Since 1996 thousands of investors and traders have come here for trend following trading education. During that time our trading systems courses have always been valued to reflect only a small fraction of our training’s worth (we think our prices are too low). However, since that time investors across 72 countries have come to know that the content and materials we provide, along with the interpretation of those materials and personal coaching, are worth far more than advertised prices.

That said, in a world where many believe “free” information (e.g. stock picking sites, chat rooms, free Turtle ‘rules’, infomercials, get rich quick schemes, etc.) is the path to the easy fortune, the cost for our quality and value for some can be surprising. How do we handle reservations? First, and this comparison is instantly digestible for everyone, ask the question: how much money did you spend on college courses that provided no value? Case closed!

Second, the books Trend Following and The Complete TurtleTrader along with the documentary film Broke and the thousands of pages at MichaelCovel.com and TurtleTrader.com are either terribly inexpensive or ‘free’. We urge all investors and traders to absorb this information, put together through an intense 10-year period of research, very carefully. Even if you never come to us for additional training, the books, film and websites are invaluable resources if you are serious about making money.

Bottom line, a proper analysis of our trading education comes down to fixed costs, sunk costs and opportunity costs. First, consider the definition of a ‘fixed cost’:

In economics, fixed costs are business expenses that are not dependent on the activities of the business. They tend to be time-related, such as salaries or rents being paid per month.

The definition of a ’sunk cost’ might be our favorite:

Sunk costs are retrospective (past) costs which have already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Traditional economics proposes that an economic actor does not let sunk costs influence one’s decisions, because doing so would not be rationally assessing a decision exclusively on its own merits.

No less important is the definition of an opportunity cost:

Opportunity cost or economic opportunity loss is the value of the next best alternative forgone as the result of making a decision. The next best thing that a person can engage in is referred to as the opportunity cost of doing the best thing and ignoring the next best thing to be done.

What do these three definitions mean in the context of our training? Our training is a fixed cost. It is not variable. You can plan around it and know the bottom line. In terms of sunk costs we are sure many have made money-losing decisions with no return. The money is gone. It is spent. Whether a bad investment, a bad book, a bad course or whatever, hanging on now to money spent is bad business.

However, at the end of the day the opportunity cost of not learning how to properly trend follow might be the biggest potential mistake you can make. Compare the pros and cons of trend following along with the returns of trend following to other ‘alternatives’. Jim Cramer, mutual funds and infomercials as realistic choices? If you chose those paths you are giving up on our path and the evidence clearly says that trend following is the superior opportunity for building wealth.