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4.5
Rating from 1097 votes
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http://www.10PercentPerMonth.com
10PercentPerMonth.com, just as the name says, tries to average a 10% monthly return. Its main focus is trading credit spreads and/or iron condors on the main indexes and/or ETFs. The cost is $125 per month.
Discloser: I never was a subscriber; my review is based on the information on the website and feedback from other subscribers. This is the reason why I don’t attach any stars to my review.
The service currently provides one Iron Condor position in five different indicies/ETFs per month to provide some diversification. However, those indexes/ETFs (IWM, RUT, DIA, SPY, QQQQ) are highly correlated and don’t provide real diversification.
The biggest problem of this service is risk management. They achieved excellent results in 2009, and even in 2008 most of the months were pretty good. However, looking at some of the trades, you see some very disturbing things. In January 2008 they had a loss of 89% in RUT trade. In Sept. and Oct. 2008, they had a 55%+ losses in SPY trades. In Nov. 2008, they opened the RUT 630/640 debit Call spread for a DEBIT of $0.25 with the whole trading portfolio!! The position was sold for $0.50 or a 100.0% profit. However, this trade could easily result 60-80% loss. Opening out of the money debit spread when RUT was at 460 with 100% of the money is pure gambling. After seeing this trade, I don’t know how anyone could even consider subscribing to this service.
In May 2010 they got crashed and lost about 70% of the trading capital. Those kinds of losses are absolutely unacceptable; they tell you a lot about risk management of the service.
I agree with Kim. I was a subscriber and I noticed that they underestimate their losses and overestimates their gains. There is no Risk Management. When they open an spread and the day after the market moves against them, ALL they say is the market is oversold or oevrbought and it will move the other direction soon….They let their position to run deep in the money and then they buy it back with big losses….
I subscribed to 10percentpermonth for about 8 months. I also agree with the previous reviewers about risk management, diversification, and not being able to figure out why my results were not the same as what they published. I will tell you that in the month of May, I did not lose about 70% of my trading capital, I lost about 93%! I had no choice but to cancel my account since I had no money left to trade…..
During the month of May, it felt like a different company than in previous months. They seemed to violate their own loose risk management rules and bet the farm that the market wouldn’t go down. Well, it did, and because all of the indexes that they trade went down at the same time along with the market, it was a worst case scenario. It appears that most subscribers have their accounts autotraded by 1 of 5 different brokers. It is reported that nearly 70% of the subscribers use the same broker. In some cases, when they issue a trade order, the broker is unable to fill, or completely fill the order. One thing I noticed, is that 10percentpermonth publishes the results of what would have been achieved if all of the order(s) would have been executed by the broker. During the month of May, an order went out to close certain positions, and they were unable to be executed by the broker (supposedly due to the huge volume), and so a near maximum loss was realized. However, 10percentpermonth didn’t reflect this in their performance numbers. That is why they “only” reported a 70% loss, and I realized a near 93% loss. The other thing that skews their performance numbers, is that the RUT trades, are not autotraded, so the majority of the subscribers don’t even mess with those orders, but those trades get lumped in with the total performance numbers at the end of the month. If you are going to subscribe to 10percentpermonth, be prepared to face the possibility of losing most if not all of your trading capital.
Amen to what others have recently posted here about 10percentpermonth.com. I also LOST about 93% of my account in the month of May 2010 and likewise, like many, I had to cancel my subscription. So not only are these guys LYING about their results, but they are outright INCOMPETENT when it comes to adjusting trades that have gone sour!!! They just hung on “hoping” that the markets would turn around. They hold on to their credit spreads and iron condor positions all the way to expiration – a truly dangerous thing to do. Now I have learned that most experts on these type of options trades recommend exiting at least a week before expiration. In a nutshell, yes you will make 10% per month 80% of the time, but GET WIPED OUT the other 20% of the time. STAY AWAY FROM THESE GUYS AND OTHERS LIKE THEM!!!
I bailed after the first 20% loss in Q1 so I didn’t get bit with the big “62%” (their report) loss which it appears was more like 93%. They did ok until Q1 of this year and I got very nervous.
I did find them to be pretty uncommunicative with comments like “our other customers don’t make requests like that”.
I was autotrading them them with TOS.
I will point out that pretty much all of the iron condor vendors have been having losses in the first half of 2010. One vendor (Power Options Applied) actually reported a 90%+ loss one month.
Right now I am using Monthly Cash Through Options. They seem to have a much better (better than none) risk mitigation approach of rolling positions to the next month that become unprofitable. There is a down side to that if you were not holding those positions because it limits how many positions they will support via autotrading. (The only way to go IMHO.)
I am a representative with 10PercentPerMonth, and most of the reviews posted above are true. We did have a horrible few months of losses and do not hide that in our performance.
Some report losses of nearly 90% in May but they may have only invested in just a single position instead of diversifying into all of them as suggested.
Our results do NOT include commission costs since this would vary on the amount invested and how much their broker charges. This is stated on our site (https://10ppm.com/customer/customerMain.php?section=customer&step=performanceAll).
Sometimes one broker fills an order while another one does not. That isn’t the fault of 10PPM, but those above want us to take the blame? Also, to accurately report our results, we average in the fill prices from all brokers. We don’t just publish the highest price or the lowest price, it is an average and probably the best method.
One reviewer mentioned that we seemed different in the month of May. Admittedly, we were. Our trading team that opened the positions invested heavily into them as well. They became emotionally attached and could not let go of the positions. A huge loss occurred and we do not hide that at all.
We have learned form that horrible experience and will move forward. Since then, we have removed those traders and created separate trading teams. One whose only task is to analyze and open trades, while the other team only closes trades out when a pre-determined trigger point is reached. This will eliminate any emotional attachment and prevent future drawdowns of that nature.
10PPM was hit hard with the recent losses and it was solely due to that trading team. They gambled with their own capital as well as with that of our subscribers.
They are not longer with the company and we have made strides to prevent that to ever happen again. As you can see, we’ve just finished our 4th consecutive winning month and plan to continue that trend.
I subscribed to 5 Percent Per Week for two months (Nov/early Dec 2010). It is run by the same people. They had two horrific losses during this time and I lost my entire trading account. It was apparent to me that they are inexperienced and make trades based on their bias toward the market and fail to use any money management, just hoping for a positive outcome. I asked for a return of my subscription fee, stating some of the reasons I felt they should return it-they totally ignored my message to them. My experience included not getting filled by my broker on one winning trade. I contacted the broker and was told that the index they were using was thinly traded and a large order had come in from another broker so they were unable to get filled. They raise their subscription rate every couple weeks. I have one word to describe them-GREED!
This trades references took me a loss from 5100$ during one year. Mostly they buy the same 3 trades and often they are wrong.
All I can say is, THANK YOU! I was just about ready to sign up, and after reading these reviews, my feet are settled comfortably on planet Earth. I’m sorry about those who lost money, but I appreciate you sharing your horrible experience.
They were successful in wiping out almost 50% of my account earlier this year. They did not manage the loss which is evident by its size. They assured my they were totally focused on the trades that month, but sent out e-mails about working on their new web site, while the losses were ounting with now action on their part. Immediately after and concurrent with this loss they changed the way they reported their performance in an veiled effort to hide this loss. If you can access historical versions of the way they originally reported their performance you will see the difference and see how this major, and smaller subsequent losses, were being hidden. They were responsible for ending my trading activities. Overcoming a 50% loss is a significant long term recovery.
Since our last post in September 2010, we’ve had 9 winning months, with just 3 losers. This is a cumulative return of 82.4% and a compounded return of over 60%! It is obviously apparent that our new trading teams (entry and exit) are doing just great!
Some posts refer to 5 Percent Per Week, and are not related to our performance whatsoever. We are a sister company to 5PPW, but the trading teams, strategy, and timelines are completely different. It’s similar to Red Lobster and Olive Garden… two completely different businesses , but collectively owned by Darden Restaurants. An experience at one does not reflect the business of the other.
Claims of losses being hidden are completely false! We publish ALL of our trades, winners AND losers. Everything is out in the open for all to see. If you have a question about a particular month or trade, feel free to ask us for more details.
As with most reviews, a majority of those that post are unhappy customers. For every unhappy customer, there are countless others that are happy, but do not go out of their way to post. When was the last time you praised a server at a restaurant?
We’ve only had ONE bad month since inception, and with our adjustments, that won’t happen again. If we weren’t profitable for our subscribers, they would not continue the service. If they did not continue the service, we’d be out of business. We are doing very well and are continuing to grow, despite the claims made above. We have moved past the one black eye on our performance, and have continued our winning ways with our new trade teams.
Visit our site (www.10ppm.com) and email us ANY questions on your mind. We’ll be happy to clear up the misconceptions you may have after reading the above posts.
I’ve been a subscriber to 10PPM since January 2011, and I must say that they have done a VERY GOOD job in this challenging market. The results they have published are accurate and I don’t understand what others are complaining about as far as misleading numbers.
In the month of August, the trade that they opened got into some trouble right before markets made severe declines. They actually closed out the short strike in the losing spread, and rode the long for a healthy PROFIT of OVER 30%!. The markets continued to decline and the long could have earned over 100%, but 10PPM did not show any signs of greed. Instead, they closed out the position the first chance they could.
The exit team that 10PPM uses has done extremely well. Adjustments had to be made in February and June of this year which kept losses to a very manageable 11% and 2.3%.
This service has performed VERY WELL for my portfolio. The complaints others have made appear to reference the ONE significant loss in May of 2010. That has been over a year ago, and whatever changes they made since then, have proven VERY SUCCESSFUL. I am VERY PLEASED with this service and will keep you all posted in the future.
At first, I did not invest in all of the positions this service provides each month. Instead, I tried to pick just one of them to follow through autotrade. I figured this would save on commission costs, etc. I began to notice that my performance numbers were not like they had. Reason being that the one position I ended up trading would be a loser, then the others were actually winning trades. After making this mistake for a few months, I followed their suggestion to diversify and began to autotrade all of their positions that are available for autotrade. Since then, my performance results have mirrored their own and I am VERY happy with the service. I suspect the others that complained about inaccurate performance numbers did the same thing I used to. Diversify and don’t put everything into one basket, and your portfolio will do very well through this service.
I guess that some people just don’t learn. Few months of reasonable performance are enough for people to forget all the horrible history of this service. Those strategies will perform well 80% of the time, the trick is to manage the risk in the bad months.
The claim “We’ve only had ONE bad month since inception” is absolutely false.
Aug. 2007: -24.5%
Jan. 2008: -38.4%
Oct. 2008: -31.6%
May 2010: -69.5%
Like I mentioned in my first review, in Nov. 2008, they gambled 100% of the account on out of the money spread which could easily cause 70-80% loss.
The service was also removed from pro-trading-profits. The reason, according to ptp: “we’re only interested in tracking profitable services so we removed them from the database.”
Happy Subscriber,
Closing one leg only makes the position market directional. This is not the purpose of those strategies. They just were lucky that the markets declined, but this is pure gambling.
PEOPLE, WAKE UP!! They can tell you whatever they want; it is only matter of time till those losses happen again. I personally know 2 people who lost 80% of their account trading 10ppm.
I have been a subscriber since mid 2007 and experienced the ups and downs of 10PPM. Kim refers to a bad history, but as you can see from the performance, it is actually pretty good. From the beginning of 2007, the cumulative return is over 220%!!! This EXCLUDES the 67% return on Nov 2008 where they had a trade double overnight, as well as the 31% return in August 2011. Kim feels that those were “lucky” gambles so I did not add them to the 220% figure. Those not subscribed at the time did not see their communication during those two “lucky” months. They explained what they were doing and in no way did it seem like they were just throwing darts. If someone didn’t agree with the view, they can easily turn off autotrade and not participate with the trade.
It appears as if a few months of bad returns are enough for some to forget about the great overall history of the service. Investing is a long-term decision and there will be ups and downs. Some may have been unfortunate enough to join just before a bad trade, and probably put everything into it. To those that lost so much in a single trade, since when was putting your entire account into one trade a good thing? Be smart and don’t let greed takeover sound judgment. Invest the same amount for each trade, and pocket the return. You can’t lose what you keep in your pocket!
Those that have stuck it out with 10PPM have enjoyed exemplary profits. 220% return in 4.5 years while the S&P 500 had a -20% return in the same period?!? I would choose 10PPM, hands down!
David G,
Your math is wrong. You cannot just add returns, it doesn’t work this way.
If one month is up 50% and second month is down 50%, your account is not at breakeven, it is down 25%. If you had 100k at the beginning, made 20% during 3 months and then 70% down (like in May 2010), you are not at breakeven, your account is actually down about 50% (100*1.2*1.2*1.2*0.3). Those losses are not on a single trade, they are on the overall account, including several positions like they recommend.
I will repeat if it was not clear: placing your entire capital into one single OTM spread is worst kind of gambling, not trading. Whoever is recommending to do it has no clue and you should not trust him with your money.
Kim,
I invest the same amount of capital for each trade. I do NOT
“let it ride” by reinvesting profits every single month. Those that do that, are looking to get possibly wiped out with one trade. This may be why your personal friends got crushed since you share the same mindset. After subscribing, I asked 10PPM how much to invest and they told me it was a personal decision since everyone has a different tolerance level with risk, and IN NO WAY did they ever tell me to put it all in. In fact, they stressed keeping cash on the side at all times.
The math: With an investment of $10,000, and a return of 10%, I just earned $1,000. For the following month, I invest $10,000 again, NOT $11,000. Another 10% return earns me another $1,000. My total return now is $2,000 and I have a total of $12,000 now. That is a return of 20%! (10% + 10% = 20%)
Using your example: I invest $10,000 and earn 50% in one month, bringing the total to $15,000. The second month, I invest $10,000 again, keeping the newly earned $5,000 in my pocket, but lose 50% on the second trade. That invested capital drops down to $5,000, but adding the $5,000 I kept on the sidelines, I’m right back at $10,000, or breakeven. (50% – 50% = breakeven)
Lets use your example leading up to May 2010: Investing $100k for each month, I earn a return of 20% for month 1, bringing my total to $120k. Another $100k investment and 20% return brings the total to $140k. After the third month, I’m at $160k. Remember, I am NOT “gambling” by investing everything each month. I am using the SAME INVESTMENT AMOUNT each time. The fourth month comes along, and I lose 70% of my $100k investment. That invested amount drops down to $30k, but with the $60k I accumulated in the previous three months, I still have $90k and am down just 10%! (20% + 20% + 20% – 70% = -10%)If YOU let it ride each month, you’d have $172,800 on the line for the 4th month. After losing 70% that month, you’d be at $51,840 and down nearly 50%! You said, “placing your entire capital into one single OTM spread is worst kind of gambling, not trading.” It seems like you do this all the time so who’s gambling now?
So, yes, the MATH IS CORRECT, but not with how YOU apparently manage your investment amounts. What you do sounds more like gambling, like in Vegas. When some blackjack players win a hand, instead of taking their profit off the table, they “press it” and leave everything on the table for the next hand. This works great until you lose a hand. When that happens, you lose the entire bet with nothing to show for it.
The 10PPM trade in Nov 2008 was perfect! They had great insight on the situation and made a quick trade. They didn’t say, “hey guys, put your entire nest egg into this trade”. How much we invest is completely under our own control. Trading capital was doubled after that trade but the entire account was never put on the line.
Since their inception, they’ve made over 250+ trades and just this ONCE, did they buy a spread. This was a rare opportunity that they seized and I’m glad I participated in it. You are focusing on ONE TRADE made years ago and basing their entire service on it – one trade that’s LESS THAN ONE HALF OF 1% of all their trades made.
For others reading this, as you can see, compounding by reinvesting profits can prove fatal to your trading account. It may help your portfolio grow faster, but is very risky. Sure, cash sitting idle in your account doesn’t help it grow, but you know it will always be there. Whatever amount you decide on investing with, and this applies to any newsletter service, should be risk capital ONLY. If you lose sleep over the possibility of losing that investment, it’s too much on the line. If you lose sleep over losing ANY amount, you shouldn’t be trading.
Blaming a newsletter service for OVER-INVESTING your own account is wrongly placed. That blame should fall squarely on your own shoulders.
Great service! Performance numbers are accurate. 30% trade this August was awesome! I’m new to options trading and have learned A LOT from their trades since signing up nearly a year ago. I have referred numerous friends to their service and will continue to do so. Everyone that I sent to them that signed up are VERY happy that I did. Customer service is great too. They answer emails very quickly.
A friend of mine told me about 10PPM. At first, I thought, “too good to be true”. She showed me her trade records from her broker and I still couldn’t believe it, but the numbers don’t lie. I subscribed about 8 months ago and am VERY glad that I did. After commissions, I’m up almost 40%!!
Like my friend, I didn’t know anything about options trading, but after seeing 10PPM’s trades, I began picking it up. Good thing for autotrade because my 9 to 5 job prevents me from trading during the day. I have learned, and earned, a lot from their newsletter!
During the time I’ve been on board, they had 2 losing months, but they were managed very well, keeping losses to a minimum.
I’m new to options trading, but have been investing in stocks for years. One of the earliest lessons I learned was to never invest everything into one trade. It sounds like from the negative reviewers that that is exactly what they may have done.
I have been with 10percent for almost 3 years now and I have to mention the lack of reviews I see for the countless good trades these guys have put in since they started the service. They sell credit spreads for the most part and I would say they do a pretty good job at it. Their record has been way better than any of the others I have researched as I remember looking at one service out there boasting several 75%+ losses in ONE YEAR! Their worst trade was in May of 2010 for a loss of 69%, but that amount was on just the capital invested and not the whole account.
Bottom line:
Trading options isn’t for everyone and these are volatile times we’re in, but I ca say that for the past year I’m up over 55%! Just saying 🙂