I explored the Active Traders Network (ATN) website, and found very little to pique my interest. When you get down to the nitty-gritty, the website is merely a place for ATN to sign people up for their online newsletter. By adding a whole bunch of links and other semi-relevant information, they try to give the appearance of “having a lot going on”. So I’m going to unearth the real essence of the website by uncovering the layers that disguise it, one by one.

Homepage:
The Homepage first and foremost tried to promote their online newsletter, which I will cover in depth at the end of this review. Further down the page, they have many “Traders Resources”, a collection of web links that are, in actuality, pretty good. They organize all these links in an organized and coherent fashion, making it a pretty good find. Next is testimonials, and while they have only two, that’s two more than some websites, so its not a big deal. Lastly, they have featured writers for ATN, maybe 7-8 articles total, but the articles are well written and nice to have.

Chat:
Not only were there a few people in the chat room when I went in (3), but they were all guests. No one was talking, so I asked how people felt about the site, and still, no response. I gave up after 5 minutes of trying. The chat service is not very useful at this point.

Message Board:
The message board is nice, and there are people that post to it. Posts per day range from 0-30 (eyeballing it), roughly. And there’s quite a wide array of people that post to it. Apparently this site is more popular than I thought. As for the content, there’s also a range; some are quite well written, educated posts, while others are merely spam-mail, only meant for commercial advertisement. For instance, one post talks about what to do about market maker manipulation, while another one talks about an Adult entertainment website. Get the picture?

Affiliate Program:
Also a big plus, they actually pay others to get people to sign on with ATN. For each person that signs up for their newsletter through you (it was emphasized that the person had to be directed by a special link, kind of like epinions), they will pay you $10.

Bookstore:
It’s the same thing my boss wanted me to do for our company website at one time; the only point is to make money by being an Amazon Affiliate. They recommend a few books, and if you click on the link, ATN makes a few pennies per click or something.

Others:
Other things on the menu bar include US Indexes, Market News, and IPOs. But upon closer examination, it points to Yahoo Finance or the IPO Info website. Good viewing, but not proprietary.

Coming Down to the Home Stretch

Like I said, I was planning to talk about the Active Trader Stock Report, ATN’s financial newsletter. This is a daily newsletter that talks about stock trading strategies for active traders. There is a 2-week FREE trial, but the regular price of subscription is $30/month, $75/quarter, or $145/semiannually. Personally, that’s roughly $1 a day, so if I felt it was worth it, I might subscribe. But when you compare the cost to something much more comprehensive like the Wall Street Journal, you’re getting (in my opinion) much more for much less (WSJ is 13 weeks at $49, 52 weeks for $175. Its interactive version, at wsj.com, is $59 annually, or $29 with a print subscription). But enough talk about other publications.

Their daily newsletter is composed of several things:

1. The closing prices of all the the major indices, as well as the 30-year bond.
2. Trading Notes, an 8-10 paragraph article on a given topic (e.g. Diversification of your portfolio).
3. New Trades / Pending Orders, which details their current stocks. They also supply the price points at which to buy and sell a given stock, as well as their rationale for the long or short position. I have not seen any instance of a short recommendation, so I really don’t know if they advise any short sells.
4. Entering the portfolio / Leaving the Portfolio, which just tells which stocks they have bought or sold since the last trading session.

And that’s it.

Is there any substance to it?

Yes, there is substance to this site; their newsletter is organized and looks respectable. However, if you’re looking for much more interactivity in a website, you’re not going to find it here. Yet, I liked their links, and it’s a good place for a beginning investor to learn and research. Now, the newsletter. I don’t really think it is worth the money, personally. But if you like something to read and don’t want too much to read, it’s a simple newsletter that does what it claims to do: educate. Their stock picks may not be on target, but at least if you study their recommendations and track its movements, I believe it will give you a great learning experience. Mixed Thumbs.




Recommended: No