Illuminati-Trader Complete Review

The Illuminati-Trader sales page talks mysteriously of making £217,145.00 by cracking a 'secret society'.  But what is it really behind the inevitable sales copy?  Illuminati-Trader is, in essence, an extremely simple yet proven method of option trading which removes all the mystique from this trading strategy - often avoided by those unfamiliar with it's great advantages due to the perceived complexity of options.

Guy Cohen, one of the world's most respected option traders, has reduced his own trading to just two favoured option trading strategies and in Illuminati-Trader he makes those strategies crystal clear - together with access to his personal software which reduces the workload to absolute minimum.

Emulating successful methods used by others is one of the most reliable methods of achieving success for yourself.  And this is Guy Cohen's objective in making his personal trading methods and software available to those who choose to join his Illuminati-Traders. 

Making money, big money, by trading the financial markets is an alluring prospect. Discovering how to trade with minimum risk is even more attractive for newcomers to trading and something of a Holy Grail for those who are already struggling or in the red!

There are any number of trading methods, strategies, products, software, and systems out there which claim to be able to make you a trading superstar. Whether it is by spotting turning points, by interpreting chart patterns, by using a unique mix of indicators or whatever. So it is a breath of fresh air to find someone with a track record who says that none of it works. Absolutely none of it.

Yet at the same time that Guy Cohen, already an established author in his specialist field, is claiming  that nothing works, in the next breath he claims to have a method that will make you money with absolute minimum risk.

So let's take a look at what is on offer and whether his claim stands up. The product is named 'Illuminati-Trader' - a nice play on words as you will see if you look up 'Illuminati' in Wikipedia where you will find that among other things 'the Illuminati refers to an elite set of enlightened individuals, uniquely empowered by their enlightenment'. Yes, I would definitely like to be enlightened on the subject!

To become enlightened buyers receive two elements. The first is a 10 CD set of instruction in Guy's trading method amounting to some 10 hours of instruction. The second is access to the supporting software running on the Illuminati-Trader website and delivering answers to the critical questions that arise during the trading analysis. The software comes in two modules; Tradefinder to identify candidate trades and Strategy Analyzer which applies Guy Cohen's particular view of the chosen strategy.

Production quality of the CDs is excellent. The content is clear and very well presented. Guy Cohen is an established author in his specialist field and it quickly becomes evident that he knows his subject back to front as he sets about removing the mystique from option trading. He moves on to explain, even for absolute beginners, the elements of stock trading that you need to know and frankly, there are not many required for this. Having identified what information you need to know to apply his option trading method he goes on to show you where and how to find it.

The third CD covers the actual mechanism required as he demonstrates why his method is minimum risk. For those, like me, who have been constantly exasperated in our trading efforts by watching the stock price inevitably wander off in the opposite direction we are willing upon it, this is fascinating. To trade and not to care which direction a stock moves in really has to be a great trading method.

CD4 is all about the trading mechanism he uses to achieve this minimum risk objective including details of the two specific strategies.  There are lots of illustrations, both written and in graphical form, produced by his software, to help make his point. Comparisons are provided of the two strategies when applied to the same trading prospects and an explanation of why you might choose to use one or the other, or even both.

There then follows 4 CDs worth, 27 examples by my count, of worked examples. The candidate trade selection produced by the TradeFinder software, application of the standard human evaluation method and the most useful part; Guy's running commentary of why he would or would not trade this particular prospect.

He even includes those that he did trade and turned out to be losers in order to show firstly the indicators that tell you to get out (pretty simple, that part) but also to demonstrate that even a failing trade has a predictable and low level of loss - which is, after all, the premise on which his offer is based.

Staying calm under stress is an absolute requirement for traders.  So even though Guy's methods are specifically designed to minimise stress levels,  CD9 covers the issue of your trading psychology. How to understand your behaviour when under stress and, more importantly, how to control it. In addition, he adds some absolute do's and don'ts to be applied when using his Illuminati-Trader method.

As you come towards the end of the 10 CDs there is a tendency to feel that you have absorbed all you need. But there are two further elements to this package.

TradeFinder software

After absorbing the comprehensive training it is time to put the Illuminati-Trader method into action.  First step is to find some candidate trades using the TradeFinder software module on the Illuminati-Trader website.

Although he provided the sources of information that a trader can use to apply this method early on in the course, the fact is that sifting through the thousands of candidate stocks, commodities, indexes out there is a job requiring number crunching software.

This is where Guy Cohen has applied 10 years of his professional life as a trader and hundreds of software models to develop an application that delivers just a handful of candidate trades that conform to the required profile on any given day.

It also sources everything required from the various online sources and drags all the information into a single page for the user. The PC and internet have been great empowerment mechanisms over the last decade. They enable us to achieve in moments what would have taken hours or even days of effort previously. This is another example where the automation available makes it possible to cherry pick the very best candidates in just a few moments.

From the main window, you open up the TradeFinder software by clicking the 'Scan for Trades' icon that delivers the screen shown below.  Here the user can input a number of parameters by which the software will scan the markets for suitable trades.

Basically, these consist of a Stock Filter by Last Price and Volume, a Stock Analysis where you can select either that there is earnings news or the stock is in a consolidation pattern.

In an Options Filter you can define the amount of Open Interest and finally the Options Analysis allows you to select either the Straddle cost (the cost of purchasing both the put and call options required) as a percentage of the stock price - or just select an Illuminati Formula.

In practice, simply selecting the Illuminati Formula makes it superfluous to have to worry about the Stock Analysis or the Straddle %Cost as it is the specific and optimum combinations of these that make up the Illuminati method.

To the top right of each selection box is a question mark icon.  This opens a small help window to refresh your memory of what you are being asked to input.

Likewise, to the top right of the box is the Video Guide icon which, in this case, provides a comprehensive 13 minute instructional video by Guy as he walks you through the results of the TradeFinder search and how to interpret and move forward from that point.

Reports produced by TradeFinder are based on the previous day's closing prices but if the market has opened while you are doing your selection you can simply Refresh the data to bring you up to date.

Before starting the search you use the Controls box to set the expiration date of the options you would be interested in.  Again, this is an important element of Guy's teaching, and you also select how the information should be sorted, either by Straddle %Cost, Straddle Cost, Stock Ticker, Strike Price or Illuminati Formula.

The Controls box also includes the conventional icons for Folders, Save to Disk and Email although they are all currently labelled 'Coming Soon'.  I can only presume they will do what it says on the label and simply improve the users ability to store and manage their trading activity.

It's important to point out to non-US traders that because options trading is so favoured in the United States the results are from the US markets.  This is where you decide if you are a trader simply looking for profit from a particular market setup, wherever it may occur - or you are an investor who may have particular interest or attachment to a local market.

However, as Guy makes clear in the Illuminati-trader blog, the TradeFinder software is set up to find consolidation chart patterns which are frequently used by other trading strategies including spread betting. So the tools are useful beyond the option trading niche.

With the candidate trades listed in front of you this is, perhaps, the point where the 10 hours of CD instruction really kick in as you start to analyse the candidates and excercise your judgement.  Fortunately, the Strategy Analyzer module is on hand to help.

This module is available from the trade selection report already produced by TradeFinder or, if you want to access it directly, is also available from the top level icons.

Strategy Analyzer

Opening the Strategy Analyzer from within the TradeFinder results prompts the system to check that you have the necessary Adobe viewer and also asks if you want to Refresh the data results.  It is always possible when trading while the market is open that the data is going to change while you are considering your trade.  So that is a very useful feature to ensure that you are working with the very latest available data. The Refresh icon is also available so you can refresh your trade data at any time.

When I first started this module I did not have the Adobe SVG Viewer installed but the system took me seamlessly through the download and installation process. Once set up and with everything installed the Strategy Analyzer will open as shown here.

The chart controls in the bottom right of the screen shows the selection of graphic representations of the trade.  In this screenshot I have clicked on the Risk Profile to illustrate how a graphic will enlarge in another window to show more detail if required.

 The ubiquitous Video Guide is present again in the top right corner for Guy to guide newcomers around the navigation and capabilities.

The function of the Strategy Analyzer is to calculate the Risk and Reward of any particular trade.  It presents this information in two ways.  Firstly, in the Payout table where the potential profits and costs of your trade are shown but also in the Risk Profile graphics shown in Chart Controls.

The data can be recalculated at any time by hitting the Calculator icon which then shows BUSY for a few moments before the graphics area in the bottom right springs into life showing the risk profile graphics and populating the Payout table with the potential results of the trade.

By changing the parameters and hitting the calculator icon again the system will revise the charts in a moment.  Double click on any of the charts and it will open up in a larger window so you can study it in more detail.   Changing the parameters and recalculating will redraw all the graphics using the new data.

This is particularly effective in showing how the trade risk is greatly diminished by getting out as early as possible after the best period for volatility and profit.  This makes much of Guy's teaching very clear that although you may have a theoretical maximum loss, as represented by the V-shape at expiration in the diagram above, by getting out early any potential loss is often reduced often by something of the order of 80%.

This highlights the Illuminati-Trader method again where it is looking for potentially profitable trades arising from unexpected volatility.  But once you are in a trade, once the time period of potential volatility and profit has passed, it is very easy to review your situation and get out before your options suffer excessively from time decay as you get closer to their expiration date.  So you can enter a trade based on your anticipated maximum risk, but quickly exit at much less than that risk as soon as you decide to do so.

For more advanced option traders there are also graphic illustration for each of the Greeks strategies.  Again, these recalculate every time you update the figures. However, option trading beginners do not need to concern themselves with these.

In addition to the Video Guide each area of the window has it's own Help button in the shape of a question mark that produces context sensitive help whenever required.

 Within the yellow bar (circled in red) are a number of icons with future uses.  The Save disk will allow you to save your trade data on your hard disk in order to manage your trades better.  The Handshake icon looks like being most useful as it will prepare the data for any trade you decide to place and transmit your deal data it in an agreed format to your brokerage account. 

This will clearly eliminated any errors that creep in with transferring data from one medium to another as well as speed up your transactions. The Strategy Analyzer is the third element of Illuminati-Trader.  Coupled with the extensive education on options trading contained on the disks, the ability to locate potentially profitable candidate trades with the Tradefinder module and then follow up with the Strategy Analyzer to show you exactly what the potential results of that trade might be puts all the information into your hands before you put any of your precious trading fund at risk.

So the automated elements are extremely fast to present you with data which is presented quickly and in an effective manner.  This leaves you free to excercise your judgement in a calm and analytical way that is far more likely to lead to profitable trading.  The fact that Guy is planning to continue to add to and expand the stream of video training that he provides can only add to the benefit of this package.

Guy has some strong beliefs in relaxation and focus and he has included relaxation and mental focus audio tracks at each stage of the course. I happen to know that he has events in his personal life which lead him to believe in the usefulness of this approach. I can also believe that it is necessary to stay cool, calm and collected when making trading decisions. However, you will have to make your own mind up about it's usefulness for you, personally.

Standing back from the detail of the content and quality of the training package the question remains; can Illuminati-Trader actually deliver big profits with minimum risk?

It delivers a method to trade profitably whether the stock price goes up or down. That's not just good, it's fantastic. As with all trading, if you get it right you can ride with the profit as far as you choose resulting in potential big profits, as the headline on the sales page relating to some of Guy's own trading makes clear. Your entry price is known and fixed, as is your maximum risk and loss. So you can judge exactly how much you might trade within a trading plan and ensure that the odds for wins/losses stack up on your side.

All of the tools and information are provided leaving just your own judgement to apply to choose which of the candidates to trade and how. So there are no hidden 'black box' processes and you remain in control.

Against, there is a larger spread between the breakeven points for rising and falling prices due to covering the trade in both directions. However, structuring your trade to deal with this issue is one of the fundamental elements of the training and if applied correctly this is not an issue.

I've had the opportunity to talk to Guy personally and he is at pains to emphasise his commitment to customer service. So there is a 100% money back guarantee if a buyer decides it is not for them.

Though as Guy put it; 'I know this works. It works consistently for me and there is no doubt that if customers follow my instructions then it will work for them. I am not expecting many returns from disappointed customers.'

I've dabbled with trading before, done the seminars and the masterclasses and when I tried to apply it I got it wrong, meaning that I lost money. So I decided that if I couldn't read the markets properly then I should not trade at all.

Despite that history, I've now signed up for Illuminati-Trader and intend to get back into the fray. I know I can't trust myself to interpret the likely direction of market prices, which is exactly the point that Guy makes during the training. But I know I can trust myself to carry out a methodical, analytical process with proven tools such as those provided by Illuminati-Trader, especially when Guy Cohen promises such positive and ongoing support. I will be asking him some questions on that subject as part of this review in the near future.

So the prospect of being able to cover the trade in both directions, make a profit whichever way it goes and keep the statistical losses to an absolute minimum by applying a methodical process is what swings it for me.

If you would like to visit the sales page you can do so from here: Illuminati-Trader.net