Investools Investing Foundation Course Review
by Jitesh Gandhi on March 21, 2010 5:00 PM, under Education, Investing
Through TD Ameritrade I recently was able to gain access to the Investools Investing Foundations course. I’m through about 25% of the course and thought I’d share some thoughts on the course. I only have access to the course materials and trading rooms. I do not have access to any coaching (by choice). So those are really the main areas I can currently review.
First, their stuff is expensive. Talking to them, the Investing Foundation course starts at $300 with no coaching and 6 months of access. The Options courses are over $1,000 and the high probability trading course is over $6,000. You could’ve guessed this since they do not reveal any pricing information on their web site.
I think the materials (course manual, videos, web seminars (they call these trading rooms)) contain good information. So far, it’s all stuff that I had learned from day trading index futures in the past: trading plan, risk vs. reward, psychology of trading. But it is all good information, especially for a new trader or someone who is struggling to trade. The course will teach a lot of things that are important to successful investing and for the struggling investor may help them identify where their struggles are.
For the experienced investor, the investing foundation course would serve as a good refresher (I believe it is included with the purchase of other courses). I’d have to leave the ultimate decision on whether the course is worth the price to the purchaser (we all value money differently). I was certainly taken aback by the pricing when I heard it. We’ll see if this course is able to help get me more active in the markets. Ultimately, my two biggest weaknesses in investing are my risk-averse personality and staying an active investor, not a lack of knowledge/understanding.
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January 3, 2011 4:40 PM
Hey Jitesh – I am looking to take this Investing Foundation course offered by Investools. The $300 now includes a workshop pass. Did you take this course? Did you find their content and tool access useful? It is not about the money to spend I am concerned about but the distance about 200 miles+ each way in addition to the 2 day course. Would you suggest an alternative course that you find a better value?
January 3, 2011 5:13 PM
Shankar: I have not attended any of their workshops for the same reason you are concerned: the distance. They have recently added online workshops. Instead of two 8-hour days, they state: Each online workshop spans 2 weeks. Classes are held three times a week for two hours per session. I do not know if they would substitute the live certificate for an online certificate though.
As I said in my review, I think the information in the foundation course is really good for a beginning investor. Without knowing your particular experience it is hard to say if this course is for you.
Their tools are unique (and partly proprietary) and I’d treat them as I would treat any type of technical analysis that you may use: past performance isn’t indicative of future results. By their nature, I believe all of them are trailing indicators where you then try and decipher trends.
The most important thing in my opinion is having a plan and being disciplined to follow it. If you have a plan, it may not work, but you will limit your losses and learn from them to make your plan better. It’s when you act undisciplined (keeping losers, selling winners early) in not following the plan where you get hurt the most.