If you are in the habit of watching TV late at night you can not have failed to have seen some of the many infomercials about trading, wether it be stocks, options or Forex. They promise a lot but the question is are they worth it?.

There are several questions that need to answered for anyone who is even remotely thinking of attending one of these seminars, in this article I’m going to attempt to at least point out a few of the pitfalls and help guide you to making a more informed buying decision.

It was the market melt down during 2000-2003 which has fuelled the huge growth in the trading seminar business. Many people now realize that making money trading is not so easy and requires a good education if you are going to survive all market conditions. This is a better option that just trusting what a fund manager may advise you who may be more concerned about his commission than your retirement.

Some of the companies that that advertise extensively on late night TV are Investools, Optionetics, Bettertrades and Star Trader. I’m very familiar with these companies as I’ve attended the free warm up selling seminar for all of them, and actually bought and attended seminars from 3.

The infomercial only has one purpose and that is to get you to the free warm up seminar, usually at a local hotel. I call it a warm up seminar because this is where the sales pitch will get you even more excited about becoming a trader and making money. They usually last from 45 minutues to about 2 1/2 hours. The one I attended for Investools was about 3 hours and actually provided some good information.

Usually an attractive discount incentive is offered at these free seminars to encourage you to sign up on the spot, which is not normally available, so be prepared to be tempted, if you are weak willed by all means attend but leave your credit cards and check book at home. More often you will be given a set of DVD’s, manuals and website login immediately allowing yourself time to study before attending the live seminar.

If you do sign up at one of these free seminars here are a few points to consider:

1. Don’t be shy about asking what the refund policy is up front. Understand how long you have to evaluate the training materials because this can very a lot between different companies. It could be only until noon on the 1st day or you may be allowed to stay the whole 1st day before having to ask for a refund.

2. Ask what the policy is regarding bringing another family member or business partner to the seminar. Usually you are allowed to bring 1 person, take this opportunity as it is better to have the opinion of another trusted person when trying to evalute if the seminar is good value and right for you.

3. There are all kinds of promotions going on for these seminars, make sure that you are paying the lowest possible price for your seat. Don’t end up finding out that the person next to you in the seminar got it at a much lower price, just like airline pricing.

4. If you are new to trading you may not be exactly sure what you need to learn, and it can be quite confusing. Make sure that the seminar that you are taking is on the right subject matter. A basic stocks course will not cover anything on options and visa versa, and a forex course will not cover either etc.

Here is the bottom line about these beginner trading seminars. They are not going to teach you everything you need to know to be a successful trader in 2-3 days, there’s simply too much you need to learn. They all have follow on intermediate and advanced courses like Options, Advanced Options, Technical Analysis, Advanced Strategies, and so the list goes on. Expect the selling process for these follow on seminars to begin during the expensive seminar that you just paid for!.

Some of these companies do a really hard sell for their follow up seminars, they are professionals and have practiced their sales pitch many times until it works, so be prepared for this and act accordingly.

If you are very satisfied with the quality of the education that you have received, and you think the company will be around for the next few years then by all means buy additional seminars. But remember this point, usually you will not get an extended amount of time to evaluate the follow on seminars, only the legal minimum 3 days cooling off period in some states. This could be important if you are buying a series of seminars that run over a couple of years.