Can you trust Profits Run or would it be more wise to run for the hills? Will you profit with their trading services, or is this place a scam just looking to swindle you for a quick buck?
People have been asking and I'm here to answer. In this review I'll be going over what Profits Run is and what they provide, the team behind it all, costs and refunds, complaints and more.
Let's start out with an overview...
What Is Profits Run?
- Website: profitsrun.com
- Founder: Bill Poulos
- Services: Investment advisories and trading software
- Social Media: Facebook page
Profits Run is basically an investment publication, education, and trading software company. They provide your pretty typical follow-along investment advisory services, but also provide trade-recommendation software and their main service is their 1-on-1 coaching - they have a team of professional traders that are employed as coaches. The main focus here is options trading, but they also provide training and support for those looking to trade stocks, ETFs, and Forex.
*Note: It should also be noted that they aren't big fans of buy-and-hold strategies. Trading short-term trends is more their style and this is what they teach.
The company has been BBB accredited since 2009 and was started in 2001 by the father and son team, Bill and Greg Poulos, after Bill retired from his day job. Bill had already been a successful trader in his own right and wanted to help others fast-track their success by following a system he knew worked from experience.
As they state on their website, they "teach regular people how to become better, smarter, and safer traders". They put a lot of emphasis on the "safer traders" part. Risk management is something they really focus on, and they typically don't recommend risking above 2-5% of your account on any trade.
The Team Behind It All
The two main guys behind it all are Bill and Greg Poulos, father and son.
Bill Poulos has been trading since 1974, beginning while employed as an engineer working for an automobile manufacturer. He doesn't have an ex-Wall Street background or anything that impressive, but results are results, and Bill has developed trading strategies over the years that have allowed him to profit nicely.
Greg Polous, the son, has a technology and marketing background and worked with dot-com startups in the 90's. He's the guy behind the marketing and strategic direction of the company - he also plays the guitar and is an award-winning songwriter... in case you were wondering.
The company has a physical location in the Midwest, at...
Profits Run, Inc.
28339 Beck Rd – Unit F1
Wixom, MI 48393
... but I'm not entirely sure what goes on here. They do employ a team of professional traders, but I don't believe they actually work in one location.
The rest of their team, besides customer service reps and whatnot, consists of the pro traders I just mentioned.
You will find people on their team that have started their own brokerage firms, have been trading for years, have worked with large institutional traders, are experts in on particular kind of trading or another, etc. I'm not going to go over everyone, but you can take a look at their team on this page.
They certainly aren't just hiring anybody off the street and take the quality of their services very seriously. That said, they don't care about what degrees someone has or what school they've been to. Results are what they are looking for, and this is why you'll find that some of their team members are just... well... really good traders with not much else to show.
Products and Services Offered
What Profits Run has to offer can be broken down into four sections. First, you have their investment advisory publications, which are similar to what a lot of companies offer, such as Banyan Hill, Money & Markets, Omnia Research, etc. Then you have trading alert software, VIP services, and lastly I'll be going over the free newsletters they provide.
I'm not going to go too much into detail on each, but it's important to know that with all of their trading services, risk-management is a big focus, as I mentioned. This is one of the more attractive characteristics of what they have to offer here.
1 - Publications
20/30 Wealth Trader
The 20/30 Wealth Trader is a service that provides trade recommendations, analysis, and training. Here Bill provides subscribers with 4 new trade recommendations a week, access to an options trading course, monthly webinars, and more.
Here the focus is only on 20 stocks, in which he looks for small trends and trades their underlying options.
Crypto Profit Alert
This service, as you can tell, is all about investing in cryptocurrency. Here subscribers are provided with investment recommendations that are believed to have high potential and low risk. That said, the crypto market is very volatile and you shouldn't get into this if you are looking for "safe" investment opportunities.
Email updates are provided at least once a week, and sometimes more if urgent buy opportunities present themselves, and subscribers get access to video training so that they can follow along if they are new to cryptocurrency investing.
Instant Options Income
This is a weekly options trading program that consists of training videos on a particular style of options trading that focuses on what they call "16-day profit window". Here, traders are taught to look to make trades when the price is range-bound, and it is recommended to look for delta of between .70 and .80 so the stock's price movements are similar to the options'.
Real Wealth Alert
This service's focus is on swing-trading "real" assets with call and put options, and more specifically, on trading options for commodities and commodity-based ETFs. Scaling is used with the strategy behind this service, and increasingly higher profit targets are set.
Members will get access to several trade recommendations every week.
This trading strategy can be applied to IRAs and regular cash accounts, but is only recommended with low-fee or no-fee online brokers.
Premium Income Alert
Premium Income Alert is an advisory service run by Bill where he provides weekly trading opportunities for monthly options. The focus is on the top 10 US large-cap dividend stocks, and alerts are sent out to subscribers when these stocks enter the "income-generating" zone. There is also a focus on using strategies such as vertical credit spreads here.
Like many of these strategies, this can be used for IRA's and general brokerage accounts.
Earnings Profit Alert
Earnings Profit Alert is one of their regular stock trading advisory services. The focus here is on trading popular stocks before and after earnings reports are released, which often result in large price movements. Recommendations are provided several times a week, plus subscribers get analysis and research information, and also access to some training on how to identify good trades using this strategy.
Premium Income Letter
Premium Income Letter is a flagship advisory service from Profits Run. It's a good entry-level stock advisory service where Bill provides subscribers with analyses on current market conditions, predictions, and investment recommendations on a monthly basis.
Additionally, there are special reports provided too, such as "The 10-Q Protocol" report that provides in-depth information on using a trading strategy where you trade around when companies file their 10-Q's with the SEC.
2 - Trading Alert Software
Rapid Income Engine
Rapid Income Engine is an options trade-alert software advertised as a way to trade smart while only requiring about 10 minutes of your time per night. What it does is analyzes the markets each day after closing and determines what has the best risk-to-reward based on four different methods it applies. Specific entry and exit signals with specific price points are provided, plus 8 live group coaching sessions.
This is all web-based, and so there is nothing to download.
Forex Profit Accelerator 2.0
This is another trade-alert software that provides enter and exit signals and specific price points to get in and out, along with the 8 group coaching sessions where members can interact live with senior traders. The difference is, of course, that this software is focused on alerting you to good trades in the Forex market.
Both of these softwares are standalone, meaning that it doesn't matter who your broker is.
3 - VIP Services
One-On-One Coaching
This is for those that are really serious about trading. All of the coaches are hand-picked, as I've already went over in the beginning of this review, and all are investors themselves. They will teach clients how to analyze market behavior to find the best trading strategies for certain situations, manage your risk appropriately, and just about everything else. What you learn is very dependent on your background and what you are looking to do.
All coaching sessions are recorded so that you can refer back to them.
This service is good for newbies and experienced traders alike, and they even go as far as to offer a guarantee that you'll make your money back or they'll just keep coaching you until you do. However, there have been some complaints about this that I'll go over shortly.
Profits Run Alliance
This is a top-tier service they offer that only opens twice a year to loyal members. There is very limited information available on it, but I reached out to the company and am awaiting a reply as to what exactly it has to offer.
*Still waiting to hear back.
4 - Free Newsletters
Unseen Opportunity
This free newsletter provides readers with research and analysis on opportunities you are unlikely to hear about watching the mainstream news.
Founding Fathers Daily
And if you are looking to get political commentary, this might be fore you. In this newsletter there is a conservative perspective provided on current events and what's going on in the world.
Both of these newsletters are completely free, but subscribers should be warned that they will receive promotional emails for other services if they decide to join.
Cost & Refunds
Because they offer such a wide range of services, the prices differ greatly. For example, it will cost you $199.95/yr for a Premium Income Letter subscription while Crypto Profit Alert normally costs $3,000/yr (usually heavily discounted), and access to Rapid Profit Engine software for $1,997/yr (normally $3k/yr).
I haven't been able to find any company-wide refund policy, but it seems that just about every service/product offered has a 60-day money-back guarantee.
If you have purchased any of there services/products and are looking to receive a refund, you can contact them via email at support@profitsrun.com or you can call them Monday – Friday 9am – 5:00pm Eastern Time at 888-303-4440 or 248-344-4440.
Complaints
The good news is that there really aren't too many complaints I've been able to find, but there are some.
Poor Results
Some people, well, just didn't end up making money from the trade recommendations provided.
The complaint below is from someone who joined one of their options advisory publications and also bought an options trading alert software (I believe "Options Income Engine" is the old name for what is now called "Rapid Income Engine"), which they claim gave 61% losing recommendations...
And here's another review that was left on their Facebook page from someone disappointed in their results, most of them losing...
Advertising Practices
A personal complaint I have is how just about every program/system they have is advertised through webinars. You have to register for pre-recorded webinars (supposed to seem as if they are live) and watch the agonizingly long videos in order to find out more information about what they offer.
And going along with their promotional practices, you also should know that they can get a little carried away with the emailing, as pointed out by one subscriber...
Complaints from Forex Traders
Most of the complaints I've been able to find have come from Forex traders, many found on ForexPeaceArmy's website, on which it has a low overall rating of around 2 out of 5 stars.
One review warns to "stay away" from Profits Run and what they offer, but it doesn't provide very good details as to why...
And then here we have another that says you should "run away" from this place, but again, not any good details provided here...
I was also able to find some Forex complaints on SiteJabber. That shown below provides some good detail and comes from someone who supposedly followed every Forex recommendation for an entire year without success...
Now this obviously makes Profits Run look bad, because after all... these are all complaints. However, you can find some extremely good reviews on the BBB's website, and the fact that I haven't been able to find all that money complaints on this company, considering all the services they offer, says a lot (when compared to similar companies).
Some people have had some very bad experiences, but some are happy to have joined and have become better trades for doing so.
Also, I wonder if many of the people experiencing bad results are having trouble getting into trades at the right strike prices (I'm talking options here). I know that options advisory services are notorious for this. How it works is that when a trade recommendation is provided, all the subscribers jump in on it, sending the price up and making it much less profitable if you get in too late, or even leads to people losing money. Options recommendation services are much more susceptible to this than most others.
Pros v Cons
Pros
- BBB accredited company
- Strong team of professional traders
- Variety of services - good for any experience level
- 60-day money-back refunds
Cons
- Most services are pretty expensive
- Not as easy as it seems - getting into options trades at the right price can be a challenge
- Requires active attention - no buy & hold strategies here
Is Profits Run a Scam?
Some call it a scam, but those doing so aren't looking at the big picture. Yes, people have lost money following recommendations made via their services. But, you will find that this happens with any sort of investment service. Profits Run is run by professional traders and seems to be better than a lot of similar companies out there, although I'm certainly not saying you should go join one of their services right away... and I know they get a bit carried away with their promotional practices.
Final Thoughts
Overall Profits Run seems to be a fairly good company that has helped many traders reach new levels of success. There are complaints against the company, but this is to be expected to some extent, and many may be stemming from the fact that it can be very difficult to get into options trade recommendations at the right price with the different advisory services and trade alert software that the company offers.
Here at Green Bull Research we won't be specifically recommending that you join any of Profits Run's services, but we also aren't going to be telling you to avoid them. Just be sure to do your own due-diligence beforehand and don't fall for the marketing hype, which is usually a bit over-the-top.
I hope you found some value in this review. Thank you for reading and be sure to let us know what you think in the comment section below! Our readers' opinions are important to us!
I'm looking to get a better understanding of options and being in the building trades as a career has left me well with a whole lot of catching up n work . Options are as confusing as a day outside sweating or freezing can be trying to say the least . I do like the fact that they are willing to stretch the payments out . . . It helps I'm still on the fence and will try insider weekly to see if that helps me out just small moves it's all I can afford at this time but if I could just generate $1-2k a month it would help my situation greatly . Thank you I feel better putting them on hold for now and you guys yes a Philly guy here really appreciate you helping hand . I especially like the honesty you brought forward you didn't sass them but let me know options are never just cut n dry .
While browsing, I came to Wendy Kirkland's Options course.
Reading some subscribers success stories, I was alerted to one
that stated his income was $$$$ LESS commission.
Does Wendy Kirkland levy a commission on a student's profits?
Jim Donnelly
howdy4134@yahoo.com