russeller,
I've been trading for five years, which to some of you real troopers makes me still a newbie
This experience has been wide-ranging from stocks, futures and options in addition to currencies. Over the past year I've turned all of my energy to currencies and closed out most of my interests in stocks and futures, primarily because of the advantages forex has over these markets in many areas we are all familiar with. My educational background is in computer science, statistics and computational finance but more than anything it came from putting real money, mine and other's, in the market. I currently enjoy annualized returns from X% trading with a moderate level of risk, trying to keep my drawdowns below 25%. Did I say X%? Yes, because, honestly, I could put anything here, right, and you couldn't prove otherwise? If I was unscrupulous, I could pick any three digit number. I will say that I live from it. I'd rather establish a legitimate, monitored track record through my signal service and let that be the guide. So for now, let's say that I have no track record and I'll be at the mercy of traders like yourself to build a reputation. That seems like the most honest way to begin earning your trust.
As far as sharing the system, there are two problems with that: one purely business and the other purely practical. First, my goal into sharing signals is to add capital to my own trading. I actually trade my own signals. The big question is probably "if they work, why do you need extra income from them?" and the answer is simple: no matter how good a system is, it still has drawdowns and you can't just trade at 100% exposure to squeeze it for all it's worth. I can only trade so much with the capital I have in order to stay within my risk parameters. But if I can get some extra value by selling these signals, that can help me to trade more. I can't recall where I read it, but a poll once determined that traders who sell their knowledge as well as trade their knowledge make nearly twice as much. Another way to accomplish this is to manage accounts for others but I've learned that that is not my favorite activity. The second, practical reason is that my system is not 100% mechanical and can't really be taught. It involves a personal feel that comes from my personal experiences. However, at any point that I decide to discontinue a signal service, should it be successful, I would derive great joy from passing on what I could in some sort of educational program.
sincerely,
foundhorizon