Tsunami Trading Educators

http://www.tsunami-trade.com/

Here comes another system--which costs a whopping $6500--that claims to use no indicators whatsoever, only proprietary charts, to day trade the ES. I swear these sites are multiplying faster than roaches in an old soup can. What is so special about trading on price action? It's been done ever since markets existed but lately has become so new and vogue.

I've taken the free trial a couple of times and I'm not impressed. It obviously is targeting the novice trader who has spent a lot of time and money on other trading tools and still is losing money. Who else but the desperate and/or naive would wire $6500 to someone's bank account who, like most others in this con game business, won't even disclose their name, let alone a phone number. In addition to sending your money in a non-recourse fashion, new members are required to sign an unbelievably one sided disclaimer http://www.tsunami-trade.com/disclaimer.html that doesn't even tell you where this company is located. In addition, a search under "who is" reveals an anonymous front hosting company (Tucows).

In fact, the guy who runs this shop (Blade) is so paranoid and secretive that he doesn't even let other members communicate amongst themselves away from the room. He totally forbids any sharing of emails, IM, or Skype and is lightening quick to erase any such posts. On several occasions I witnessed him bleeping out this type of info AND admonishing the person who posted.

What I found particularly interesting was the use of shills in the room to praise and tout the system to the folks who were in for free trial. This is a variation of the three card monte scam in which the people winning money right and left (in this case alleged "members" who expound the virtues of this system ad nauseum) lure the unsuspecting visitors to get on board. Blade himself is the biggest showman when he makes the right call on a trade, making it seem that the magic secret of interpreting price action through this so-called proprietary system is the answer to your dreams. And indeed, the website has all the bait with pictures of folks living their fantasy lives on some tropical island with a Ferrari in the driveway.

In the two weeks I spent in the room, I calculated a win rate of approximately 59% as defined by a trade making one point before hitting a 1.25 stop. No great shakes. Blade claims the system is "robust" in that it gives many signals during the trading session. (I witnessed 10 calls in one day.) When a trade gets stopped before profit Blade has a litany of excuses that are too long to mention in this thread; suffice it to say as any true conman, he knows how to put a spin on the negatives as if it really wasn't all that bad. For example, the market is "acting violently" and the price action, therefore, can't be properly discerned. Blame it on anything but the system. After a couple of quick stopouts in a row, he takes a break as moderator and the room sits in silence.

Although I'm not privy to his secret system, my observations tell me he uses a short term candlestick chart (10 or 15 minute) calling out buys at obvious support and sells at resistance. Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of technical analysis and chart reading could easily make the same calls. I also believe he uses a modified pivot point for his early morning calls which I did find funny. (f X price is broken, expect to go to Y and if that is broken, the Z and vice versa for the upside).

The free trial is worth the price of admission for entertainment, but not much else.

quote:

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Originally posted by scratched

...Something new today, Blade said members need to post their entries live and a couple did on some of their trades...

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That's positive and a step in the right direction.

prl and GreenPursuit,

Where were you today, hmmm? A member came in and was given an apology today for having been wrongly accused of being "redsioux", and that member asked specifically for either of you who post on the mypivots forum. That request was met with silence. I waited for you to post your entries and stops in real-time to no avail.

quote:

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Originally posted by scratched

prl and GreenPursuit,

Where were you today, hmmm? A member came in and was given an apology today for having been wrongly accused of being "redsioux", and that member asked specifically for either of you who post on the mypivots forum. That request was met with silence. I waited for you to post your entries and stops in real-time to no avail.

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Was he accused by Blade or other members?

There is a way to report this type of abuse. You can call 866-366-2382 or 202-418-5314 and they will take care of the problem. You would think if it is something sponsored by a firm, they would make sure it is credible. Unless they are in on the action..... Ever wonder why you don't know "blades" name?

quote:

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Originally posted by ahk

quote:

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Originally posted by scratched

prl and GreenPursuit,

Where were you today, hmmm? A member came in and was given an apology today for having been wrongly accused of being "redsioux", and that member asked specifically for either of you who post on the mypivots forum. That request was met with silence. I waited for you to post your entries and stops in real-time to no avail.

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Was he accused by Blade or other members?

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The member was wrongly accused by Blade near the time redsioux began posting here. I have a vague recollection of that member asking salient questions of Blade regarding Tsunami Trading and Blade's success rate using it, questions that in hindsight should have been asked by all members and any new prospective members. The accusation happened at least a month ago, perhaps two or three.

quote:

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Originally posted by windybob

There is a way to report this type of abuse. You can call 866-366-2382 or 202-418-5314 and they will take care of the problem. You would think if it is something sponsored by a firm, they would make sure it is credible. Unless they are in on the action..... Ever wonder why you don't know "blades" name?

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What are those numbers? Given the advent of numbers that appear to be toll free but aren't, caller ID, etc. , why would one call just any random number?

scratched: I am so naive. When I read your post I thought that someone might have posted one of those premium sex line numbers. I had just assumed that they were free phone numbers.

Anyway I did a quick Google search on the number and it came up with this web page:
http://www.cftc.gov/opa/enf03/opa4745-03.htm

And here are the first few lines from that (CFTC) site:

quote:

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CFTC ESTABLISHES TOLL-FREE COMPLAINT LINE [866-FON-CFTC] AND URGES THE PUBLIC TO USE IT TO REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES INVOLVING COMMODITIES

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Enforcement has established a toll-free telephone number to assist members of the public in reporting possible violations of the commodities laws. Anyone who wishes to report possible wrong-doing should call the Division of Enforcement at 866-FON-CFTC (866-366-2382).

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So I think that the numbers are okay. Well at least the first is.

And here's the link for the second phone number:
http://www.cftc.gov/opa/adv06/opawa18-06.htm

Still no prl or GreenPursuit, again today (of course). Tsunami turned in their best day in quite some time today. By my count 7 trades for 2.5 pts/contract. Well short of the 4 pts per day by 11am, and down nearly 30 pts for the month. The strategy de jour involved a change in money management. Stay tuned for the coming day's Tsunami de Jour. Of course the usual members claiming profits (real or simulated) without entries or stops called in real-time resumed without comment from Blade. One member posted a 1 pt winner and a 3 tick winner (no entries of course), then just before leaving proclaimed 3 pts profit and off to the mountains or whatever. What a crock. Blade, follow through with insistence of posting entries in real-time for your members. And while you're at it, enable the room log so everyone can review the actual calls.

Just received the latest issue of Active Trader and noticed that Tsunami was advertised under "Trading Systems" instead of "Educational Services." Isn't there a legal distinction between the two in the eyes of the regulators?

Tsunami always represented itself as an educational service.

Also, TradeMaven was there in the ad also so it looks like they have no immediate intention of abandoning ship.

Catchy headline: "The secret of daytrading is to ride the waves of he market." Only Blade can teach you that secret.

Is blade's name John by the way? From what i ve seen, his latest scam is TsuBot, which he claims has an extremely high win rate in all markets. Watching it trade live, it's obvious that reality is much different. Interesting that he only takes into account the first profit target which is no more than eg 3 ES ticks or 5 GBP/USD pips (which is really 2 after spread which he totally ignores, but that should be expected as he has never placed a real trade himself). The corresponding stop loss is several times larger, a sure recipe for disaster. Avoid them at ALL costs no matter how tempted you feel to waste 6-7k