Sky View Trading (SkyViewTrading.com) is a peculiar type of trading operation, focused on option trading. Mind you, by options, we do not mean binary options here. These are the type of options viewed by most traders as legitimate investment opportunities, the sort recognized by the SEC, too. What exactly is so peculiar about Sky View Trading then? While the operation can definitely not be called a scam, in the sense that it delivers a plausible service, not everything is 100% right about it. There are a couple of slip-ups which really provide some food for thought for the generally skeptical reviewer.
Though it is probably beyond the scope of this review to go into details on how these options work and what they are, we’re just going to quickly define them: options are derivatives, the purchasing of which grants the trader the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a given asset (the asset underlying the derivative) at a set price, at a set future time, or before a set future time.
The trading (buying and selling of Put and Call options) is simple as a concept, but it can indeed be extremely convoluted in regards to actual strategy. Therefore, a successful trading approach will require one to delve deep into the issue, and to educate him/herself properly. This is what Sky View Trading offer: option trading education, as well as trading signals resulting from a number of strategies they readily share with their users.
Sky View Trading Products
There are two membership categories at Sky View Trading: the Alerts Membership is all about taking a shortcut and using the trade signals/alerts delivered by the system, to trade profitably. Those who sign up for this product, get every trade that the Sky View Trading people make, alerted straight to their mobile devices. Current positions are also made available, together with “outstanding support.” The Alerts membership costs $99 per month.
The Elite Membership costs much more ($199 per month) but it offers a lot more too. In fact, this Membership tier promises nothing less than to teach users strategies that yield win rates of over 90%, consistently. Elite members gain access to over 4 hours worth of educational material, covering every aspect of option trading, from the basic definitions to option pricing, and option spreads, with all the defined and undefined risks that they entail.
Trade Alerts are included in this package too, together with access to the Trader Chatroom. Elite users get to view Trade Review Videos, they are treated to detailed explanations regarding the setting up of the operator’s favorite trading platform, and they have access to the Answers database, which is a sort of glorified FAQ section. There is another pricing deal available on this membership: a $1,999 per year one.
Sky View Trading Transparency
Unlike scammers, Sky View are quite transparent about most aspects of their business. The team behind the project is featured on the About Us page of skyviewtrading.com, with photos, and the identities are indeed most probably genuine. Adam Thomas and Eli Grelecki are the two owners. They both act as traders, and Eli also engages visitors to the site through live chat. In general, the Sky View team is responsive at the site as well as through the social media channels where they maintain a presence.
Chat moderator Christos Vasiliadis is also featured on the About Us page.
What’s even more important transparency-wise though, is the fact that the Sky View team gives would-be clients a look at the actual strategies they use for profitable trading, and indeed, the case they make in this regard seems to hold water. Option trading – when done properly – can indeed yield decent profits, and there are professional traders out there who make a living using the strategies presented by the Sky View team. One of these strategies is the Iron Condor, which makes perfect sense, though it is indeed more than a little convoluted for those who do not understand options and the way Puts and Calls are bought and sold. The main selling point of Sky View is that they forego stocks in favor of options. Again, as said already, their approach is entirely plausible, though they do make a mathematical omission here and there.
They state that Iron Condor for instance, can yield success rates in the neighborhood of 80-85%, and they are right. The only thing is though that the profits accrued through this strategy are small, while the possible losses are massive. There is a balance here after all, despite the overwhelming odds of success associated with the strategy.
Of course, there are ways to manage risk. In fact, according to Investopedia, risk management is one of the key aspects of the Iron Condor, without which the approach does not amount to much. Sky View claim that they are masters of risk management, in which case, their claims do indeed hold water.
Should I trust Sky View Trading
These guys are definitely not scammers. Whether you’ll get your money’s worth joining the operation is a different question, but yes, you can trust them in regards to what they promise to deliver.
Question Marks and Red Flags
Given that the operation is not a scam – as stated above – talking about Red Flags here does not make much sense, but there is at least one question mark:
The success rate claimed is a little high, especially when one considers the fact that it is offered on a consistent basis. Not much can be guaranteed in trading, even if one uses the right strategy the right way, as these guys do. That’s not much of an issue though, because if they do indeed do what they say they do, the Sky View guys can indeed be profitable in the short- and long-run.
Complaints
While the operation seems legit – save for a few missteps here and there, as shown above – there are people out there hell bent on calling it a scam. On Reddit, there’s a lot of back and forth going on, with at least one person saying that all the information provided by Sky View Trading is available for free anyway and therefore the operation does not provide any value to justify the costs of its membership packages.
Sky View Trading’s Preferred Brokerage
Another sign of legitimacy would be SkyViewTrading’s choice of brokerage: TD Ameritrade. TD Ameritrade is one of the best online brokers for trading options. They are a member of FINRA (The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in the US) as well as SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation). The trading platform offered by TD Ameritrade is thinkorswim.
Popularity
As of November 23, 2017, SkyViewTrading.com’s global rank was 794,590, according to SimilarWeb, indicating the site is not very popular, yet it’s getting a decent amount of traffic, specifically people from the United States (more than 70%) and Czech Republic (almost 12%). India, Canada and South Africa are additional significant sources of traffic for SkyViewTrading.
The analysis of the methods through which they drive traffic to their website is interesting. About a fourth of their traffic is obtained through referrals. Almost all of it is provided by InfusionSoft, a company that handles marketing for small businesses and provides online sale solutions. Clearly, they are paying quite a bit of money for this service.
Additionally, SkyViewTrading is advertised on a paid Facebook campaign, as well as through YouTube. This avenue contributes almost 20% of their traffic.
Finally, they seem to have an email marketing campaign going, which provides them with about 10% of their visitors.
Sky View Trading Review Conclusion
Sky View Trading looks like a legitimate operation. What they sell trading-wise is plausible, and they do deliver the education they say they do. Whether you’ll find value in their offer probably depends on your level of option-trading expertise though. For the verdict on this one, we’ll take a page out of the Mythbusters’ book: PLAUSIBLE.
Are you a member of Sky View Trading? We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to share any feedback about this company by leaving a comment below.
SkyViewTrading Reviews
I joined Sky View for 2 months. Wasn’t going to pay the full price they were asking of $300/month. They had a half off Thanksgiving Sale so I gave it try. I think Sky View is a great resource for those first learning options.
…But I was learning more from other sources and communities that I would gladly pay for over Sky View.
Another thing, I was following the alerts for the sky view bot with paper trading. would make $20, $50, $40, $15…. then a faaat -$500… +40, +20, +60, +18 followed by -$350.
So Idk, Sky view prides themselves with making little but often profits for better overall returns… but I felt more in the red than anything. Good to learn options basics.
Was not impressed with Skyview Trading
sky view would not honor my cancellation request after I signed up for 14 days trial and 6 months even when I called before the 14 days expired , I would not recommend sky view services or any option service that tells you you can cancel any time but at the same time will not refund any of your money it sounds like a scam to me .
Although I’ve only been with Skyview for a few days. The main purpose of joining was the 14 day trial only cost $14. I am very new to options and while the information they teach may be other places for free , I feel that it is worth more than valued. I have found it easy to use and very helpful with learning about options.
With that said I plan to learn what I can for the $14. and move on to some other cheap information…. its definitely out there !! Like I said I’m new to options and would like to hear as many perspectives as I can!