Don Steinitz is a self taught forex trader turned software guru who makes outlandish claims for the supposed ROI of his forex trading robots (software programs also known as Forex Expert Advisors or EA's). There are no less than 7 of them at the time of this report. These trading programs are sold as is with ZERO return policy. And he sells them through his own online shopping cart so he controls the money completely. That should have been my first red flag! Although an e-manual along with some of the most lifeless and bromidic set-up videos I've ever seen are supplied, they are nowhere near adequate to the task of completely understanding how to set the program up and use the optional settings that the software comes with.
Knowledge, they say is power, however these support pieces seem strategically designed so that you have none whatever when it comes to making these robots make money. Which leaves you at the mercy of someone who wants to charge you another $50/hr. To 'help' you set up your EA. When I contacted him about this option he seemed genuinely interested in helping me 'maximize' the earning potential of the program. This was when we communicated by email. I paid the extra set up fee back in '08, with absolutely nothing accomplished. He came onto my computer looked at the software as it had come from his download site and made a few innocuous comments and then said that it was ready to go. I asked him 'if that was it' for my $50 and his response again was weak and then he was gone.
While he has figured out a way to produce supposed 'broker statements' that show thousand of pips (points) earned by his software, a simple practice account shows a stark difference than that advertised. A situation like this is particularly egregious and dangerous (for your wallet) as an ad like this is designed to be alluring in the most contemptible and false way. If Steinitz had come up with a software that does a fraction of what he claims they do, you could forget about trading the forex and become wealthy just selling the software. This, most sadly, is not reality.
My first experience in 2008 with his HAS MTF cost me $10,000. Now you'd think that I would have the good sense to analyze just exactly what happened in Sept. Of '08 when the market exploded into a wild roller coaster of volatility, however I summarily decided that I had traded the robot too aggressively for the market conditions and therefore I was the cause of my loss. This turned out not to be the case. Like so many other robots out there, his EA worked for a short time and then collapsed under the change of market conditions.
Which brings us to October. A wiser and more sophisticated trader, having forgotten the sting of my past loss, I decided to give Steinitz's Fractal Pterodactyl (FP) robot a try. I have emails that state that it's never failed to double his account size monthly since coming online. I purchased the new program on Oct. 18, and was promptly sent the activation code that I requested... And then that was it! I had more questions on the setup of the robot and went over the manual and videos twice! When I couldn't find the answers I was looking for, I submitted a ticket on his contactus.php site. You always get a autoresponse email promising an answer within 72 hours or sooner but the answer never came... Ever! Well maybe he's out of town, I'll give it a week-nothing. O.K. Maybe he's sick and is recuperating from some illness, I'll give it more time. I was sure that there was a reason that the seller of product like this would be so remiss in supporting a customer, let alone a repeat customer. There is an answer. If you think about this situation for a moment, I'm pretty sure that you'll realize just as I did that anyone who could produces EA's that do what Steinitz claims, ould have no reason to cut himself off from his clients but would have every reason to build an army of stalwart supporters, who making the kind of money Steinitz claims, would be totally bent on making this guy President.
Then things started getting weird. One day I open up the specific email box that I used for Steinitz's product, and there's an advertisement for a Holiday sale on his robots. What the hell? He can put his bots on sale but he can't answer my ticket? After I calmed down by telling myself that it's just possible that there may have been a glitch and my ticket got lost or dropped. I sent him another one and then another one and then another one, you get the idea. This guy has completely shut down his support in so far as I'm concerned, without one word as to why. And yes, I've checked my junk box. None of my support tickets where obnoxious or rude until the last one around the 2nd of January when I gave him the ultimatum of answering me or I'd file this report.
Oh yeah, since I couldn't get any response at all to any of my set-up questions, I installed the FP EA onto a live account just the way it came. I began trading it on Dec. 19th and shut it down on Jan. 4th, when it had lost approximately 6% of the account! This loss does not represent a drawdown, the losses were constant over the course of the two week trading period.
Up until a couple of months ago, all of the robots where $249, now I see that all of his robots are on sale for $75, I think that the word is getting out about this guy and his software programs, but that's just my opinion.
Also, I caught some interesting comments about Steinitz on the ForexPeaceArmy.com site, you can check those out for yourself
My recommendation is that you not purchase any of the Steinitz's EA's now or in the near term until this guy resurfaces and revamps his business support model to one that will either commits to teaching his clients how to make the software work or refund your money if he is unable to do so.
My hope is that he hires a customer service manager who can handle the job as describe above!
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