ShadowTrader Review
With a name like ShadowTrader, you almost expect a seedy operation. However, don’t judge a book by its cover.
Displaying heightened levels of transparency you usually don’t see from trading providers, the service not only sends its trade alerts in real-time, but also sends official screenshots of orders in its TD Ameritrade account, which makes it one of the best stock picking services in terms of transparency.
In this Shadow Trader review, we’ll give you an inside look at all the team has to offer. Whether it’s options trading courses or option trading alerts – the company has a product that can help traders in any arena.
What is ShadowTrader?
Shadowtrader.net is an investment advisory service that offers training in stocks, options, futures, pairs trading and trading psychology. Providing actionable guidance and trading tutelage since 2006, the site sports a team of dedicated professionals that make their living trading the markets.
Peter Reznicek – Co-founded/Head Trader – has been actively trading since 2000 and is the Chief Strategist overseeing ShadowTrader’s operations. His main arena is proving short-term directional trading strategies for stocks, options and futures.
Through a combination of technical analysis, market profile and market internals, his tactics have helped him build a dedicated following. His second in command – “Danno” Sheehy – is the head of ShadowTrader’s equity research department.
He specializes in finding profitable equity swing trade opportunities within a two to five day time horizon.
Products | Services | Costs
Offering almost more products and services than we can name, ShadowTrader has resources that can help traders of all skill levels. For better clarity, we’ll break them down by asset-class.
Options Trading
ShadowTrader Weekly Options Advisory
Starting at $49 a month, the ShadowTrader Weekly Options Advisory provides subscribers with weekly options strategies that focus on risk reversals, broken wing butterflies and other advanced spread combinations.
The goal is to take advantage of market swings and trade volatility while ensuring holding periods of no more than two weeks.
The service is managed directly by Peter Reznicek and also includes:
- 8-12 trades per month sent in real-time via text message
- Daily audio clips called “What’s Peter Thinking”
- Access to ShadowTrader’s weekly ‘members only’ webinar
ShadowTrader Time Spreads Advisory
Also coming in at $49 per month, the ShadowTrader Time Spreads Advisory takes a longer-term approach to options trading.
The service combines long positions – with holding periods spanning from three weeks to three months – with short positions that span durations of one to three weeks. Managed by Scott Gillam – the teams’ Senior Options Strategist – the service provides a great middle-ground for traders who enjoy actively managing their positions.
So what else is included in your subscription?
- 3-4 new trades per month
- 7-10 open positions that are updated throughout the month
- Real-time trade notifications via text-message
- Periodical audio clips from Gillam
- Daily audio clips called “What’s Peter Thinking”
- Access to ShadowTrader’s weekly ‘members only’ webinar
When assessing the offering, there’s a lot to like. At $49 a month, both subscriptions are reasonably priced and have the added bonus of including educational webinars and audio clips to compliment the alerts service.
More importantly, all of the recommend trades are cut and paste directly from the team’s real-money TD Ameritrade thinkorswim account, which adds credibility to the recommendation.
Bottom line?
If you’re in the market for an options advisory service – at $49 a month – ShadowTrader is definitely worth a look.
Stock Trading
ShadowTrader thinkScripts
Essential for all professional traders, thinkScripts are coded scanners that help indicate profitable entry and exit points for trades.
Tape Reader thinkScript:
Used to target price and volume anomalies, the Tape Reader thinkScript costs $195 and allows to you to identify where the market is trending in real-time.
What else does it identify?
- Net buying and selling data to help predict where to enter and exit a trade
- Underlying market trends to confirm directional trades and avoid “shake outs”
- Chop indicators to help you avoid directionless markets
- Insight into what’s happening inside of any price bar during any intraday time period
Cumulative Tick thinkScript
Another ShadowTrader thinkorswim scanner, the Cumulative Tick thinkscript costs $95 and allows you to keep a running tab of total cumulative tick throughout the trading day.
And what’s cumulative tick?
Used to predict short-term sentiment in the market, cumulative tick can help predict when buyers or sellers are moving aggressively in either direction.
When cumulative tick reaches extreme levels of positivity, it shows buying sentiment is lifting the market upward.
So what’s included in the scanner?
- Customizable formats that plot 14 different types of lines, arrows, histograms, dots etc.
- Ability to view cumulative tick from the NYSE, NASDAQ, NASDAQ 100, S&P 500, DJIA and Russell 2000
- Helps predict tick confirmations and divergences
- Includes detailed instructions on how to use and customize the platform
Intraday Volume Measure
Coming in at only $20, the Intraday Volume Measure allows you to contextualize the current trading session by analyzing volume data.
The scanner includes:
- Measures and visuals for intraday volume levels and compares them to average daily levels
- Customizable settings for user preference
- On screen menu of index volume symbols that help you move quickly between indices
- Color coded results to make interpretation of results easy to read
When assessing the thinkScripts, they offer a lot of value at an affordable price.
Even more, ShadowTrader offers Breadth Ratio Bubbles, Divergence, Breadth Ratio Line, Tick Values and Distribution as well as Value Areas and Pivots thinkScripts free of charge.
While these aren’t as advanced as the paid offerings, they offer a great way to test out the product and see if it’s right for you.
Analogous to a free trial, you can see how smoothly the scripts run in real-time and get a real sense of whether they’ll improve your trading game.
Futures-Trading/Market Profile
WindoTrader Market Profile Software
An industry leader within market profile software, WindoTrader allows you to organize market data by price, volume and by time.
By breaking down the information by time intervals, you can gain more insight into where true value lies within the market.
There are two subscription options:
- WindoTrader BLUE is $245 a month for your first 3-months
- WindoTrader LITE is $135 a month for your first 3-months
The difference between the two is, the BLUE version is more comprehensive and has additional features not included in the LITE version.
However, neither connect directly to TD Ameritrade or the thinkorswim platform and to do so can result in additional costs.
Without much data to go on, this offering seems rather expensive. We think it’s best if you try out the options above before jumping in.
James Dalton: Field of Vision
As an exclusive affiliate of James Dalton, ShadowTrader offers his top-down-bottom’s-up approach to trading the markets.
The Field of Vision program costs $400 but you receive a $50 discount when you enroll through ShadowTrader.
So what’s included?
- 6 ½ hours of comprehensive video tutorials
- 128 page PDF workbook
- Insight on how to interpret the market using Dalton’s holistic approach to market profile
- Strategies that can be used by any trader – short-term, long-term, swing traders etc.
James Dalton: Live Market Seminar and Legacy Bundle
The Live Market Seminar is a more advanced – 16-hour – trading program that features a complete recording of Dalton’s sold out Chicago seminar. The program costs $500 but you receive a $50 discount when you sign up through ShadowTrader.
The Legacy Bundle combines Field of Vision with the Live Market Seminar for a total cost of $800 ($100 savings) but you also receive an additional $100 ShadowTrader discount.
If you’re looking for more trading tutelage and less software integration, James Dalton may be the man for you.
Pairs Trading
Pairs Trading Premium Excel
Designed to track hundreds of stock and options pairs in real-time, Premium Excel connects Microsoft Excel to your thinkorswim platform so you can calculate share sizing and beta weighting pairs strategies.
The application costs $75 and includes detailed instructions of how to use all of the functions. As an added benefit, Premium Excel also includes an ETF tab and a fund builder tab that helps long-term investors create their optimal asset allocation.
As well, at $75, it’s reasonably priced. If you already subscribe to thinkorwim, this can be a great add-on to help organize and analyze data more clearly.
Trading Psychology
Trading Psychology Series
Created by ShadowTrader’s Director of Trading Psychology, Benjamin Lee, the Trading Psychology Series costs $495 and aims to help you overcome your trading fears and gain a better understanding of what’s happening in the market.
What else do you get?
- Over 7 hours of video training
- 8 HD streaming modules
- An extensive PDF workbook where you can track your progress
- Sample trading plans
- Trading flow charts
A Bet and a Victor eBook
Authored by Benjamin Lee, A Bet and a Victor provides an introduction to some of the techniques taught in the Trading Psychology Series.
The book costs $20, has 92 pages in total and presents the curriculum as a non-fictional narrative of “Victor’s” journey towards trading profitability.
ShowdowTrader Free Trial | Promo Code
Unfortunately, ShadowTrader does not offer a free trial for any of its paid products. However you can receive a $15 discount off both WindoTrader BLUE and WindoTrader LITE for you first three months. As well, when subscribing to any of James Dalton’s products – Field of Vision.
With the Live Market Seminar or the Legacy Bundle you receive a $50 discount off each individual item or a $100 discount off the combined Legacy Bundle. Moreover, ShadowTrader also offers plenty of free products throughout its site.
From its Shadow Trader Blog to its Weekly Newsletter and Videos there are plenty of free resources to choose form. At the top of the list is its Five Free thinkScripts. You can download these free of charge through its stocks (asset-class) products page.
ShadowTrader Checklist
- Founded: 2006
- Educators: Peter Reznicek, “Danno” Sheehy, Scott Gillam, Blake Young, Tom Cook, Benjamin Lee
- Number of members: Not listed
- Company Address check: 521 W. Lancaster Avenue Haverford, PA 19041
- Free trial: No
- Free resources: Shadow Trader Blog, Weekly Newsletter and Videos, Five Free thinkScripts
- Coupons: $15 discount off WindoTrader BLUE and WindoTrader LITE. $50 discount off Field of Vision and the Live Market Seminar. $100 discount of the Legacy Bundle.
- Money back guarantees: No
- Price level: $20 to $800
- Transparency: Above average
- Verified income statements: Yes. Trade alerts are sent from real-money TD Ameritrade accounts
Who is ShadowTrader Best For?
Without a doubt, ShadowTrader can benefit traders of all skill levels. If you’re a beginner, the ShadowTrader Weekly Options Advisory and ShadowTrader Time Spreads Advisory for $49 a month might be right for you.
It provides valuable tips on how to trade the market, but also education and insight along the way. For more advanced traders, its thinkScripts are invaluable.
With Five free thinkScripts as well as three paying options – ranging from $20 to $195 – you receive a bounty of useful data that can actually make you a better trader.
ShadowTrader Review Summary
While not all of its offerings are created equal, ShadowTrader has a lot of beneficial products that can help you become a better trader.
Starting with its ShadowTrader Weekly Options Advisory and ShadowTrader Time Spreads Advisory – $49 a month – you receive
- several real-time trade alerts per month,
- daily audio clips called “What’s Peter Thinking” and
- access to ShadowTrader’s weekly ‘members only’ webinar.
More importantly, all of the team’s trade alerts include screenshots of its real-money TD Ameritrade account – which shows they really stand behind their recommendations.
When analyzing the thinkScripts, there is a lot to like here as well. Prices range from $20 to $195 and the team also offers Five Free thinkScripts that you can download risk-free.
In order to succeed in the highly competitive trading arena, speed is everything. And with the thinkScripts – you’re always at the front of the line. Our recommendation is to try the Five Free thinkScripts and see how they perform.
If you need further trading guidance, the two advisory services are both reasonably priced and offer a lot of value in the process. Furthermore, we strongly recommend using a free paper trading account by doing your first steps on the financial markets.
And even if you are an experienced trader, then you should also trade new strategies as that ShadowTrader provides on paper.
Rating:
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