Author/Editor
Shah Gilani
Publisher
Money Map Press
Description
Trading service that recommends out-of-the-money put options to profit from companies with weak financials, with “carbon trades” that are essentially rolling those same put option trades forward when they expire and hoping to profit several times from a stock in persistent decline. Launched by Michael Lewitt in September 2016, he was replaced by Shah Gilani in April 2017.
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If you’ve subscribed to Zenith Trading Circle (defunct), please click the stars below to indicate your rating for this newsletter, and please share any other feedback about your experience using the comment box below.
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Watched the presentation today…..cost $1950.00 w/90 day money back guarantee. Today is 12/4/2016 and says membership is limited to 500; yet I see posts on here as far back as Sept. Red Flag! Does anyone know if he honors the money back guarantee? His theory makes sense….to me, anyway; however, the timing would be critical. Since he is taking 500….per month, maybe…..I’m still tossing it around in my mind. I don’t have a lot of $$$$$ to be speculating here and there, so I have to rely on your experience to a great degree.
Now is not the best time to speculate as a bull or bear. The markets are still grinding sideways. My technical advisory group(Elliott Wave International) has kept me on the sidelines for the time being although I have long dated puts with some companies (mid 2017 to early 2018). The markets are still in a topping process which could last from a few weeks to a few months. As long as investor sentiment remains elevated, it is difficult to achieve large profits on puts. Zenith recommendations are excellent. However, even the bad companies will stay somewhat lifted until the markets major trend changes from up to down for a longer term. I have mostly paper traded since I joined Zenith and no profits on my part with exception of some of the trades I entered under Lewitt’s “Sure Money” newsletter.
I recommend if you all have not tried CML PRO it is a great service for analyzing stocks,etf’s, etc. CMLVIZ.com is precise with there research once you know how to use there system. They had a 10 dollar a month special don’t know if it is still there but it is worth the $. I dropped IBD, and Zach’s, in favor of this service. Nobody beats the Gumshoe when they throw all those tongue tied clues to excite you and then bounce you off the wall. Thinkolater is top’s! Good service real reasonable CML.
re: CMLVIZ and CML PRO – May you provide a brief synopsis tutorial or is there youtube or other links that provide such?
TIA ~ Ben
I subscribed to Michael Lewitt’s Zenith Trading Circle (ZTC) from Oct 1, 2016 for over two months, gingerly following each Monday’s long Put alert (less than $2,500 at risk each time). I subscribed believing, and still believe, that his tests have a high probability of identifying stocks that will eventually collapse. But from the start I had doubt, which has only increased, that his tests result in a high expected return within the relatively short period of each Put, usually 2 to 5 months. ZTC marketing says his method identifies stocks with a “94.5% chance of collapse”. But that does not mean his Put alerts have a 94.5% chance of producing a positive gain. Indeed, I have had only actual losses and paper losses. Hope springs eternal; I may eventually have a winner, maybe one that compensates for all the losers. Nevertheless, here is why I resigned and got my money back: his intermediaries at Money Map Express customer support offered to refund my money instead of answering my simple question. That is, how does Michael often achieve a purchase price that is significantly lower than the GTC price he suggests in his Monday alerts, and how might I do the same? For example, in one recent alert it was $0.06 cents for Michael or some other lucky buyer (we learned ten days later) versus $20.0 cents for me and presumably most others, the GTC price of his alert. The underlying stock was going sideways, with very little volatility, so it’s hard to understand how the Put would experience so much volatility in a short period of time. That sort of thing allows Michael to often claim gains while I only show losses. In summary, it’s not the negative returns I have experienced that cause me to advise against ZTC, it’s the unexplained mismatch between his portfolio claims and mine.
Sorry Zenith didn’t work for you. I opted out earlier this month as well. I had the same question about the price spread in my November 21st comments. It is apparent that when a trade is issued, they record their buy price prior to subscribers “jumping in”. When subscribers start buying the recommended option, it can increase the implied volatility and the price increases (option buyer demand). This is particularly true when tens of thousand of contracts are being purchased during the day. The option price will increase. Sometimes it may be beneficial to wait until later in the day or another day. All depends on what the markets are doing. Lately it has been mostly up. The markets are still in a topping process so still waiting for that to complete and start working back down. Only time will tell. The latest “video” for Zenith notes that trades will be issued now using the same technique for companies that will benefit with the current market uptrend. Otherwise, call options. The first recommendation was suppose to be Monday or Tuesday. So, some attempt to benefit from the current uptrend and hopeful his other put recommendations will become profitable when the market starts trending down.
I bailed today also. He sure talked a good game on his Video. Lack of communication, unrealistic buy in prices…. He’s got a lot to learn about running an online trading service.
The service has been nothing short of a money pit with no reasonable expectation for any profit. Almost every recommendation has been a loser. Called for a refund on the “91st” day and they refused but wanted to “slide me” into another service by acknowledging ZTC has not been good for anyone. I have other subscriptions, but have had it with MMP.
I am having great concerns with Zenith and Michael Lewitt. I am a member of the service but ready to bail. Many red flags to date including apparent mix up of recommendations, to performance sheets stating numbers positive which were negative. Absolutely unattainable buy in prices to match his, to text alert system which works some of the times or late. As you should know the purchase of options can be very time sensitive but it always seemed that I was late for the party even thou I purchased immediately at the alert message. I wondered how he could have purchased it so much cheaper than I all the time. Oh yes he will say timing, timing, timing… Yes at times I was able to get it at his “pay up to price”, but never at the price he used for his profit and loss reports. I actually wondered if he could be buying days earlier before the masses and selling once we drove the price up after his recommendation??? Definitely have made no money. Looking to get out .
I would follow your instincts and get the hell out. As many have stated before his recommendations are spot on, but his buy prices are unattainable. The market is not headed down right now. At all! In my opinion the service is a sham and am sorry I ever signed up.
I opted out earlier this month. The stock market is still trending up (topping out) and could take several more months into the first quarter next year. Lot of cracks showing up in the markets but they will continue to trend up until the optimism starts to wane. Option buying is risky under the current circumstances. In my opinion, Zenith is risky until the markets start trending down. That is why I primarily paper traded while a member. Too much money to pay to a service and not see any reasonable profits. As noted above buying puts in an up trending market; prepare to lose money. See also, my earlier post on the Zenith option “buy in” price. The Zenith buy in price is recorded immediately and before the larger participation of option buyers elevates the price.
At the risk of disclosing too much, I’ve carefully analyzed all 21 picks since inception. All but 2 have all traded above the buy under price usually the following day. The optimal strategy has been to buy on day 1 and sell on day 2. The higher IV doesn’t disappear quickly.
We have been in a historic 10% rally since the election. That cannot continue. His newsletter will perform much better in a flat or down market. When the market does turn or normalize, I’ll continue to trade, but keep the profits in the pick. My trading size is generally 5x to 10x my position size.
I joined the ZTC and tried the first six recommendations. All of the puts I bought were well within their “don’t pay more than ___” and every single one of them lost all my money. I would only put $500-1000 in each recommendation and they all were losers. I called to cancel my membership and of course they tried to keep me by extending the 90-day trial for another 60 days because “who could have predicted the Trump rally.” Please. I’m only kicking MYSELF because while eventually this over-heated market will crash (a la Harry Dent, Bill Bonner, Jim Rickards) I stupidly traded during the election thinking perhaps a Clinton win would tank the market early. My mistake and goes against my options trading core values: selling options is generally better than buying (or at least selling spreads) ESPECIALLY the far OTM ones ZTC was recommending. Yes the puts were cheap but they were so far below the current stock price, the company would have to literally implode to make the puts profitable. Finally, the recommendations did not give ENOUGH time for the companies to tank (3-6 months?? come on!)….and then suggesting to “roll” the option out further was idiotic. The option was worth nothing when they suggested “rolling” it out to March/April. So really, their concept of “rolling” is deceptive. Rather, they should be saying: “We missed the timing of the implosion. Sorry about that. But we still think Company X will implode in the next 3 months so buy more puts 3 months out.” Stupid!
The coup de grace for me on this service was when he recommended a call purchase. At that point, ZTC became another stock picker and stock pickers don’t survive. Sorry for being long-winded but wanted to share my experience and warn others not to get sucked into this short-term strategy with far OTM options. If anything, ZTC should recommend buying 9-12 months of time. But then they would not be able to “cycle” enough “new picks” and keep everyone waiting for the next recommendation. Can you spell scam?
To bad we can’t hold Him accountable for the losses.
Totally agree Jack15T!
+1! I wrote him a scathing letter last month. Like he even gives a @#*^! Biggest mistake of my investing career. Taught me some valuable lessons!
hip3434, well the silver lining for all of us is just that: a valuable lesson. Expensive lesson for me but will save more $$ in the future as I’ll never do it again. Best to you.
Interesting commentary on this board. All I can say is that trading puts isn’t for the faint of heart, and you can quickly lose 100% of your money in search of the very occasional payday of 5,000%. Also, don’t rush into a trade and overpay. It’s better to scale in.
I joined Zenith and every put recommendation stock in portfolio went up in price. I lost $7000 of my $9000 plays within 30 days. If I had bought calls on his put recommendations, I would have made money. His last recommendation was $70 Jan. 18 put on NVDA. even though it meets zero of the 4 criteria he says he uses. Put a big ass hurting on me. I placed puts on PNRA, CMG, CDIZ, SHLD, LNG, and VRX and all immediately declined in value quickly. All the other recommendations in the portfolio I did not execute were huge losers also. And Michael Lewitt claims in pitch he is 94% accurate. Not my experience. 100% losers on every pick he made.
Zenith Trading Circle seems to be intended for a down market. Hasn’t happened yet. we will likely be getting a couple of more new highs before it turns down for a longer period. This may take several months. So, unless one is willing to “trade the waves”, it is difficult to make any money. Lot of sideways action lately so this wastes time and eats away at option premium whether puts or calls. I got out of this service weeks ago before my 90 days and got a refund. Mostly paper traded so not much loss to claim. The companies recommended are poor performing but hard for them to go down dramatically with optimism still positive and primary market direction still up. I try to limit my losses to 50% for the long term (leap) options and 35% for shorter term options. Just depends on market directions and other technical indicators for the markets and how a stock is following the market direction.
As a Money Map Passport Club member I get all the services from them. Most are bad, Zenith Trading Circle is the worst. One correction, he does not use long dated options. He started out with 1, 2, and 3 month puts. Only when they all expired worthless did he start using longer dated options, just as worthless. Happily, I realized many of his puts were garbage and did not buy, all of them are losers. I to wrote a scathing letter to him and Money Map Press, no response.
Thank you. You just saved me $2,000 from signing up with their Zenith Trading Circle
I concur with Delwin 100%, my experience exactly the same.
Thank you. Was thinking of this, and now I’m not. I appreciate you taking the bullet for us.
Smart decision, every dollar saved is ten dollars earned!!!
Thank you. You just saved me $2,000 from signing up with their Zenith Trading Circle
I wish I would have read this before I lost $2000.00 plus 6000.00 more in bad trading .
The worst trading options advisor. For any one interested don’t subscribe to Zenith Trading Circle.
I would advise staying away from Micheal Lewitt’s Zenith Circle recommendations. He sounded very convincing. Lost 100 percent of my put purchase within 2 months. I figured if one was right, I would be good. My fault for believing and putting real hard-earned money into this garbage.
trust but verify
Received the first offer in Sept of 2016, from one middleman, today got another from another middleman, both of which made the same exact claims as quoted here. And, as is pointed out in some of the posts below by others, it was 1900+ bucks in 2016.
This year, “available for the first time ever” – it’s 2150? Wouldn’t you think these people realized their words travel and stick with a lot of folks, and when claiming it’s the first time ever, you probably better be sure it’s the first time ever. . . um, lets keep track and see if he “offers it for the first time ever – [again,] some months from now?”
QUOTE FROM MICHAEL LEWITT AT ZENITH TRADING CIRCLE ON FEBRUARY 8 2017.
“A few months from now, a membership to Zenith Trading Circle will cost $4,995.”
“However, being that this is the FIRST time I’m sharing this controversial strategy…”
“I’m offering you an elite Premier Membership for only $2,150.”
This is just laughable! It’s pathetic how these trolls embezzle millions from high hopes main street investors. I agree with what above posters have said: Do your due diligence! Research everything that these clowns are saying. We have the power of information on our side! Be safe out there.
Hip
Thank so much …..your opinions really help to get far away from these thiefs!!!
Every single recommendation he made, I followed. Every single one of them failed I lost all my money that I dedicated to this project $ 25 k or so. If had I bet on the exact opposite of what he said, I would have won all of them. Maybe this is what he did. He made us buy into his recommendations and then he bet the opposite way, against us. NEVER AGAIN
You are probably correct anna. If so, he is below scum of the earth but we will never know. I too lost a shit load. The only smart thing I did was closing out positions before they were completely worthless. As I stated earlier, you can only learn from this experience and move on. Try not to be bitter. Best of luck to you!
I am very sorry you lost money on this service. Mentioned in my earlier post I opted out late last year in time to get a refund. I have been part of many services in the past and a lifetime member of Agora Financial (joined many years ago). I have found that most of these services provide good opportunities but only if their recommendations are succinct with a particular market direction in a given time frame. I lost money until I found a technical service (mentioned in my Dec 5th post) to help me with market direction. I primarily buy options and have done well if I follow the advice of my technical service regarding market conditions. The timing of the Zenith Trading Circle was really too early with markets still in a topping mode. With any of these “financial” services, it is beneficial to have some understanding of current market direction whether up or down. I use to just go with recommendations and trust they would work out. The majority of the time I would lose money until I learned more about market technical indicators and made my own decisions on when to “get in” and “get out”. The Zenith recommendations were very detailed and obvious the companies will eventually fail. However, it is not prudent to buy puts in an advancing stock market. At present we are still in a “topping out” mode with a correction “down” coming soon and then another “top” before the markets really start going down in earnest. When the markets do start down in earnest there will be many opportunities to buy puts and make money since many companies are overbought and overpriced.
So would you join Gilanti’s Zenith trading circle now?
Thank you for your input.
I do not plan to join Zenith with the new writer. (please note my post below in response to tom michaels). The markets may trend sideways to up over the next several weeks/months. There will potentially be a major correction sometime this year. As market volatility increases; a great time for short term trades with put or call options. Traders still have to be very cautious during this period. Timing option trades can be a daunting task whether by individuals or services that offer recommendations.
I just watched Gulani’s latest pitch. He claims 19/20 winners. While the pitch says if you don’t make 59%/day, you’ll get a refund of the subsciption price ($1999), the Refund Policy says, “Your one-year subscription to Zenith Trading Circle is a non-refundable purchase. If you choose to cancel your subscription, it will be set to non-renew at the end of your existing term and no additional charges will be made.”
Thank you Travis for making this space/section available. And thank you to each who has shared their experience with “The Zenith”.
i noticed the same thing. i eas wondering how is it possible that someone guarantee more than 50% gains oer trading day, thats insane…yey at the bottom it indicates the mon-refundable policy. i wad getting bombarded with emails from all of these different websites touting his remarkable return, i just had to watch the video and read the offer..
It is now late June and the topping market is still booming for more than 8 years now. I agree that understanding price action of the market is first step before taking risk of buying puts or calls of individual stocks. Trading the whole market may be less risky if you watch technicals. The problem with Shah could be one of a couple, first, is the price already too low? Second is that I suspect that many loser trades by the subscribers are that they held on through gains and ended up with loses. Due to daily loss of wealth due to premium costs long puts and calls are better as short term plays, NEVER as long term investments for months. If they bought at the wrong time and never had any gains, bad trades, bad entries. I have a knack for seeing future price action pretty well after watching charts for years. HOWEVER, my seeing this may only show a very brief correct turn on price, then price goes against my projection, but it did do what I expected at least for a short time. Making this profitable consistently is not quite as easy as understanding the chart action.
Anna, sell the information by going the opposite and you’ll recoup your loses. If they were wrong $25,000 times they’ll be wrong $50,000 times. That means you’ll be “right” on the backside of your $25,000 investment. Happy hunting!
Michael Lewitt is out at Zenith replaced by Shah Gilani.
That’s a good thing. I wonder how much money he skated with. F*&^ing scumbag. He will turn up somewhere else, I’m sure.
So, they are all just actors to put up a show, I guess.
Thank goodness, Michael Lewitt has just, as of April 19, been canned as leader of the Zenith Trading Circle. Michael Lewitt, with a 99% loss rate was absolutely the “Mother of All Losers.” I have 5 months left on my subscription and am praying that his replacement, Shah Gillani, can help me get out of the hole.
Update please …
Has Gilani’s trade recommendations been better?
What has happened with Shah Gilani, have the results been good?
Don’t hold your breath. I join Zenith Trading Circle 5 weeks ago and I have lost 55% of the money I put in the account to do trading recommended by Shah Gillani . Today I sold every option recommended by him with a big loss for me. They do a lot of advertisement and baiting and their ONLY mission is make money for themselves.
Fortunately Michael Lewitt got canned. I lost over $5,000 on his trades plus $2,000 subscription.
That being said, I’m fairly impressed with Lewitt’s successor, Shah Gilani. So far his trades are close to 90% winners, and I’m making back my losses. He is a good ‘surf rider’, and catches many stock tops before they start to decline. Although it’s important to watch the overall market trend — up– not all sectors are rising. Especially retail sector, with many bankruptcies, which is what Gilani concentrates on, and where most of his winners come from.
Here’s hoping his winning trend continues.
These guys are all full of bluster but performance is abysmal. Constant baiting that feels like scam level. Poster child Lewitt jumps ship and no refunds available after 90 days. For $2k you should expect careful research and management of returns, but these guys are out to make money for themselves, not their investors.
Try Jason Bond if you want to get really good training in stock trading. His goal is first to teach. He provides watch lists, trade notifications and that is ok, but he has dozens of trading videos encompassing a variety of trade types and that is where the meat is. This isn’t long term investing, but the training and risk management would come in handy to understand how to better manage longer term investments. I am a customer and have no other affiliation with Jason Bond or his merry team of expert traders.
Just joined. Now am reading comments. So many losses. I am going to do the opposite of Shahs recommendations for a small amount of money and see if I can at least get my money back. Seems like betting against this “system” is the way to go.
Well, careful there, it wasn’t Shah making the back recs, it was Michael Lewitt who was the fraud. From what I can tell, Shah is more sound, so making a bet against Shah might not be the best way to trade either. But hey, its up to you.
Does anyone know anything about Shah’s recommendation and success rate?
Thank you
Just read the presentation of Zenith etc. and it seemed that all the ‘closings’ were going to start in 2018. Plus I am not familiar with puts, options, etc. and the presentation did NOT have anything covering teaching that. That’s why I checked Gumshoe. Also I got shaky when the promo said I had to act today, etc. I have been saying to friends, etc. that of course Malls are in the twilight of their value so I thought what Gilanti presented did make sense….but how to execute those “carbon trades” left my out in left field.
I would personally not recommend joining any of these services unless one has a working knowledge of how markets move whether up or down. You do not have to “act today” which is only a come hither promo to push joining. I was a member of the Zenith Trading Circle(ZTC) but opted out late last year. During the onset of ZTC, it was timed for the potential of a market trending down. Recommendations made during that time would have worked if the markets had been ready to trend down. But unfortunately for ZTC the markets continued going up and many of the recommendations (puts) ended in high losses for any investors that took them up on their recommendations. Today, the markets are still trending up and may continue to do so for a period of time. I am a lifetime member of one service with multiple strategies for buying stocks and options. However, I generally do not always go with their recommendations unless the market trend will be in the direction essential to making a profit within a reasonable period of time. It makes no sense to buy longer dated options that are initial losses unless the trend finally catches up to the direction the option needs to be profitable. There are many stock and option services available and they are mandated to provide subscribers with recommendations. Sometimes they work out and sometimes not. That is why it is important to understand market trends up or down to best participate to benefit from any service whether recommending stocks or options. A final note is that I have been a member of Elliott Wave International (EWI) for almost nine years. I really like trading options and EWI has been extremely beneficial helping me determine when to buy options whether puts or calls. Because of EWI my losses have been minimal and I have enjoyed reasonable but safe profits during the last nine years.
Tom, I wish I was far enough out in “left field” knowledge wise when it comes to options so that I would have stayed away from them. I’d have many $1000’s still in my brokerage account it I had. Zenith was just my last disaster from many other option trading services I let myself get taken in by. ALL were losers.
Strange outfit. Keith Fitzgerald runs a conservative portfolio at money map press but even he claims ridiculous returns (10X+/-) and pitches bull crap market trend analysis. I don’t know why Money Map Press seems legit and then goes blatantly huckster. Are they punishing greedy suckers? Why? Sid Riggs gives some good put advice for free, Keith throws out some good calls but then there is the sucker stuff. Take the refund policy for instance. Shaw claims the daily percentage based on adding up multiple $2500 plays. There are a lot of 2500 plays in there. It seem to me if you go for a refund you will have to have made all those plays or they will say of course you didn’t get the daily return advertised. Plus, it’s like they put in clues to warn you. Shaw says all but 2, then all but 1, then all but 4 were winners. Its like find the good stuff or they are happy to play you for a sucker.
Harry…did your reverse strategy work?
Never subscribe options letters. The volumes and the way they are priced don’t work in your favor when thousands of subscribers jump on the same strike/maturity at the same time. Then the bid disappears and you’re stuck in the mud. You can very well do options on a stock reco instead of buying the stock. Then I advise to buy spreads to limit your risk/cost (and your gain potential, nothing is free).
I have been fortunate with ‘Net Credit” option spreads. Not big money; but, fairly consistent.
Nice to see that Michael Lewitt is no longer in charge of Zenith Trading Circle. His investment picks sounded good, but were all losers. You’d expect a few losses, but not all of them. I requested a refund of my membership fee within the grace period to salvage a little out of my losses. Now Shah Gilani is pushing Zenith Trading Circle with the same promise of can’t miss profits, but the subscription fee more than doubled and is now non-refundable. There’s a reason for that! Run away and look elsewhare for financial advice.