Looking for anyone with comparable performance...

Chris, don't be impressed, be offended -- by someone trying to rip off novice investors looking for a fast buck. I did not (and will not) look up the specific link you posted, but 60% annualized returns are so absurdly high that you can just dismiss them entirely. Did the emails happen to mention something about the Nigerian lottery?

Caveat emptor, which is Latin for "if it worked, why would they tell you about it?"

-Tad

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If I may add a bit here, returns bring risk, that's the nature of any investment. A zero risk investment is defined as a short term T-bill, and is now under 2%. You can get 3.6%+ in dividends in the DVY ETF, but will take on the risk of the underlying stocks declining and losing money there. There is no free lunch, chasing after these returns will only lead to high losses.

JOE

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I would not be shocked if it is possible to open a futures trading account, sell as many options on S&P 500 futures as margin requirements permit, and earn 60% or more in some years. However, the maximum possible loss for such a strategy would greatly exceed the initial deposit into the futures account. One must understand how much risk was taken to get the 60% return.

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Chris -

It looks like a software trading system (I did not register to look at their portfolio). Software trading systems have been around since the

1980's, at least, including options programs. Generally, the idea of options programs is to screen for over / under-priced options based on the parameters, which may include things like stock volatility and comparison of premiums. I never studied any system, but I'm sure each system will vary in the tweaking.

Two key things to look for before handing over your "play money" (trading is NOT investing - you should not put up more than you can afford to lose):

** years of trading history in various market conditions (some systems work for rising markets, some for falling markets, some for flat markets) - make you sure you understand how they measure their return and check its accuracy ** make sure the amount you put up to play is all you can lose. You can of course get deeper, checking how often they tweak their software, if they run different programs for different conditions, and if they have a maximum loss level at which they liquidate such as 50% and the variability or swings of profit to loss. The quality of their disclosure is important, so the more clearly they present and the more relevant their presentation, the more you know.

For further info on this genre you might try searching under "Trading Systems" and variations thereof.

In any system, make sure you understand the parameters and what they are doing with your money, and make sure you understand your loss liability.

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Do you suppose he's a troll?

Elizabeth Richardson

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Yes. I hope the moderator can stop further postings by him.

If you are using Google Groups for access to this news group, you can and should rate this post and report him as a spammer. Note that he is using a Google mail account, so that they can also revoke that.

-- Ron

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