year fee. I have requested the refund which was promised if the signals were not profitable over a year’s time. So far I have not received even a response, not to mention a refund.
Udd. Thanks for sharing your actual experience and importantly your actual results. Appreciated. Helps a lot. I was just about to join the Merit paycheck subscription at 1997 ffor one year plus additional year free. Now I am not joining thanks to your personal experience. Thanks again
Wendy is a Con Artist. She used to have a Monday night open form. Before she came on one Monday I asked those logged on, has anyone made money using Wendy’s P3 system? Not one person had. She has made a million dollars selling Hope and Change , not a system that works. She has reinvented new names for her con over the years., but it’s still a con.
Any experience trading options using Chuck Hughes programs?
He charged $5,000 for the crappiest “service” ever. He’d send a trade, then follow up on it quite a bit later saying, “Opps, wrong strike, or wrong symbol,” or whatever. Happened MANY times. You cannot trust his “service,” as he “inadvertently” sends you the wrong information. I asked for my money back and he told me to whistle Dixie.
What I am finding useful is to attend their FREE webinars if I have time or read their PDF’s if I don’t have time, and then do my own research on the strategy and paper trade. What they are touting are common strategies which are complex for starter traders, paper trade until you are comfortable and then start with small plays!
All the best!
Azam Khan, I believe you are on a great path. Traders with a few years experience behind them should be able to watch, read and learn. Some of the free materials out there is all you need to get started testing out a method new to you. The problem arises when beginners want to “jump start” their trading and begin in high gear, Purchasing an expensive alert service can be helpful but it becomes a crutch for many. They get into trouble and blame the system, it is NEVER the trader’s fault. I am NOT an apologist for some of the scams out there on the market but it is wise to start small and paper trade a good long while to build proficiency. Good trading to you sir.
He is a con artist
Wendy Kirkland is a complete fraud. I used her service and her track record is about 5% winners and 95% loosers – that is the reason she sells her “system”. SHE IS A HABITUAL LOOSER!!!! AND A VERY GOOD LIAR.
She claims 95% success rate and this is completely ficticious – she just made it up to steal your money. And then she gets on the internet and posts raving review about herself. EVERYTHING SHE SAYS IS A LIE!!!
Did you follow her trades exactly and what about all those people that say they make a lot of money in those testimonials? Anybody can win more than 5% of the time trading options.So how can you say she loses 95% of the time? Doesn’t sound correct.How much did you lose? She does have a 12 month money back guarantee if you do not make an overall profit after 12 months you get a complete refund.
Bill, just the fact you ask these questions means you deserve to lose your shirt! Please do join and come back and let us know how you did. And if you think there is some kind of guarantee, I have a bridge I would like you to consider buying. Wendy Kirkland and those associated with this scam should be locked up to protect those poor suckers like you!
Amen Jim.
I subscribed to the QQQ “merit paycheck” service in November 2017 after seeing Ms Kirkland’s ads for many years. The trade frequency was very low, and the trades were very unsuccessful. I asked to be switched to the Triumph program (trades a selection of ETFs) to have a higher trade frequency. I followed the service alerts exactly and my account nearly disappeared within 8 trades. I continued to follow her alerts, obviously without trading them. After one year, 44 trades, the average loss not counting commissions was over 19%. This is current data.
I have requested the refund which was promised if the signals were not profitable over a year’s time. So far I have not received even a response, not to mention a refund.
About testimonials: Have you noticed that some folks’ testimonials are used to peddle 2 or more different products? Same picture, same words. Such as Terri F (3), Bob and Fran, Robert C., Nathan, Melvin C (3), Laura S., Forrest etc.
Really? If that is true ,how come she gets all these great reviews by people that use her advisory service? Also, how come no one has killed her yet?
Butch,
I highly recommend you invest all your assets in using Wendy’s trades and come back here in about 3 months and tell us all just how well you have done.
thank you for mentioning why her system made many lose a lot. this makes your comment very useful as spreads are critical in managing risks. also thank you for mentioning the weakness of her system in dealing with market down trends.
Thanks for the excellent post, lots of mail coming from North Carolina home of the unbeatable trading systems. The ad copy is very effective and the price seems so low for a lifetime of trading success . Why would anyone work if trading was so easy? The weekly options systems are also fun to read. Thanks again to stock gumshoe for saving us from ourselves.
Actually, if you use the P3 system in up markets, you will make money. I have been using it for several years successfully. However, it doesn’t work too well with miners and it doesn’t work too well in down markets. However, if you learn about options, as several here have stated, and apply the extra knowledge you would then bring to the table, I think you can do quite well with the P3 system–just beware of the limitations.
I did not see this thread when it started or I would have commented then. I was looking for something else when I stumbled on it and decided to reply.
The thing is the weaknesses are never revealed. You just get the 95% in my opionon that is not being truthful.
I want to know about you service
Nicely presented brochure by Wendy…but aren’t they all. Having traded options for years I can tell you that there is absolutely no free lunch. Sure, it’s possible that Wendy does well trading options…at lease that’s what she says and she most certainly is a smart lady..However, trading options for aliving is a pipe dream for most people. Unfortunately I have come to believe that the “gurus” who send out these brochures telling us that making options is so easy that a blind dog with a note in his mouth can do it are not to be taken seriously. If it was so darned easy why are they telling me how to do it JUST DO IT YOURSELF AND SAVE THE POSTAGE. I have also come to believe that lots of them dont trade at all…they just sell information to others on how to do it which can be very profitable with no risk to them..These folks also make some very definitive claaims about guaranteed profits that it would seem to me are not legal. Nobody can guarantee profits in any investmenty ever. These things sell because GREED is rampant and people are very suseptible to getting something for nothing. Getting something for nothing is contrary to how the world works. They teach that in kindergarden.
I have friends who trade options for a living so I know it can be done. I trade options and have made good money and lost some also. It all depends on that individual and if they will apply themselves and take the time to learn. I get Wendy’s newsletters in mail and I must admit it’s very tempting to join up, but I’ve been in other services that hit and missed on their alerts. No one in their right mind should believe a newsletter that boast of never having any loses. This is not being honest and forth coming. I started out with Wade Cook way back when I first heard of option trading. That guy was a good sells men yet even Wade didn’t promise never having any loses. He actually said that no one will profit on every trade. There’s money to be made, but you must have a trading plan that’s working for you maybe 7 out of 10 trades. And another thing CASH MANAGEMENT is a very big deal, because when make a profit and know nothing about cash management you will always be on the losing end. I speak from experience. LOL. Wendy may be a great trader herself, but everyone is different. Some will apply themselves to learn this information and some would try a short cut, and to me that’s letting someone else do all the research and you just don’t try to learn anything on her own. Auto trade programs are good to be with, but I would want to also learn for myself so I can trade whenever I wanted. I hope this is helpful to someone. Learning to trade options is a great thing. Much success to you.
Seems a All these newsletter services com from the same source tradewins and they all have a sad story of how they were devasted they make their money selling news letters
Yes John, any thing coming from that NC address a trash mail.
Tradewinds is a site created by Chuck Hughes – enough said?
View the site and look for reviews on “their piggy banks” – you will see a common trail.
of course she does
I have traded for over 30 years, primarily options. I have experience with Wendy’s system and find it unmatched for timely entries! I have combined it with other systems to be most effective. I usually go further than one week out so that I can sell weekly options against the position to turn what may be a small loss into a profit. It is important , as in any other system, to minimize losses. This is up to the trader to position this. If one is having “huge” losses with Wendy’s system I would blame the trader for poor money management and not the system that Wendy has created.
Thanks Stephen! Could you tell me which service(s) of Wendy Kirkland’s you are using?
Could you recommend any others services?
The Options Animal course is expensive and does not make lofty promises but it is good
Stephen, Wendy has a lot of friends (paid or not) that will support her. I call it the liars club.
dlbnext, would you care to list the members of ‘the liars club’? I would be curious to know the number you have identified and some of the sources where I can help you keep up with these individuals.
Hi Wendy
Why be rude? Stephen just told you what he experienced. I don’t use her service, just her P3 system. As Stephen noted, it is excellent for timing entries. I have added other items to use in addition but Stephen is correct.
So you are saying that you get 95% results form her system just by following it as she advises. For those people who just want to trade the signal you are giving them false hope.
Stephen: According to this, you are in the tiny minority… https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2020/34-88797.pdf
I tried Wendy Kirkland’s Merit Trading service using her six month subscription from January to June 2014. I used her autotrade service. Every month was a losing month. I found her operation to be less than professional. On numerous occasions on the alerts she would send out the wrong call i.e. she would say sell when she meant buy and vice versa. They obviously just cut and pasted from previous alerts without checking their work before sending it out. Her guarantee states you have to have lost money for a full year before you can get a refund. So six month subscribers are out of luck. Since I lost money for six straight monts, I was expected to sign up for another six months to be eligible for a refund. I would definitely advise anyone to steer clear of her service. Her folksy rags to riches story is very convincing but just remember its just part of the hype.
Hi Bob, did you ever re-sign for another 6 months or 1 year, whats the latest on your situation, or did you just run away.Barry
No, I didn’t. I was not happy with their attitude.
Hi Bob….
My friend is just about to plunge 22,500. into her program. I’m trying to convince my friend not to get involved. He’s excited about the program but open minded enough to listen to other people. If I’m not imposing could you talk or email my friend about your thoughts. He asked me to give you his email address
agaskill@maalnet.com
Thank you for your time and trouble if you have a moment…..Debbie
Send this link to your friend. You are right to be concerned. Many have lost money. She sends me the same emails ( 2023 ) https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2020/34-88797.pdf
I too lost money using Wendy’s Kirkland system. Couldn’t get refund after 2 weeks of service. They said I passed the 78 hours time frame which were never disclosed in the website or the email or the order confirmation I received. Her materials were back ordered for over a month. They said had to wait a year to get refund. Who would want to wait and loose more money with her system. Majority of her alerts were loosing trades. Very unprofessional customer service. They were very nice when you tried to sign up, assuming they were getting some commission. Nasty and rude when you want to cancel. I WOULD STAY AWAY from Wendy Kirkland and keep your money in your pocket
Bob, you did not read her guarantee correctly. I do not trade Wendy’s system (because I am profitable with my own system). But, Wendy’s system does NOT say that you will not lose money. It specifically says that if HER RECOMMENDATIONS do not make a 100% return within 12 months, you will get a refund.
She cannot, and does not, guarantee what YOU will gain or lose. That depends entirely on how you place your trades, when you take profits and where you set stop losses. If you don’t trade with greed, there is no way that you can have major losses with a system like Wendy’s, providing you apply standard risk management and position sizing rules. I believe that her program includes instruction on risk management along with her recommendations.
So even thought people haven’t made a profit from her system & people find the offer deceiving the people who pay over a $1,000+ are at fault because they are greedy? Boy are you something. Scolding people won’t help, try to do something constructive and provide information and direction to help them.
Sorry, Guest — Are you representing or employed by the Kirkland service? Because all the risk management you like won’t help the fact that her average loss Nov 2017 to Nov 2018 (following her trade entries / exits, not my trades) is over 19% per trade. Position sizing — allocating the same dollar size to each trade. Doing this, the alerts produce either a loss or a gain, irrespective of money management. Wendy’s service produced a net loss.
yea bob i lost my entire trading account plus the 1000 fee she charges and her people kept trying to upsale me. its my fault for falling for this scam. the gurantee should allert everone
Whenever some “service” tries to continually “up-sell” you….run away as fast as you can! Better yet, don’t get involved with these so-called trading services. I know of only one such web-site that is successful and its cost is extremely affordable. And never any “up-selling.”
Hey Him,
Would you be so kind to give me the name of the web site that you mentioned that is successful and affordable?
Jim, I am very interested to know what the website is that you like. Thanks!
Tastytrade.com
What website, Jim? I so want to become successful…. Loya
Tasty trade and theotrade are the only 2 honest ones I’ve ever found. And they have a lot of FREE info on YouTube vids as well.
I have been a member of Wendy Kirkland’s service since January, 2014 and am patiently waiting for my year to run out. The guarantee offered is for 100% profit within a year. So far, I do not even have a profit. After experiencing at one point 4 out of 5 trades with full losses or almost full losses I stopped trading her trades live and have been paper trading them so I can document my claim for my refund. Someone said she is smart. That may be but it is not in trading. Her one skill is she knows how to separate unsuspecting people from their money.
Hi Jonathan,
I too have been a member of Wendy Kirkland’s Weekly Wealth Advisory since March, 2013 and I have been anxiously waiting to make any profit. I too waited for my year to run out but was refused my refund and asked to trade with another of Wendy’s Advisory Services. I was going to try the Merit sytem but after reading these reviews, I think I will take what’s left of my money and run.
Hi Elton
My friend is just about to plunge 22,500. into her program. I’m trying to convince him not to get involved. He’s excited about the program but open minded enough to listen to other people. If I’m not imposing could you talk or email my friend about your thoughts. He asked me to give you his email address.
agaskill@maalnet.com
Thank you for your time and trouble if you have a moment…..Debbie
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Hi Jonathan:
My friend is just about to plunge 22,500. into her program. I’m trying to convince my friend not to get involved. He’s excited about the program but open minded enough to listen to other people. If I’m not imposing could you talk or email my friend about your thoughts. He asked me to give his email address.
agaskill@maalnet.com
Thank you for your time and trouble if you have a moment…..Debbie
Like(0)
Jon, it is now nearly 2 years since your post. I will bet the “farm” that you did not get a refund. If it sounds too good to be true, most likely it is not true.
Thank you Stock Gumshoe and everyone who posted for keeping me from pursuing “Staggering Profits in Just Days”.
Bill38119, You’d be amazed at what else is available to Irregulars here at good ol’ stockgumshoe.com I’m a thankful member and not getting paid by anyone to promote the site. We’d be glad for you to join us on this amazing journey. Best2ALL-Benjamin
I was about to send out $ 1000 for her 6 month service. After reading almost 90% of reviews by people who lost money and not one review saying they made lots of money, I thank God, that I read these reviews. I also have my own spread systems that have good promise.
Also how come WENDY herself defend her service after reading so many negative reviews? There must be truth in those reviews.
Thanks soooo much to all of you for taking the time to save some of us from another lousy investment promotion. I was borderline, now I’m definitely out.
Thanks again………..
I for one am also thankful for the shared insights here.
Me too!! This lady and all who are involved should be put behind bars. She runs recorded webinars and never answers specific questions. I was about to join but thank heavens I didn’t!!! Now I’m sceptical about how she went from rags to riches! Trading ?? I don’t think so…. complete bullshit
Don’t you mean COWSHIT?
anyone know about her Price Surge System? She posts a tremendous track record too good to be true?
She posts tremendous track records on every one of her programs, but if you’ve read all the comments above, you should know to stay away from her.
Thanks so much for people sharing their experiences, trials, and tribulations. Without you folks posting above I must admit I was thinking about going into her program. I will tell my dear friend about this hoping that he will save his money. He’s about to plow 22,500.00 into her auto trading program, ouch!!!! If he makes money I’ll come back and let you know.
I signed up for her $800 6- month program from Feb – Aug 2013. I followed her trades for the whole period, set up autotrading so I wouldn’t miss any trades, and put $5000 under her control. At the end of 6 months, my $5000 had become $3500. She had some big winning trades, but lots more $500 losers. It seems she also tried to trade more contracts on the heels of a loss, resulting in bigger losses. Amateur’s mistake … i’ve done it many times myself., but she’s not supposed to be an amateur. Capital management isn’t her forte, and I’m very glad I didn’t gamble with more capital. Oddly enough, she still sends me her advertisements for her trading system. She knows her track record. If she were legitimate, she would be offering free subscriptions to those who lost money in the past. She isn’t legit. I do credit her for enhancing my trading wisdom. It’s snake oil, folks!
Thank you Victor. You just saved me lots of money.
Thanks for your advice Victor. I will have to learn much more before trading options.
P.S. The price now is $1997 as of 03/29/2017.
It would be helpful if the more recent comments were posted first!
I have 2.5 pages of put and call trades from Wendy Kirkland MERIT Paycheck. There were 99 total trades with 74 wins and 25 losses. The total is $12,016.60. I can fax this to you. I assume she actually ma de these trades but don’t know how to authenticate this info but it looks legitimate . 74 wins and 25 losses with a profit of $12,016.60
So, you are the first positive I have seen here. Are you still trading the MERIT system? What has been your biggest loss, biggest win?
Rufus, you say you assume she actually made these trades. Did you actually make these trades and did you actually make over $12K. If so, maybe YOU can authenticate these trades.
This is another year later from the previous posts, but I also purchased her QQQ System for the full 2 years but as soon as I got In and got a-hold of the track record, it was clear that the system consistently lost money. I did a few, maybe 2 months worth – of trades, but first of all, this system traded way too often, and was too sensitive, and second, it consistently lost. I stopped trading it after I was sure it was not for me and was not going to change. On the above subject, I think she invents these systems based on a recent period, then published the course and then the market goes into a different phase and the system no longer works. I do think the published numbers did work for the period in the ads.
Notice how she has a new system each year but never resells a system.
Those 74 wins and 25 losses must have been from her promotional material. Judging by my experience with her service, those trades would appear to be pure fiction.
I save much money and confidence by checking here before wasting money on fraudulent track record backed promoters.Thanks!
I appreciate this site. This is my first visit here and it was to check on Wendy and her Merit System. I doubt that I will try it. However, I have a question about why everyone so consistently lost money.
Was your failure because you were not able to get your trades off fast enough after being notified? In other words, had the market typically already run away from you within a few minutes after she recommended the trades.
She claims that she makes actual trades and e-mails them to her broker— when she sends them out to subscribers. She then calculates her gains and loses based on “HER” actual trades. I am sure her broker can respond quicker to initial the trade faster than most of us can.
No. The margin she leaves for her entries and exits means that it’s usually easy to get in and out at pricesetter than she lists. Often the commission is covered by this margin. That’s the only good thing I can say, because, in spite of that the trades are still net losers — time frame from Nov 2017 to Nov 2018.
By the way, I wish i had found this site before I allowed Highland Stone to lose half of my IRA
I have tried dozens of this type “advisory” over the years, and I almost always cancelled and got refunds. I was considering this one since I have determined that repetitive trading of a vehicle like QQQ does have potential. After reading the comments here, I filed Wendy’s ad (just received yesterday) in the trash can. Also, look carefully at the dates she publishes to prove her track record. The recent ad displays a one-year time period from the spring of 2012 until the spring of 2013. If her results are so great, why does she use a time frame that is three years old? This is typical of this kind of ad, where the most favorable results are cherry-picked and represented as typical of what the unsuspecting buyer can expect. Been there, done that, many times. Stay away.
All,
A little background first: I am very active selling options and make my living doing so. I am semi retired residing in the Republic of the Philippine Islands. Because we own a home there is no rent to pay and expenses are very low for us. Needing little money, I sell OTM (Out of The Money) option contracts and most often watch them expire worthless then rinse and repeat. I have been at this a good number of years.
When I first watched a webinar with Wendy several years ago, she offered a free download. That E-book should be enough for any experienced trader to learn the basics of Wendy’s system. We paper traded her system for a good length of time and results were decent. We set aside some of the spec money portion of one account and committed some real money to this trading style. Yes, it did work but I felt as if I had need to monitor the trades much more closely than what I normally need to do with my option selling. Here are a few observations:
1. For the inexperienced, remember that an option contract has a lifespan and when you are long a call or put, time is working against you. Time value decay works for me as an option seller.
2. Wendy’s explosive gains depend on purchasing options a little OTM (Out of The Money) and the market cooperating with movement in your predicted direction. This is OK in a trending market as we has had for years now, every pullback offers new buying opportunities with calls and some of the pullbacks offered great short term profits to the downside with puts.
3. With the recent market volatility (mid 2015), my thought is many less nimble traders would be chopped to pieces using Wendy’s system. Perhaps if you watched closely and worked on a shorter (60 minute) time frame you could do well? I DO NOT think the time commitment would allow those with a day job other than trading to work this system in current market conditions. Yes, you could walk away from your trading screen but who wants to come back to the ugly surprise at the end of the day?
4. If a trader did decide to trade this method on a short term time frame in the current market, I believe a stop loss order to sell your long options should be used unless you watch your open trades like a hawk. In a choppy market you can make money if you are quick on the draw but you can lose even faster. Preservation of capital along with money management is everything.
5. We may use this method again once we establish a new clear trend. I will however rely on some of my other trading skills to enter and exit any trades we do take based on Wendy’s methods. Do remember the “the trend is your friend” so I plan to only trade the short side (think put options) in a clearly established bear market. We will only trade the long side (think call options) in a clearly established bull market. For now we will stand aside as the market shakes out. We have no plan to take on much if any risk when our needs are small.
Good trading to all,
Jack
Grerat and informative comments. Today I watched Wendy’s presentation for the Price Surge System and I am doing the due diligence before even considering any action.
Good ttrading to all.
Lou
jack
could you explain in detail what kind of stocks ( names of stocks) you sell the OTM and how far you go out DOTM or just 3 or 4 strike prices out and are they weeklys or monthly ,
and could you say who you use for a broker and maybe recommend one.
I would like to correspond with you by email on trades if you don’t mind
David
Jack, I think selling put options is generally the way to go. That involves a lot less time than buying calls. I think many folks complaining here are those who subscribed to her service as opposed to simply using the P3 system to suggest good entry points. As I noted elseshere, the P3 works much better in a positive trending market. And you do have to add some expertise youself; you cannot just buy and check on it every week or so.
Just a few random thoughts that might be helpful:
Veteran/successful options traders usually are the ones selling them, not buying since it’s a higher probability of success.
Selling shorter term options one standard deviation out of the money gives around a 68% chance of expiring out of the money.
TD Ameritrade used to let you buy back options at a nickle for free, but I havn’t checked to see if they still do that; and every proffessional trader I know uses Think or Swim.
Optionshouse seemed to try and change the bid/ask spread on me too much. I didn’t like that, but maybe it was just a bad experience.
High delta, .70 or so, with three months of time or more contracts give you plenty of time for things to go your way with a slower decay rate.
High volatility is bad to buy, because it can quickly wear off.
Low volatility is what you want to buy.
Some people who offer trade alerts position themselves before alerting their followers so they can sell their shares or derivatives to the people who follow them. I’m not saying Kirkland does that, especially since QQQ is one of the most liquid securities, but it’s just something to bear in mind. Usually it’s penny stocks.
SPX, NDX some other indexes and futures contracts offer special tax treatment so you are able to keep more of your profits. 60% is treated as longterm capital gains regardless of how short a time you hold.
tastytrade, and optionstradingmentor on Youtube are great sources on options education.
I bought one of Trader Travis’s courses on UDEMY.com (optionstradingmentor) and it was helpful.
Prop firms can be good or bad depending on which ones you use. Basically, it’s a firm that lets you trade their capital depending on how much you put into the account, and if you pass their tests to show you won’t lose their money. I wouldn’t trust many offshore ones, but know people from The Affinity Trading Group, and they seem legit. they do business in England because in the last few years the SEC has made laws that pushed a lot of prop firms out of the country.
I trust them, but when you take your money out of the country there’s only so much the government can do to fix things. So, beware of other prop firms. Also, some don’t allow overnight positions, and some charge rediculous fees to take your money.
I trade TOS and can still buy back with no commissions when price is a 5 cents or less. Fidelity allows this when options are 10 cents or less, but the original commissions are much more at Fidelity.
I was not aware of the tax advantage on SPX. I will have to look into that.
I took a course from Trader Travis five years ago. I felt that I learned something about trading and about myself as a trader. He was not sending me emails about new positions to take/close but seemed to teach principles that allowed me to make those decisions. I felt that Kirkland’s first book, Option Trading for Women (?), was along those same line. But both seem to be suited for bull markets. Selling premium and considering the probabilities of an option expiring worthless seem to be the only way to account for the fact that none of use really know what tomorrow will bring. Trader Travis did cover selling short puts, and writing covered called on SPY.
I bt Wendy’s P3 System about 3 years. I did fine but stopped for health reasons. Started back trading 2 weeks ago, & because of the mkt, tried to do PUTS. It’s not designed for that, so I’m going to do just CALLS. Maybe less available, but better results. If you learn the indicators she uses, & only trade (CALLS) when you get a strong confirmation, & then, MOST IMPORTANT, BUY ONLY, IN THE MONEY options, you can figure to succeed from 80% to 90%. On a 1 month option, I keep the time value at about 1 1/2% of the stock price. On a 2 month, 2-3%. You have to practice trade to learn what to watch for. About 5 things need to line up. If they don’t, WAIT, or PASS. Then you have to watch the trade & take profits, or cut your loss ( which should be small). It’s Rule Based. You have to learn the rules & then follow them. If you don’t do either, you can’t succeed!!!
I cancelled her weekly list of possible trades. I have TC2000, 7v (with 12.5v), which has Easy Scan. I use Stockcharts for her indicators. After getting my Scan to about 25-30 possible stocks, I put them in my TC list based on where they are at the time. Maybe 3-4 are ready to trade, the others are put in 2-3 other stages. Then I look for the options in Scottrade, where I trade. If I can’t find an option for a stock that gives me the 1-2-3%, I drop it to a WAIT list & try later. I can make 5, or a 100 scans, & only on what area is going up. I operate this just like it’s a BUSINESS!!
NOW, the negative. I bought her Merit System for the Q’s for $997, in June 2015, to get her Reco’s. , I had a couple that won & a few that were down. Then we had the big drop in Aug & Sept where there were only a few Recos. Thru Oct & Nov, she couldn’t get them right. I actually did better using the P3 to Buy or Pass on her Recos. I think she had someone else giving the Buy/Sell signals. She held one that lost 100%, that I actually made money on. I just stopped using the Recos & took the hit. I made about 1/2 my investment back, but only because I only traded if it met the 5 rules. Others may have done great when the mkt was trending up, before Aug/Sept. There’s no free lunch. If you treat Option Trading like a business, & do the learning first, make the time, & then FOLLOW THE RULES, you can win on about 80-90% of the trades. Cut your losers, & hold your winners ( sell part ?). If you don’t, or wont, learn it first, you will not succeed, period!!! ( I’m also looking at a system to do PUTS. I will practice trade for at least 15 trades, if not more. I can do this in TC2000, just by posting everything as if I bt it.) My suggestion if you want to make this a business, is to look into Worden’s TC2000. I have the Gold, which gives me the 12v, which I need to see the Keltner Channels. These give you entry points for your trades. ( Increases your chances to be profitable right away). Anyway, pull up Worden & see if you like it.
Best to you, Rich
Rich, I’d like to talk with you off line. call me on 901-825-8958.