Posted by With all of the stock trading channels on YouTube, there are only a few that I like to watch. Trying to find one that matches your investing style or actually can teach you something new is a challenge. Most self-proclaimed investing gurus are only in it for the ad revenue or to sell you something than to actually provide good advice. It seems like they are all using a similar formula to get people to view their videos. They create thumbnails with over-the-top titles that stretch the truth or are just plain hype. They take advantage of people’s fears in order to get views. I know it is a challenge to come up with fresh daily content. But after a while, it turns into a game of trying to increase subscribers and views. And the only way to do that is to do what other successful YouTubers are doing. I avoid channels that are all doom and gloom and stick with the ones that try to find a silver lining even in the middle of a market correction. I also don’t care for the channels that brag about their net worth. I can understand the desire to let others know how successful you are as an investor, but the majority of YouTube viewers are not millionaires.
I guess the only channel I care to watch these days is Charlie Plattus (Zip Trader). Lately his video thumbnails have been getting too dramatic with big red letters proclaiming, “THIS IS ALARMING!” or “WATCH ASAP!”. He also includes a short sponsor segment in his videos, in addition to the normal YouTube ads that run. But they are all doing that these days. Despite the negative aspects, Charlie provides graphs and charts that support his theories. The majority of his trading plays are short term catalyst driven events. But he also provides a macro-economic review which is very helpful in understanding what’s happening in the markets. He also has a training product called ZipTrader-U which he promotes. Some of the YouTube finance gurus I no longer watch are Andrei Jikh, Graham Stephan, Max Maher, Sasha Yanshin, and Kevin Paffrath. Many like Kevin Paffrath, who ran for governor of California last year, end up going off topic. Tom Nash has also fallen into the bad thumbnail trap lately. He used to give an interesting economic perspective, but lately you can feel his struggle to come up with daily content. The economic downturn has brought out fault in many self-proclaimed financial gurus. After you learn the basics and have a good, diversified investment strategy, these guys are basically just entertainment.