E-Paper
How unqualified market coaches are misleading a generation
This article is authored by Afzal Lokhandwala, US Investing Champion 2022, runner-up 2023.
In recent years, the financial education space—especially in trading—has exploded in popularity. Social media is flooded with advertisements promising quick riches, secret formulas, and guaranteed success. But behind the glamor, a silent crisis is unfolding: an alarming rise in unqualified individuals positioning themselves as trading coaches.
These self-styled "gurus" have no real track record. They’ve never managed money, never endured market cycles, and have never proven their strategies in the real world. Their edge? Not in trading—but in marketing. Slick Instagram reels, viral YouTube thumbnails, and aspirational messaging help them sell a dream they themselves have never lived.
And the consequences? They’re not just financial—they’re emotional. Thousands of aspiring traders burn their savings chasing methods that don’t work. They lose confidence. They lose time. Worst of all, they blame themselves for the failure of systems that were broken to begin with.
A worrying trend is emerging: people read a few popular trading books, attend a couple of free webinars, and then stitch together a course filled with borrowed concepts and borrowed confidence. Their programmes often lack a proven framework or a coherent system. At best, they’re a patchwork of technical jargon; at worst, they’re dangerously misleading.
Many of these trainers overwhelm learners with noise: dozens of candlestick patterns, conflicting chart formations, mystical Fibonacci levels, and a buffet of entry-exit methods. What’s missing is exactly what matters most—clarity, structure, and consistency. Without a unifying system, students leave more confused than when they entered. Some even walk away from trading altogether—frustrated, disillusioned, and poorer than when they started.
Real trading education requires more than knowledge—it requires scars. Markets are humbling. They test discipline, resilience, and judgement. Coaches who haven’t risked real capital or built a verifiable track record cannot teach the psychological and tactical depth required to survive—let alone succeed—in the markets.
And yet, these untested mentors thrive, because their courses are marketed like lifestyle products. Screenshots of profitable trades (often cherry-picked or simulated), rented luxury cars, and shallow motivational slogans create an illusion of success. It’s a dangerous loop where style trumps substance. Students fall for the fantasy, not realising they’re being sold inspiration instead of instruction.
Traders don’t need encyclopedias of patterns. They don’t need 20 strategies to trade. They need a repeatable process—built on logic, tested in real markets, and grounded in risk management. They need mentorship from those who’ve not only read the books but written their own chapter through experience.
As someone who trades full-time and has competed at the highest level, I believe the industry needs reform. Transparency, accountability, and performance-based credibility should be the new standard.
Until then, it’s up to aspiring traders to ask the right questions:
- Do they have a verified, real-money track record of consistent performance?
- Do they focus on sustainable, long-term results—or just flash short-term wins?
- Are they educating seriously—or entertaining with reels, gimmicks, and lifestyle marketing?
- Do they teach a clear, structured system—or simply dump a menu of recycled techniques?
If the answers raise doubts—even slightly—it’s not education. It’s performance. And trusting it could cost you years of progress, capital, and mental peace.
This article is authored by Afzal Lokhandwala, US Investing Champion 2022, runner-up 2023.
