Soluskro

INVESTools: Swim And Sink

"The company is making absurd promises (see "Avoiding the Charlatans") that students who attend its seminars and use its pricey software will destroy the market in no time."

There are 250K grads. If all these grads had 100K to invest (a stretch), consider the impact on the market.
Your claim is absurd.

"Some of the testimonials even make claims of outrageous 800%+ profits in just two weeks!"

Take that with a grain of salt. It's possible. You could get lucky as heck and turn $100 into 900.
But use some common sense. (and any buyer of the tools.education should use common sense too).
I don't for a minute think that someone turned 100K into a million. Sheesh.

"The software and “education” are based on a system of just “following the red and green arrows” that indicate by technical signals when to buy and sell."

This is not true. The red/green signals are indeed part of the hook, but I have the tools and I barely even look at the arrows as my be-all end-all of buy and sell signals. Though they make good indicators (see below)

"That’s it. No research, no bothersome accounting to learn, no money to start, no problems!"

Another false statement.

The education and tools is ALL about resarch. What the toolbox offers is the ability to research in minutes what can take hours (days or weeks).
I loved the classes and learned quite a bit about the market. The real gem with Investools is the tools themselves.
So how have I fared? I have some trades that have yielded over 15%. Others which are struggling at a few %. And I have some dogs.
However, the tools and education has saved me from making some big mistakes. Some stocks I was looking at I have avoided because of the tools. Some would have cost me dearly.

Before signing up with Investools I did a LOT of research on the company. I looked far and wide on the web for comments and testimonials. Because I am a skeptic at heart, I wanted to be talked OUT of signing up and paying thousands of dollars.
What I found was the majority of discussion were mostly postings by people bitching abbout the price and knocking the Tools and education without ever trying them.
Ironic that you fall squarely in this category.

I can say I have covered my tuition with trades I made with Investools. My biggest gains though have been by becoming a shareholder of Investools (and since they have some tricky accounting, even their best searches don't yield SWIM as a top stock under many various prebuilt searches).

While I have thouroughly enjoyed the Technical education and the options, I am a fundamental guy at heart (and more of an Intermediate to long term investor).
I was so impressed with the company after listening in to some of the conference calls that I was sold on the company and what they are trying to acheive. So I have a nice nut tied up with SWIM and have (currently) a 111% gain (even after the recent 18% haircut due to the market slide).

Where I will agree with you is on the perception of the sales pitch. I blanche at Infomercials and I wish they didn't have them at all. I think that is the only weak point because as a skeptic, I see that as shlocky.

Bottom line, I am quite satisfied with the education and extremely satisfied with the toolbox. You can get some of the tool components (like those bubblegum red and green arrows) on free sites. And if that suits you, that's great. But you will be pouring hours in to research that you don't have to with the tools. The $600 price tag on the toolbox is well worth it. As for the education-- I have really stepped up my knowledge of the markets and I really enjoy plugging in stocks that a guy like Cramer "Booyah's" every night and laughing at what bad advice he's touting.
On the otherhand, I am not Cramer and my strategy is different. I think that is the greatest chasm to cross when discussing any stock. Message boards can be deadly because one person may have a preset strategy and be trading for the hour or day whereas a buy and hold guy will get shellacked following what the day trader is trying to do.

Frankly, I find your thesis that a lack of BBB or ripoff report (or whatever) complaints is due to the fact that people rarely make them-- or they take time to show up-- is disingenuous because it's unprovable.
Basically you are trying to prove the company sucks and you use a LACK of real complaints (from people who used the tools) as a positve proof that your thesis is correct. That's bizarre.
The complaints you did post are mixed at best. I am certainly willing to entertain that Investools is not for everyone. And as I'm sure you are aware, trading and investing requires emotional discipline. Some people lack that and no amount of money can teach it. You have it or you don't.

I think many people are looking for a "turn lead into gold" quick fix. Like joining a gym, you can pay for a full service sports club with all the amenities and personal training and still fail if you don't commit.

There are some out there who have so much discipline all they need are a few books and discount brokerage account and they are off to the races.

It all depends on your situation.

Incidentally, if you were following those "red and green arrows" you would have bought SWIM (formerly IEDU) at $8 in September, bought more (or just held) in January at $12.50 and sold your position around $15 in March.
Of course, you might not have acted because both times there was a "phantom green" (something you learn in basic stocks course).

So short away and backup your thesis. I think you'll be sorry-- or maybe you won't.