An e-mail received today

Hello Mr.Sarmiento,

Hope you are doing well. I am sorry. I didn't get a chance to look at the document you sent or touch base back with you immediately. I am definitely interested in joining your group. But I have one quick question: Is it a fact that by joining your groups, I should be able to learn your methodology step-by-step, understand it and implement and trade on my own? I understand you don't claim that whoever joins your club is going to be successful. Can you please let me know whether your instructions are clear enough for anybody to understand and if followed carefully, one will have success in their trading?

Here is my detailed response:
Let me be clear about this: No one can teach you how to be successful. Whoever says they could teach you are lying to you. I have spent many years teaching myself, attending many seminars, reading books, back testing and paper trading. I have been very successful at times, and unable to make good trades at other times during my career. I have found that in my hands the PCCRC strategy I have outlined is successful in that it has given me returns of 30% in 2006, 75% in 2007 and 45% in 2008. My methodology IS very specific so that someone with training in options can learn to do it exactly as I do. I cannot guarantee that going forward my methodology will result in good profits. However I am so happy with the results I have gotten, that I feel compelled to share my approach with others. In essence I am sharing MY secrets, exactly telling you what I do. It is up to you to learn what I do and have a shot at becoming successful.

Let me also be clear, you do NOT need to join the group to learn my strategies. It is all laid out in this blog. I have posted hundreds of articles, showing examples and the methodology is described in detail. I created the group at the urging of some of the participants as I begun to post short video clips and tutorials of my method. At first, I posted these videos in a private blog where people could ask questions. Little by little I built a library of video clips that proved to be very helpful for the participants of the video blog. In clips, I begun to record my PCCRC trades in a paper trading account that I started in 2007 with $100,000 fictitious money. People saw my trades being entered live. I would either record my trades on video clips or send .pdf files describing my candidate selection. Today, that account exceeds $200,000, 100% return in a 1 1/2 years.

Eventually, participants urged me to create an e-mail Google group were they could ask questions about my trades. I kept posting my trades and making them available to the participants. Videos and documents are accessible to all group members. You could ask all questions you may have. I have been very diligent in answering all questions and the older members of the group participate with their own opinions. I am asking $200 as a ONE TIME contribution from all new participants in order to pay for my costs of creating and delivering the video clips to you either by online download or by DVD mailing, wherever you might be. In addition to the tutorials, I have also posted in my web site a document I call the PCCRC manual, with very specific cookbook-like explanations on how to enter and exit trades following my strategies. This was at the request of participants. Again, none of this is necessary, since my strategies are all described in the public blog. However, people find it easier to follow the video clips and we have now created a nice community where others can share their experiences with you.

You may have very little experience with options, which would make it hard to follow all that we do. Some of the participants, committed as they may have been at first, like the Thursday webinar I begun as an easy approach to tell people new trades going into my paper trading account. I DO pay Webex for the subscription, so I ask for a yearly contribution of $75 for participants to have access to the recorded sessions. The capacity for attending the webinars live is now full, but participants paid $100 as a contribution as a yearly live subscription. I have shown that I enter trades and manage the account with only 1 hr of trading per week. That is all that is required. Some of the participants have full time jobs, some others live in the Asia-Pacific rim, and Australia and New Zealand so they like the idea of trading after hours. I am showing that it is not only possible, it is advisable to trade this way.

Finally, more recently, I begun a second webinar group to teach the basics of options, for those who want to see my perspective on trading while learning the basics that they need to have in order to trade the PCCRC as well as other options strategies. Here again, this is yearly subscription-based and I am asking for a yearly contribution of $75 for the recorded sessions and $100 from live participants.

I have recently made available ALL existing video sessions for new comers. This is particularly helpful for the new participants to the basic of options. I have covered 12 lessons so far, and keep on increasing the lessons weekly.

My intention is NOT to make money, but rather to share with others what I know in the hopes that they my find it useful, profit and then Pay it Forward. I derive great fulfillment out of teaching. A lot more than money could ever bring me. I believe that trading is very difficult, and it takes many years to become profitable. I found my way and I think it is so valuable what was able to learn and create that I think it is much more valuable than the money I could make for myself trading. I am not interested in creating a business out of this approach because I like my freedom. I believe that if someone is successful trading, it should not need to have a business to make money. Yet many do.

I want you to believe that I am just like you and that I am just a trader trying to find the best approach to trade the stock market. I don't want to be thought of someone teaching to trade, but rather as someone willing to share what he knows. I don't want you to think of me as a business, but rather as a regular individual wanting to share what he knows in the hopes that you'd Pay it Forward.

Juan.