These are a selection of course appraisals from past seminars.

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"I would not change any of the material, as it is all relevant."

"Was it worth it? Certainly."

"An excellent course. Am sure it will be well worth the time, effort, money committed."

"One of the best decisions of my life"

"At the beginning my mind was blown with the market concept"

"I came from a background of believing I could master this if taught correctly"

"Some of the material presented was quite deep"

"A stimulating and thought provoking two weeks."

"I consider myself fortunate to have attended."

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Course Content
I would not change any of the material, as it is all relevant. Of course each person will home in on elements that appeal to them when constructing their edge, however I would suggest that more time be found for further chart analysis and discussion

Course Format:
Just one suggestion; cut the course by one day and then reassamble in 6 months for group and one to one assessment.

Peter Buchanan

The venue seemed fine to me and I did not experience the problems that you and others had with the accommodation. Perhaps I am easily pleased. Some good guys formed the group and I was relieved that one or more troublemakers did not emerge. I would have expected at least one on a course with this profile and at this cost. Do you weed them out to start with?

Perhaps you should consider setting out guidelines for what students are going to learn and how they are going to learn it. Even after 2 or 3 days it was not apparent to me what the fundamentals of the course were going to be. Had we already been told the basis for our strategy? Was it the "CASH CANON" or was that part of a larger concept?

Towards the end I found myself wondering if there are other techniques used by D.R. that are not included in the course. I suspect there are. At what level did you pitch the complexity of the instruction when you had little or no idea of students' abilities? I don't know, but I think you got it about right for me. More charts and explanations - less quotations!

Stephen was not your only student with a scientific background. I have to say that I found some of the ideas were a bit vague and some seemed downright conflicting. As you constantly emphasised, trading is an art not a science.

I was able to relate to a lot of your ideas about the psychology of trading because of one statement that you made. People with a disability are more persistent and resilient, they have to be. I know this to be true and it helped me to accept other ideas that you put forward.

I would compare the ideas in the course to one of these pages of random dots behind which lies an image. If you look long enough an image begins to emerge. As students we are only able to see the dots, whereas you can see the image. Your course gives us the opportunity to see it too.

Was it worth it? Certainly.

It is true that I, and I suspect many of the others, would have not even attempted to trade had we not been on your course. For me this is the very crux of the matter. We paid you to set us on the right road. This you did and having been in your presence over the two weeks I believe you to be a man of integrity and I wish you well.

James Rydeard

Good Points - Venue, facilities: - all fine

Content - extremely relevant, but quite a surprise. I was not aware that psychology was such a large part (though I had been told beforehand). I liked the style of teaching, though a bit strange for almost everybody. (a few handouts, not many, would be useful). Everything covered was relevant, but could be done more efficiently. Quicker. Perhaps class exercise might be useful. Good calm approach - can clearly see commitment and dedication by Duncan Robertson.

Book References - great. No other way for me to find out.

Chanting - worth a try.

Areas for Improvement - Sessions after lunch need to be more dynamic. Reading passages from books can send 'already tired' people to sleep! Especially after lunch. Good to prepare/present some outline of course on day 1. Better to split week 2 into 3 days, and then add week 3 (2 day). In week 3 can review experience of paper-trading. Spend another day at least on "graph analysis" exercises. Nothing much on money management A copy of the charting software on PC for students to view would be useful. Would significantly reduce time wasted talking about "systems" for trading. Clear info on "feeds" etc required. Reduce hassle of getting started.

Overall Rating - An excellent course. Am sure it will be well worth the time, effort, money committed.

Ashwani Sabharwal

The course was far better than I had imagined. After 2 weeks, I feel confident to start paper trading next week, and would like to be able to enter the markets before too long.

The hotel was adequate for our requirements.

The structure and contents of the course were fine for me. By necessity, there was a lot of repetition, particularly in the second week, but never did time drag. More undoubtedly, could have been fitted into the course, but we have been given sufficient knowledge to begin trading and that for me is all I require. Further skills can be learned whilst trading and from further reading.

The presentation was not slick and professional, but Duncan is a Trader and it cannot be expected that he came across like a professional trainer.

The group was a good mix of people from various backgrounds, and was not dominated by any one particular individual. I believe that 8 is probably the maximum number that can be comfortably trained at a time.

It is reassuring to know that you will be available for any queries we may have in the future. The website is a good forum for keeping up to date with events and I look forward to keeping in touch and informing you of progress over the coming years.

Thank you Duncan for everything. This course will change my life and that of my family completely. It was a big step for me to part with 5,000 pounds and give up my job, but it was one of the best decisions of my life.

David Law

From my sales and sales management background, I've attended many courses and seminars, although this is the only one I've paid for directly.

This course is a BIG commitment for me. At the beginning my mind was blown with the market concept - your training style I found difficult at first - fast moving, then slow, then rapid progress through a very difficult subject for me left me at times confused. But the second week, I now have a clearer picture.

I think I'll have plenty of questions that I've not thought of that maybe I'll be e-mailing you when I get home.

Venue was OK, although training room got a bit hot and stuffy.

Traveling from Bournemouth was a bit of a chore, but better than London I think.

Now my work starts!!

Tony Shergold

The subject and its learning is, in my mind, clearly divided into three areas:

• What we are told - Duncan
• What we read - Book lists
• Who/what we are - Individual characteristics

And so to the course itself:

I came from a background of believing I could master this if taught correctly.

I am now happy that I have been taught correctly, but unsure, until proving the case, that I can master the technique and take money out of the markets.

The structure of the course is right. Introduction to the market make-up and the actions of the various players involved. This was all new to me, and gave me a much needed base of information.

Learning the actions of the market and then the individual price movement indicators meant that I could very quickly follow a days actions and understand (to a degree) why prices did what they did.

Whilst a bit of a slog at times - there could never be too many graphs reviewed. The second week, where the graphs were recent and accompanied by real time notes, was particularly valuable and interesting.

Long periods without breaks were at times overloading me with information.

Seeing solely "completed" days gave too much info away, and led me to believe I would have seen moves that perhaps I would have missed entirely. Perhaps showing half the day on one page, and the whole picture on another would allow more practice at analysis.

The broad mix of people on the course was a plus point.

The book list introduced some valuable reading on the psychological side which, whilst covered on the course, is best investigated and understood on an individual basis.

I leave the course with new skills to develop and an exciting opportunity ahead of me.

Your notes on the price actions of the days ahead would be useful to further develop my own skills and confirm the accuracy of my own understanding of the market that day.

• Interesting - yes
• Enjoyable - yes
• Exciting - yes
• Value for money - ask me when I start to see some of it come back!

Thanks Duncan.

Chris Ferrie

Here's a few notes - not well thought out - not rehearsed. I may well add to them later, if you don't mind the occasional comment by e-mail.

Venue - No comments. Although I was glad not to have had to travel very far - I'm not keen to spend time away from home. As I explained, I live in a nice place, and I rather resent having to be away from it. But Skye is nice too - I'd have happily come there for a few days.

Structure - I was quite happy with the way the course was split over four weeks. Some of the material presented was quite deep, and took more than just a few days to sink in.

Presentation - You have a very relaxed style of presentation that some may have found strange. However, once I had settled with myself the issue of "value for money" I was happy to go at your pace and learn what you considered important. So, whereas some were questioning your use of time spent finding sentences from books to read out, I was happy to learn that waiting and watching are themselves an important part of the game.

Content - I found the theory behind market movements (the cash canon etc) absolutely fascinating, and I am convinced that you are right to a) to centre the whole trading methodology around it and b) to spend so much of the course reiterating and building on these few fundamental issues.

Group - I found the group mix very stimulating and enjoyed meeting these new people. I will be most interested to hear in the future how they all have got on with what they have learned. However, there were times when I thought the group size was too big. When an issue raised several questions, it became something of a competition to get ones question answered first, before the rest of the crowd (but then I've usually got quite a lot to say!).

General - A related issue - you have very effectively taught me about your view of reading the markets, but you have also said that we have to find our own way (in the sense that we will not all see the same trades at the same time). I feel that a smaller group would have meant that you could have spent more time developing our individual ways of looking at the market. It would have given enough time for "here, Stephen, here's three day's worth of charts. How would you have traded during these days?.... Why did you do that?..... What made you change your mind?... etc."

Please don't get me wrong - I have hugely enjoyed the course and I fully expect it to become the most effective use of 5,000 pounds that I have ever made, but at this point in time, when the learning has to stop (i.e. the taught bit) I realise that there are still aspects of my character and way of looking at the world that could ultimately hijack my success as a trader. In other words, there's nothing wrong with the course, but just going on it isn't itself going to guarantee my success.

Thanks a bunch.

Stephen Droop

A stimulating and thought provoking two weeks. I have thoroughly enjoyed this period of time which has expertly stripped away the mystique of Futures Trading down to the bare bones of common sense and rationalization. It has strengthened my beliefs in disciplined approach, patience, persistence, hard work and the importance of a new mind set.

I feel I am now far more prepared to enter this fascinating world and with the tools you have provided along with the recommended reading material, I am fully confident of becoming successful.

On a more general note, and for assistance and constructive help for the future, I would suggest a more central venue for all attendees [ie not London but perhaps middle England somewhere], more discussion on charts during their progress throughout the trading day, and the use of a slide projector so that examples and ensuing discussion on a particular aspect can be seen by all the attendees.

I shall now go away armed with this information, and with a game plan to start carefully, papertrade, and above all else, enjoy myself.

Keith Graham

Duncan, thoughts on seminar - first and foremost, I thought the course very good value for money, with hopefully the proof of the pudding to follow.

I consider myself fortunate to have attended. It has not only opened my mind to the workings of the money markets, aspects of which I would never ever have found elsewhere, but from a personal perspective, it has helped me review what I want from life and to establish some personal goals - something I haven't been able to do for some time.

I needed to put the following criticisms into the perspective, and they are my view on how things could have been improved for me:-

• Venue could have been better - we've already discussed this.
   
• You need to sharpen your presentation techniques and consider your audience. What worked for 2 or 3 doesn't work so well for 9. An A4 chart waved at one end of the room isn't readable by majority of audience.
   
• Perhaps do some more preparation, specifically thinking through major points you wish to make and have charts to show this, prepared beforehand, with them available for students to write upon.
   
• By all means quote from books - very useful. But prepare beforehand and have relevant pages marked. Body language suggested some were turning off waiting for what was coming.
   
• Lots of emphasis on psychology - with something as straightforward as price levels, it could have been dealt with in week 1. By delaying it, it started becoming a mind game, and why won't he discuss it? Couple of other examples could be quoted.
   
• Personally more practical work on charts would have been beneficial, converting theory into practice. Maybe week 1 theory, week 2 of a more practical nature.
   
• There are many good practical things to look for. Again, having these prepared in advance, e.g. M or W again would have been helpful. A picture is worth a thousand words.
   
• To summarise, middle of second week, I began to appreciate benefit of you telling us that we need to develop our own strategies, - it was great!

Phil West

 

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