My role with this column does not include pushing this or that product. My intention is to help those who wish it to open their minds about trading, to offer up my perspective about the trading world, and to do so in a manner that, hopefully, keeps folks reading. Today, however, my answer to the question below might seem as if I pushing a product, but I am not. As always, my hope is to open the reader’s mind to the notion of making choices with as much information as one can gather.
I first thought the VantagePoint software was good for forex trading, but after I saw some reviews from Forex Peace Army & the Forex Factory, I am having 2nd thoughts about buying it. I am a 6 month newby in forex trading, not an expert. What have you got to say about VP?
As I have said before, I use VantagePoint software, and have for some years, but this is not my point. It is imply full disclosure. No, the point I want to make as it relates to the question is that in order to make an informed decision about buying anything in the trading world, including the purchase of trading software, one needs to gather as much good information as possible. Regarding trading software specifically, I also strongly recommend that one define clearly what he or she is looking for in the software, and I encourage testing it to see if it actually performs.
Regarding VantagePoint and the question above, I can tell you that I cannot speak to the Forex Factory site, as I have no experience with it, but I do have some experience with the Forex Peace Army site, and I do not trust the information found there.
I am not sure why, but I suspect the people behind the Forex Peace Army site have it in for VantagePoint. I suspect this because a couple of years ago I found the site and was somewhat taken aback by the ferocity of some of the reviews about VantagePoint. So, I wrote a review about my positive experience with VantagePoint, and, lo and behold, it did not appear. I sent it in again, and still it did not appear. I wrote an email asking why and did not receive a response. From this experience, I concluded that the site was only interested in negative reviews about VantagePoint, and this raised a red flag for me. So, I advise circumspection when considering what the site has to say about VantagePoint. It would appear the folks behind it have an agenda. In any case, I offer the following link for your measured consideration. This link (http://vp.tradertech.com/cust_experiences.asp) takes you to a wide variety of traders who have offered up their personal, on the record, experiences with VantagePoint. Take a look at those and then check out the software from the industry’s perspective. How do bonafide traders with years of experience view the software and the creator of the software, Lou Mendelsohn? Do your homework completely.
Finally, the larger point here is that no matter the software you choose, it will do you no good if you do not know how to trade. Trading is a skill that requires focused learning, and the software you use is a tool, no more. The software alone will not make you successful. If you are looking for a “magic bullet,” you might as well turn in in your trading card now.
Trade in the day; invest in your life …
