Optionetics Review

Optionetics is a seminar based financial training course founded by George Fontanills. They offer free, nationwide, seminars in which Optionetics’ reps entice prospective traders with options lectures and demonstrations of their trading system.

The free Optionetics seminars are run by very effective salespeople that have only one job to do. They are not there to teach you how to make money through options trading; the free seminar is used to sell you an idea. The idea is that the Optionetics two day paid seminar is worth the steep price tag.

The Optionetics paid seminar will run you $2,995 for two days of training and course materials on options trading. I spoke to a few people that attended these and I got mixed opinions on the course. Everyone agreed that it all depends on your initial level of expertise. However the Optionetics reps claim that your level of financial education is irrelevant because they can teach anyone.

In the end those that weren’t well versed in stock options lingo found the 2 day course to be rather overwhelming and at times confusing. Its not that the information Optionetics provides is irrelevant or not informative but it’s their constant downplaying of the risks involved in options trading that worries me.

Moreover they are a bit deceptive about the actual amount of money involved in proceeding with the Optionetics course. On top of the 3 grand for the seminar there are software fees and a rather deceptive return policy, in addition to the money needed to start trading.

Their return policy states that after 36 trades investors are eligible for their money back guarantee. Most people would assume that they would have to purchase 36 trades but the fine print states that a sale occurs when an option is bought and sold bringing that number to 72 trades.

Finally, when I was doing my research I found out that the Optionetics founder George Fontanills is currently being sued by FIMAT USA in the New York Federal Court for 6 million dollars for not complying with margin calls.

Optionetics has been around since 1993 and they work very hard to protect their reputation. They do provide a service that could be valuable to certain people; however they try to recruit customers from the general public with promises of riches and false confidence in an industry that is volatile and risky.

It's important to realize that there is no one guru or program out there with all the answers. It's up to you to learn as much as you can through a variety of resources in order to understand the big picture of trading.

One great tool that I personally use is INO TV where you can view the trading systems of the world's top analysts. These are the exact same strategies they teach at their seminars where a seat would cost $2,000 -$3,000.

It's surprising that most people don't know about such a great resource that thousands of people use to gain the same knowledge that the countless so-called 'gurus' will have you paying thousands of dollars for. The best part is that it's free to join. Click Here For More Information

Cheers,
Steve Albright

Would you like to provide a review for 'Optionetics'? If so click here

Customer Reviews for 'Optionetics'

Comments to date: 10. Page 1 of 1. Average Rating:

Rick, Los Angeles	Posted at 1:08pm on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
I recently took the Optionetics 2-day training for $3,500. Optionetics advice regarding options is very poor. The only reliable money in options is in selling covered calls, but they never tell you that.
Barry, Sydney	Posted at 11:32pm on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
Watch your wallet!!! Thats what you need to do at the these seminars. I have spoken with staff and had inside info as to how it all runs. Yes the free seminar that will "have you up and trading in no time" is purely there to sign you up for the 2 day seminar. Here, the instructors have to sell the software. The 'educatin consultants' in the room are paid on a total per head basis. So they are telling you which package is 'best for you.' However, after time and study you can do it. but it takes time. Options can be risky, but they teach minimum risk strategies. ie- buy calls and buy puts only, thus limiting risk. but i am sure you can get it cheaper elsewhere!!!!
John, Canada	Posted at 1:11am on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
The fee for the training course is NOTHING compared to what you may lose by using this course. I went to a number of the free re-attendance seminars and have yet to meet someone who makes money. Even those who bought the "platinum" software were no better off. In my opinion, these people prey on your fear and greed and totally understate the risks. It is also virtually impossible to meet their refund requirements if you have a modest trading account. They teach you to buy contracts about 90 days out and often sell about 60 days later. They make no mention of how many simultaneous trades you would have to have going in order to meet their refund terms. If you buy super cheap contracts to keep the costs down, the commissions can eat you alive. They do a horrible job of teaching students how to choose a stock to trade. They teach basic options strategies...if you want to know more, sign up for more costly seminars. Didn't I already pay to be taught?????
kstump, Lancaster, PA	Posted at 3:24pm on Friday, June 13th, 2008
Anyone who believes that two days of training is going to make them "instantly" successful in this market environment is not dealing with reality. I've been a client/subscriber/customer of Optionetics since spring of 2004. I can't count the number of times I've repeated the 2-day seminar (for free). Once I decided I really couldn't learn much more by repeating that course I began taking advanced classes. Through hard work and study I am now trading profitably. It is not an easy profession to make money in. But then, if you took a two day seminar on brain surgery, do you think you'd be ready to actually perform surgery on sombebody? Could you fly the space shuttle with two days of training? Like any other profession, it takes training and hard work. Also, Optionetics recommends only trading on paper until you know what your doing and have some confidence. I know several people who have properly used Optionetics techniques and are now successful traders. I do not work for O... read more »
Ruth Moss, Santa Fe, NM	Posted at 12:29pm on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
I have attended the Optionetics seminar many times over the past few years. Of about a dozen people who started about the time I did who banded together to form a study group, I am the only one still actively trading. However, I am trading stocks, which is frowned upon by Optionetics, not the options they presume to teach. Although I no longer subscribe to the Optionetics web site, I find Profit Source's Elliot Wave which I found through Optionets usefull, along with my other tools, in making me a successful stock trader. But when I'm at the seminars, I am always sorry for the new Optionetics students. They deserve full attendion for the close to $2,000 a day they paid for the seminar. Instead, at least 1/2 day is devoted to selling them additional courses, as though they spent their first $4,000 knowing that they would be told more courses are required for them to be successful. Depending on the presenter, the amount of additional time spent on interesting financial topics not ... read more »
CK, Melbourne, Australia	Posted at 4:42pm on Thursday, May 8th, 2008
I agree with Michelle. I did options in university, so I have a good understanding about it. The two-day seminar was a showcase of their software, which was a sizeable investment. I walked away at the end of the seminar feeling shortchanged because I paid good money to attend it, but I still don't know how to put up a trade because I didn't get the software.
Michelle, Portland, Oregon	Posted at 4:41pm on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
I attended the 2-day Optionetics semiar for $3,495. Half of the seminar consisted of a sales pitch for their software and continuing education. They pushed very hard for everyone to sign up for their package price of an additional $6,300. They taught the seminar using the tools they were trying to sell you. They didn't prepare students to go out and make a single trade after the 2-days. This was nothing more than a scam and I want to warn everyone I can.
Bitbucket13, Location unknown	Posted at 9:03am on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
Optionetics is Councelling-Selling custom customerreviewbody: I attended the 2-day seminar many times so I feel I should say something about it. Optionetics does teach you how to trade. They offer a lot of useful advice from people who claim to know what they are talking about from floor traders to brokers, to professional traders. They teach a particular form of mechanical trading using elliotwave theory which they claimed is 75-80% accurate in predicting market direction - but I found it to be inaccurate. They travel world-wide teaching the same method to a large number of traders, however, I believe there is one immutable fact: The market does not accomodate a crowd. To me, the 2-day course is somewhat of a donut - I get the impression there is missing information. For instance: they teach only to trade daily elliot waves and do not take into account the monthly and weekly influencial waves. They tease you at the end of the seminar with a no-lose sure-s... read more »
Dan, Los Angeles	Posted at 3:44am on Monday, January 7th, 2008
The so called "free 2 hour seminar" is all about trying to sell you the 2 day seminar which is very pricy. The salespersons (and this is what those speakers are) talk a lot about the "no risk" etc., but it is highly misleading. Once at the seminar, the new sales tactic begins, and they try to sell you software which is supposed to somehow "know" where stocks are going. Again, the software offered is over $3,000.00. If you buy their platinum program, there is supposed to be on line help, but the help is very poor, and you cannot really count on it. All in all, in the seminar you do learn about options, but it will be like buying a pizza for $2,000.00 when you can get it for $20.00. If you just read introduction books or visit web sites which gives you free information (such as Yahoo), you will be get the same information for free or at a small fraction of the price.
G. Claiborne, Fort Myers, FL	Posted at 4:16pm on Thursday, December 20th, 2007
Optionetics, expensive and educational, I went to the free introductory seminar and signed up for the $3000 training course. I wanted to learn about options and I was attracted to their promise (it was valid) that I could attend the course as many times as I wanted, at no additional cost. I went to the course (now twice) and found it very fast paced, very complex, and difficult to understand, much less integrate! I should say at this point, that I have two Master's degrees... in engineering (USC)and in business mgmt (Pepperdine Univ) and have a relativly high IQ.Of course there was the additional upsales pitches for buying the software and the data download services...all very expensive. I studied hard and did learn alot about how to trade options...I never actually traded any....but my class buddy (another student) did, and he lost money on all his trades (at least the ones I'm aware of. I assume there are people who make $ trading options, its a big mkt. It seems to me to be like a... read more »