IIFT diploma in trading

mayoforsammmmm

I have signed up to do the IIFTs (Irish Institute of Financial Trading) diploma in financial trading. I have been dabbling in demo accounts for a few years with absolutely zero success, granted I work seasonally very long hours. I have no background in finance whatsoever and make only a ham-fisted effort to follow what's happening in global markets. Anyway I would really love to talk to anyone who has completed the course...is it beneficial? I have seen mixed enough reports on this site although the majority have been complimentary.
Would love to get some genuine feedback

George_Foreman

This post has been deleted.

gordongekko

They don't seem to be regulated by anyone

ballyharpat

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056272744&page=2

bbroomers

mayoforsammmmm wrote: »

I have signed up to do the IIFTs (Irish Institute of Financial Trading) diploma in financial trading. I have been dabbling in demo accounts for a few years with absolutely zero success, granted I work seasonally very long hours. I have no background in finance whatsoever and make only a ham-fisted effort to follow what's happening in global markets. Anyway I would really love to talk to anyone who has completed the course...is it beneficial? I have seen mixed enough reports on this site although the majority have been complimentary.
Would love to get some genuine feedback

Hi,

I have a varied degree of experience in financial markets and that course looks for total beginners, there appears to be nothing they teach you that you cannot learn yourself on the net.

bbroomers

gordongekko wrote: »

They don't seem to be regulated by anyone

they don't need to be regulated by anyone, they are teaching courses, not actively trading

martyoo

Personally I think good traders are born not made. I think a lot of it comes down to personality and that can't be thought in a course.

We are not designed to be traders that's why most fail.

bbroomers

martyoo wrote: »

Personally I think good traders are born not made. I think a lot of it comes down to personality and that can't be thought in a course.

We are not designed to be traders that's why most fail.

I agree in a sense but beginners who have no exposure to trading need to find

out some way if they're cut out for it, a course like this may help people find out

more about themselves.

martyoo

I agree in a sense but beginners who have no exposure to trading need to find
out some way if they're cut out for it, a course like this may help people find out
more about themselves.

That is true! Valid point.

Well at the very least they should stick to the demo accounts until their are consistently profitable. I'm just very skeptical of these courses.

gordongekko

bbroomers wrote: »

they don't need to be regulated by anyone, they are teaching courses, not actively trading

if they are a teaching course I would be happier if the were approved by someone. Are they going to pimp some product or further training at the end of the course?

bbroomers

gordongekko wrote: »

if they are a teaching course I would be happier if the were approved by someone. Are they going to pimp some product or further training at the end of the course?

at the end of the day if you're getting involved in the financial markets you have to keep your wits about u, if you're the type to going blowing money on a micket mouse course, you're probably going to lose your bollox when you do start trading fx or stocks

gordongekko

bbroomers wrote: »

at the end of the day if you're getting involved in the financial markets you have to keep your wits about u, if you're the type to going blowing money on a micket mouse course, you're probably going to lose your bollox when you do start trading fx or stocks

A little but of education is always a good thing. The more knowledge you gain the more likely you are to avoid the pitfalls. But personally im not sure of the value of an unregulated course. Most of the information may be available just by doing a little bit of research.

The_Early_Worm

Hi all,
I've created a boards account (normally I just read threads) to give my two cents on this course (sadly it was a mistake that cost me >2500euro)

The basic diploma course basically gives you enough information to get yourself hurt, nothing more. In advance of doing the course I was advised by the guys running it not to read too much prior to the course as "there is a lot of bad information out there", which is true.

Only after completing both the basic and advanced courses (and still not having a clue what to do re trading) I started reading extensively into the subject.

I am still very new to trading so will not try to pretend that I can give anyone advice on the topic, however I have learned enough since the course to realise how poor it was.

Here is a breakdown of what you will get

Basic Diploma: 8 lectures on various aspects of trading
These are interesting and somewhat helpful for the absolute beginner, however very superficial and you will absolutely not be prepared for anything other than a bit of a financial hit.
However, if you go onto investopedia and look through the Forex tutorial (free) you will have a far more structured and in depth understanding of trading (and 800 euro spare to put in your trading account)

Advanced Diploma
This is where they really screw you
advertised as Monday to Thursday 8am to 4pm for two weeks
Reality: 1-2 hours /day (although not everyday!) of actually being taught something, 80% of which is rehashing the basic diploma course
the remaining 6 hours/day are spent sitting in room watching bloomberg channel, while Peter trades, making occasional statements about the DAX going one way or the other.
At no point is there a proper discussion or tuition about specific strategies, how to form your own strategies, entry or exit points, identifying support and resistance and all the things I have come to realise are crucial to trading and should be in the basic course.

Or

1. take two weeks off work to read everything investopedia has to offer and check out the widely recommended books on trading (there are many)
2. open a demo account and make all your mistakes early for free (and learn from them)
3. Put the 2500+ you saved by not doing this rubbish course into a trading account an learn by doing

I have no interests to declare in relation to trading, my only reason for posting this is to vent my irritation and hopefully save someone else the 2500 (plus what you didn't earn from taking 2 weeks off), because to me that wasn't a small amount of money, and probably was the worst financial decision I've made to date.

Wishing you all the best of luck with your trading,
Poor and disgruntled Shmuck

PS: what i have found helpful in starting off

- Investopedias Intro to Forex tutorial (good even if you're more interested in products other than currencies)
- "Naked Forex" cant remember author right now but gives simple examples of strategies to start off with and some very good advice to stop you getting too badly burned early on
- Learn how to do manual backtesting (its discussed in naked forex and loads of other places), can't stress that one strongly enough

Again, hope you make your millions
The Early Worm

Sonnenblumen

My tip for anyone considering doing any course anywhere: one of the first things to check for is ACCREDITATION.

joe_six_cans

The_Early_Worm wrote: »

Hi all,
I've created a boards account (normally I just read threads) to give my two cents on this course (sadly it was a mistake that cost me >2500euro)

The basic diploma course basically gives you enough information to get yourself hurt, nothing more. In advance of doing the course I was advised by the guys running it not to read too much prior to the course as "there is a lot of bad information out there", which is true.

Only after completing both the basic and advanced courses (and still not having a clue what to do re trading) I started reading extensively into the subject.

I am still very new to trading so will not try to pretend that I can give anyone advice on the topic, however I have learned enough since the course to realise how poor it was.

Here is a breakdown of what you will get

Basic Diploma: 8 lectures on various aspects of trading
These are interesting and somewhat helpful for the absolute beginner, however very superficial and you will absolutely not be prepared for anything other than a bit of a financial hit.
However, if you go onto investopedia and look through the Forex tutorial (free) you will have a far more structured and in depth understanding of trading (and 800 euro spare to put in your trading account)

Advanced Diploma
This is where they really screw you
advertised as Monday to Thursday 8am to 4pm for two weeks
Reality: 1-2 hours /day (although not everyday!) of actually being taught something, 80% of which is rehashing the basic diploma course
the remaining 6 hours/day are spent sitting in room watching bloomberg channel, while Peter trades, making occasional statements about the DAX going one way or the other.
At no point is there a proper discussion or tuition about specific strategies, how to form your own strategies, entry or exit points, identifying support and resistance and all the things I have come to realise are crucial to trading and should be in the basic course.

Or

1. take two weeks off work to read everything investopedia has to offer and check out the widely recommended books on trading (there are many)
2. open a demo account and make all your mistakes early for free (and learn from them)
3. Put the 2500+ you saved by not doing this rubbish course into a trading account an learn by doing

I have no interests to declare in relation to trading, my only reason for posting this is to vent my irritation and hopefully save someone else the 2500 (plus what you didn't earn from taking 2 weeks off), because to me that wasn't a small amount of money, and probably was the worst financial decision I've made to date.

Wishing you all the best of luck with your trading,
Poor and disgruntled Shmuck

PS: what i have found helpful in starting off

- Investopedias Intro to Forex tutorial (good even if you're more interested in products other than currencies)
- "Naked Forex" cant remember author right now but gives simple examples of strategies to start off with and some very good advice to stop you getting too badly burned early on
- Learn how to do manual backtesting (its discussed in naked forex and loads of other places), can't stress that one strongly enough

Again, hope you make your millions
The Early Worm

they have range me several times in the past two years to see if i would sign up for their 900 euro course over sixteen hours

i told them it was very expensive , to which they replied " well your the first one to ever point to it being expensive " ( always a sign the opposite is true )

in the end i told them i dont think im smart enough to make money trading ( which is true and puts me in the same bracket as the majority of people who are better investing what they can on a regular basis )

Courses or not, very very few people actually make money consistently on day trading. Day trading is not investing. Its basically following trends and trying to beat the Market (the Market being institutional guys or computers with faster access, better algorithms and better knowledge). You might have some good days but they will destroy you in the end.

Don't fall for the carrots held out by these people. Educate yourself on investing, shares markets etc. A good site to educate yourself is SeekingAlpha.com but bear in mind that almost all financial commentry is written from the perspective of the writer (promoting either a long or short view of the security).