Expert: Paul Henneman - 6/16/2004

Question
    Are you familiar with the InvestTools training seminars on stock trading?  If so, what is your opinion of the group/company?

    Thanks!

      David

Answer
David,
  Thank you for your question! Unfortunately I am not familiar with the Investools training seminar. I have heard of it, but have never attended or spoke directly with anyone who has. I would however like to supply by general feelings on seminars: Be carefull! These types of seminars are usually oriented to do one of two things. 1. If they charge an attendance fee, their main goal is to fill seats. 2. If they don't charge an attendance fee, their main goal is to sell their services.
  In my experience, such seminars are very rarely oriented around actually supplying valuable investing information. There are of course exceptions to this. The more you know about investing the better. So if the fees are affordable to you, definitely attend. Just go in with a critial mind. Those are not nessarily experts up there in front of you,  and even if they are they do not know what your financial needs are. The savy investor should make general decisions on what type of returns you are looking for and how much risk you are willing to take. Begin establishing a plan for yourself, then take any research or investment information that is presented to you with a big grain of salt. If it gets through a thick screen of scepticsm, then it is worth looking more closely at.
  One other suggestion: A great resource to have on hand is  "Barrons Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms". I have been in Financial research for years and still use this every day. The definitions are actually quite broad and descriptive, teaching about thousands of topics rather than just defining them. The size of a small dicitonary, it can easily be brought along to siminars as well as to have handy for other reading on the topic. It is available at www.Amazon.com and most major bookstores.
  I'm sorry I could not be of more help on this specific seminar, but please do not hesitate to follow up with me if you have any additional questions. I would welcome hearing from you again if you do attend the seminar with your thoughts and any questions on the information they provide.

Sincerely,
Paul Henneman
President
ValuEngine, Inc.
www.ValuEngine.com