After testing four so-called "private trading signal" providers, I'd want to write out my ideas and attempt to be as straightforward and honest as possible, with basic questions and possible answers. Of course, everyone's experience may differ, but I feel there are more similarities than differences. As well, I do not see the signal providers as angels or demons, they are just people. Now, please read the following questions, my answers and please try to answer them by yourself, too.
1- Are you struggling with frequent losses? Well, it happens to everybody from time to time.
2- Are you tired of conflicting analyses and predictions on websites, TV, etc.? Yes, I am and I suppose you may be like me.
3- Can a trading expert help you? Of course, YES.
4- Are you ready to pay for profitable trading signals? You may think it can be a profitable trade.
5- Are the private trading signals/predictions/analyses always (or at least often) correct/precise? To the best of my knowledge, the answer is a big NO, but, your answer may be positive.
6- Can you learn from the public analyses on the Internet? Of course YES!
7- Do some people know something mysterious about the Crypto/Forex/Stocks/… market? Certainly NOT.
8- Do they have more knowledge/experience in analyzing the market than you? Maybe.
9- Do you think they provide better analysis (or of the same quality or even “any analysis”) in their private groups compared with free public messages? I believe their ultimate capability is shown in their free public material. You can guess the reason.
10- Do they convince you that they can magically enter/exit at extreme bottom/top prices? Are they able to predict the reversals and enter/exit right on time? You may think they are much better than you and by following them, you too can profit from every small price fluctuation.
11- Can you find out by yourself if the price is in an uptrend or a downtrend? I am sure you can. Otherwise, it is better to buy lottery tickets and wait for the big money!
12- Can you find the important resistance/support levels? I am sure you can.
13- Will you sell in an uptrend? will you buy in a downtrend? Is trend your ENEMY? No, no, no!
14- What do you get in the private group of a professional-swing-price action-trading-signal-provider? Something like this: XZY, BUY at 200, SL 170, TP 270.
15- Will he/she show you his/her own trade based on his/her own signal? That never happens.
16- Is any reason provided for such signals? Of course NOT. But, you may see by yourself in the chart that the price has been continuously declining from 400 in a strong downtrend. However, you think, there are some signs of reversal and this guy (who is a genius) knows that the trend will reverse soon. So you ignore your reasoning and enter the trade.
17- Were you able to buy exactly at 200? Probably it has been about 205! Maybe because of that small sign of REVERSAL.
18- Do you expect “the market/price” to follow this signal, just because you paid for it?
19- What kind of message do you receive when the stock declines to 175? (do not forget you bought in a downtrend). Usually nothing, but sometimes another buy signal as: XZY, BUY at 170, SL 150, TP 270!
20- What?! You ask yourself (or the magician) what happened then to the stop-loss of the previous trade? Is this a new order? Did they forget about the previous one? Did they ignore it (and you who entered based on that signal)? Is this a correction for the previous one? Depending on your possible answers, you may decide to exit, to decrease the SL of that trade to the new level (150) or even worse, to simultaneously buy again due to the new signal you received (since you wanted to cover a part of your current loss by buying at a lower price). The signal was BUY at 170, but you are too nervous to wait for that price, so you buy at 175.
21- Time passes and the price is now 152 (!) but you receive no new message. You ask again the signal provider about the next action. Q: What should I do now? A: Change the SL to 130!
22- The most probable scenario is that the third SL will be hit! And as a result, you entered at 205 (as well as 175) and exited at 125. Good job! At least you performed professionally and used a stop-loss!
23- The second most probable scenario is that the stock price increases to 180, stays there for 3 milliseconds, and again declines. The message you receive now is: close the position at 180! Were you able to close at 180? Of course NOT. Why NOT? There must be something wrong with you!
24- Can you calculate the loss? YES.
25- Was it a painful trade? Unfortunately, it was.
26- What is the next message/reaction of the trading wizard (usually in both private and public groups)? Open 170, Close 180, in a single day! WOW!
27- Does that happy message hurt more than the money you lost? Unfortunately, it does.
28- Do you receive any explanation? You are kidding.
29- Suppose you receive 20 trading signals per week. Are they all wrong? Of course NOT. But overall they are usually not better than RANDOM (!) or what you can find by yourself.
30- Do you have enough assets to use all of the signals? It naturally depends on your system/discipline of trading. But, the answer is usually negative.
31- Are the wrong trades (and hit SLs) shown in the public groups? Of course NOT.
32- Are the wrong trades (and hit SLs) shown in the private groups? Of course NOT.
33- Can you complain about it? Yes, you can.
34- How? Send them a private message via the messengers you are using.
35- Will you receive reasonable answers (if any)? I doubt it.
36- Is there any guarantee (or even a possibility) that you will get back the subscription fee? NO.
37- Is it difficult for the signal provider to remove you from the group? Practically no, but it hasn’t happened to me. I think I know the reason, but you may guess it for yourself.
38- What do you earn after a couple of months of buying “professional trading signals”? In brief, almost nothing: a little profit (but only if you have been lucky/smart enough) and maybe a little bit of experience.
39- What do you lose after a couple of months? In brief, your hard-earned asset (or a considerable part of that); the subscription fee; your time; your peace of mind; your self-confidence; and your self-esteem.
40- Is it a good decision to leave that private group? I think it is.
41- Is it possible that in the future (after you leave) wonderfully profitable signals will be published in that group (as it has been always advertised in public communities)? If you think the response is YES, please go up and read all of the questions again and try to answer them differently.
42- Are you STILL struggling with frequent losses? Well, it happens to everybody. But now you know the solution or at least you know what is NOT the solution.
43- Are you still dreaming about easy money? You know it even better now.
44- Have you ever considered reading serious books on trading (about the basics of the market, technical analysis, trading strategies, risk management, trading psychology, and discipline)? You answer.
Good Luck