Share Trading Classes: Are They Really Useful or a Big Sham!

On a relaxed Sunday morning nearly a fortnight ago, as I was going through my Facebook account, I stumbled upon an advertisement of Avadhut Sathe Trading Academy (fondly called as ASTA by it's students) which had testimonials of some students who had converted a paltry sum of Rs 50,000 into several lakhs in a matter of six to twelve months. As an individual who firmly believes that one cannot become rich overnight, these testimonials were enough to fire my curiosity and I decided to attend the Eye Opener Seminar to find out what all these stock market classes are all about.

However, before taking a final decision on attending the seminar, I searched Google for reviews on the Academy, but surprisingly I did not find a single negative review about the Academy. The seminar was held on March 3 at a plush hotel in Navi Mumbai. Mind you they are charging money from the seminar under the head of venue charges (I had to pay Rs 607 (venue charges + convenience fee).

The good thing was breakfast was included in the charges and it started sharp at 9 am. The bad part was I was under the impression that Mr Avadhut Sathe himself will be conducting the seminar/eye opener workshop which did not happen. The responsibility of interacting with the gathered public was left to his juniors (called as monitors and mentees).

At the registration desk, the attendees were handed over a pamphlet which mentioned the fees of four modules (two-day workshops) which was Rs 76,700 (discounted fees if one opts to do four modules and is ready to pay fees one time). Else the fees for each module is Rs 21,240 (including GST). Now, the fee structure itself was a big dampner for me as I had earned much more from the stock market without employing services of any advisory or even attending any class (If you search on internet or YouTube, one can learn technical analysis necessary to decide on Buy or Sell).

 As the workshop started, the speakers spoke on two topics -- How you can retire early at the age of 40, how can you spend more time with your family, how you can spend vacations abroad and painted an extremely rosy picture of life and secondly, despite retiring early how you can still earn in lakhs (The figure of earning lakhs was something which they were emphasizing again and again) and naturally so because the speakers had well mastered the way the human mind works (they were exploiting the greed part of human mind) and things which influence it.

Frankly, speaking there was hardly I could learn in the seminar. There was nothing new that was taught except promoting the Academy. As the workshop proceeded, some former students of the Academy shared their experiences with the gathering, among them one of them Mr Prasad Parulekar informed the crowd how he turned Rs 15,000 into Rs 1.5 lakh and then lost the entire amount of Rs 1.5 lakh and then how Mr Sathe helped him with his strategy to convert a paltry some of Rs 8,000 into Rs 6 lakh.

Another student, a former Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) with Mumbai Police Mr Bhimdev Rathod, said, How he quickly earned an amount which was much more than his retirement benefits he got after putting in 36-years of service and how one fine evening he earned an amount of Rs 4 lakh just by trading Natural Gas when he was relaxing in his farm house. There were many more testimonials, but every person spoke about earning more than a lakh every week enough to influence the greedy mind in any individual.

During the tea break, when I spoke to one of the mentees about the Mentorship Programme, I was informed that it was a one year programme and the fees for which run into a few lakhs (the person however refused to divulge further details saying he is not authorised to speak in this behalf). However, from sources, I have gathered information that Mentorship Programme costs around Rs 4 to Rs 5 Lakh and is a one year programme (I personally feel it is an exorbitant amount). For me, who is now currently, a practicing as an advocate after making a shift from journalism, the natural question that came up to my mind was why these guys don't just put up their profit-and-loss statement (PnL).

Anyways, you are revealing the amount that you have earned, so what is the problem in putting up the statement. Secondly, if you are uncomfortable with putting up the statement, just post the bar graph or pie chart which gives a glimpse of your trades/investments and provides a picture whether you are in profit or losses. Mere testimonials are not going to matter unless they are accompanied by documentary evidence. In legal parlance, we always say a statement does not become evidence unless it is cross examined.

So my first request to members of the Avadhut Sathe Trading Academy who are giving testimonials is first put up your PnL statements and then you have every right to boast of your achievements. Dear readers, after I attended the workshop of ASTA, Facebook is throwing up many ads related to stock market trading classes (Frankly, speaking I was not even aware that stock market training has become a million dollar business in literal sense). The purpose behind raising the issue through this blog was to share my experience and help you in making an informed decision. You need to do certain checks before enrolling for the course.

Firstly, check the PnL statement of the person who is boasting that he has earned lakhs in a span of six months or say one year. I am sure very few persons/teachers will be ready to share their PnL statements with you.

 So, do take informed decision, before investing your hard earned money!