RiosQuant Trading Room
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Honest
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Quality
(5)
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Cost
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Support
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Verified Trades
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User Experience
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Summary
A high quality trading room. A user can very easily replicate all of the trades within the trading room. A very high probability of earning daily profits. No smoke and mirrors. The lead trader is very, very good. The trading performance listed on the website is truthful and honest.
User Review
( votes)Today’s review is RiosQuant, or Rios Quantitative. The main website is located at riosquant.com, and a secondary website can be found at thetradingroom.com. The owner of Rios Quant is Joe Rios and on his website, he describes himself as a 20 year trading veteran, registered Commodity Trading Adviser (CTA), former employee of Prudential Securities, Citibank, and is a portfolio manager that currently is registered with the US Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC). In short, this is a pretty impressive list of titles, prior real world work experience, and the registration with the CFTC is no laughing matter. However, like all trading room educators, or trading products, I treat them with a great wariness.
When I go into a review, I begin with a big yellow jaundiced eyeball that stares at all this stuff with great doubt. Most of these guys like to paint themselves with fancy titles, platitudes, and self aggrandizement. In short, they like to puff themselves up. As I looked at the Rios Quant website, what I like to see is a trading track record. I want that front and center. Truthfully, I could care less if the person has a bunch of fancy titles, I just want to know if the guy is putting out a record. The next thing is to figure out if the record is real. And the only way to do this, is to sign up and begin screen recordings. I want to see that the trades that are being called, live in the trading room are showing up on the performance page. Too often, and with many trading guru’s, they will only post the winning trades. And many of the losing trades get lost in the chat, background noise, slippery language, and are never reported on the performance page.
My First Week With Rios
On February 2nd, 2015 I began my recording using Camtasia screen recording software. The trading room was moderated by either Joe, Ed, or Augustine. During the first week of screen 
recordings, the trading day usually lasted about 2 hours. All trade-able markets were discussed and were open to potential trades. What do I mean all trade-able markets? Oil, gold, ES, bonds, grains, softs, natural gas, all of the currencies. It was all reviewed, every market was open to review. Though I have no idea what I was looking at, or why, I can say that they have a pretty complicated and thorough set of filters for each market. And only commodities that were traded on the CBOT, CME, ICE, NYBOT were open to review. No opaque markets like thinly traded stocks or ETF’s, or thinly traded futures like rough rice were open to trading. Only markets with deep liquidity. The image that you see to the left is a chart and table. The table has a bunch of formulas that calculate in real time. Don’t ask me what is in the soup, I have no idea. Take a quick peak for yourself.
That basic idea was to use the filter to find only the choicest trade setups. I felt like we were looking for the “loaded dice” type trades, where the odds were stacked in our favor. So, how did I do the first week of trading. I lost money. From the March 16-March 20, 2015, I executed 8 trades and lost $200. I took every trade to the best of my ability. And following along was very simple. The trades were given with plenty of time pull up the chart, find the symbol, enter the price on the chart, hit all the buttons, etc. None of the entries were on a limit order. This is of huge importance 
because many trading rooms use limit order executions as a means of executing a fraud, but I wont go into that here. But what I will say is that a grandmother can replicate what is happening in this trading room.
OK, so I lost money the first week. Did Rios report this losing week on his website? Initially he did not. In fact, these trades did not show up until two weeks after the fact. I never emailed and asked or attempted to cause any red flags, I simply wanted to observe. To see if Rios would attempt to hide even a single trade or attempt anything shady. The trades did eventually make it onto his website, and to Rios credit, he reported a loss of $250. Why did he report a loss of $25o, while I reported a smaller loss? Because Rios deducts $10 per trade as commissions paid, and I did not. This was my first clue that Rios was reporting real trades.
My Second and Third Week With Rios Trading
Once again, from April 27th-May 8th, 2015 I attended and recorded 10 straight trading days. Every couple of days, I would register a new user to access the free trial of the trading room. This required multiple IP addresses that I had to rent. Why? Because I do not want these trading rooms seeing the same IP address showing up. Multiple IP addresses and identities allows me to slip into these trading room undetected. All together, I recorded an additional 30 hours of video. Each trade was recorded. After 5 consecutive days of recording, I then had my assistance located in the Philippines attend the trading room and attempt to replicate the trades via simulator.
The 10 days of trading reaped excellent results. I do not want to post the spreadsheet of trades. Why? Because Rios has not yet posted his results on his website. I prefer to wait and see if my trading matches his trading. However, I did produce a video that you can watch below. This video is the typical trade that you can reasonable expect to experience in the trading room. I highly recommend that you watch the video in its entirety. Yes, the video is long at 20 minutes, but if you are serious about trading, and perhaps purchasing from Rios, then you should find the time to watch and observe how he goes about managing his trades.
Can Grandma Do This?
One of things that I did not like about Rios was the chart overlay. The pictures that you see to the left is what you will see on your screen share. Can anyone tell me what this looks like? To me, this looks like a big messy pile of indicator stew. There are a million things going on. I found it confusing and annoying. Look for yourself. What is happening here?! All of this messy nonsense irritated me. And so I sent an email directly to Joe Rios, I explained to him that I had no idea what I was looking at and I found it annoying. I explained to Joe that I was a 78 year old grandmother from Tupelo Missisippi and how was I expected to understand this? Joe Rios responded with an apology. He explained that what I was staring at represents a life time or market observation. Everything he knows is there on that screen. He explained that markets are complicated and everyday is like walking through a brand new minefield. And the purpose of that minefield is to blow up my trading account. That all of those line are his best attempt to guide me through the minefield from someone that has spent 20 years traversing these financial minefields.
Joe went on to explain that everyone is going to hit a mine. This is a simple fact in operating in an uncertain environment. And that the most important thing is to make sure that I was capitalized properly, in fact he recommended that anyone taking each and every trade in the trading room should have a $25,000 dollar account. This might sound scary to some, but this is quite true. In my experience, the trading room vendors that claim that you can make a living from trading a $2,000 dollar account are flat out lying.
Another thing he said that stuck…”your biggest draw down is always in front of you”. Wise words that you never hear from 99.9% of the educators.
More Questions From Joe
One of the things that really concerned me about Rios Quant Trading Room is that all of the trades are placed on a simulator. This is a huge issue for me. And I wanted answers. And so I called Rios Quant, ready to hammer them hard. I called and left a message and awaited a return call. A day later, I get a call from Ken Erickson. I immediately call him out on the use of a simulator. He explained that the trading room is moderated by three people, and that the platform is set up specifically for the trading room. The platform is handed from moderator to moderator and everything that is called in the trading room is on that master platform. And so I quickly asked him about a trade that happened a few months prior. He said, “no problem” and quickly accessed the master platform was able to match the trade in question with the trade on the platform. I got the following screenshot to the right. 
I really cannot complain because his record of trades were dead on. And the trades are highly replicable and easy to follow. However, it does annoy me that I don’t have a live trading DOM. But on the other hand, I was assured that all of the moderators do trade, but that running the trade room and dealing with live money is just to stressful. Its was a good enough answer for me. And that is only because I did my own research over a three week period.
The Cost Of Rios Quant
Nowhere on Rios Quant or The Trade Room, you will find a price for products. I found this annoying. But I was able to get the answers I needed from Eric. The cost is $2,000-$4,000. There are three packages available. Each contains the Rios indicators and a certain amount of time in the trading room. Basically, spend $3k and you get lifetime access to the trading room.
Another option is to spend $400 a month for the trading room. You just get access to the room.
Some Practical Limitations
In my opinion, Rios is offering a high value product. But with a big caveat, you have to understand going into this that Joe and the moderators will do things like use trailing stops, or get out of trades based upon the relationship of one market compared to another market. These are variables that lay within the realm of nuance and fringe probabilities. You cannot easily quantify nuance. These are the types of skills that are developed over many, many years of staring at a trading screen. However, this bit of uncertainty should not be something to avoid. Why? Because at the end of the day, you can always just replicate the trades in the trading room and expect to make money.
The second issue would be account size. Based upon prior performance, and considering that “your worst drawdown is always in front of you”, then you should not attempt to execute across such a broad spectrum of tradeable commodities unless you have the minimum account size. Joe recommends $25k, I think $10k should suffice.
My Best Piece Of Advice
Sign up for a trial. Use a simulator. Request a new trial. Use a simulator. Do this for a minimum of 3 weeks. Before you attempt this…you need to prove to yourself that you can copy these trades. You need to use a simulator and simply copy. A simulator is the best option and is actually better than a live account. Why? Because I simulator will not allow a limit order to fill unless the price passes through the bid/ask spread. Well that its for now. Thanks for reading. And as always, please feel free to express yourself in the comments section below. Even if you hate me and disagree with everything that I write, even your opinion is valuable and I appreciate the feedback.
What’s with that embedded video? Is it an ad or part of review?
Thanks for all your efforts.
tdsys@whoisbuilding.com
So 4 or 5 people we’ve never heard of on here suddenly post long raving reviews at nearly the same time. I guess Joe Rios asked you to. Why else would you be even reading or visiting a site like this if your trading room is nearly all roses. C’mon…we are not that dumb.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes (1) No (2)
This site seems like a good candidate to take on the tradingschools bot challenge for a following updated review. Even if they trade sim only due to the “stress” of trading live. The bot surely won’t add more undue stress to sim trading? I hope the bot can tell the difference between a sim platform , replay mode, and a live one
For the life of me, I can’t personally understand where some of these negative comments are coming from. My experience with Mr. Joe Rios is 180 degrees from what they claim. I consider Mr. Rios a man of the highest integrity and honesty. I started full-time day trading in 1996. I’ve traded with five different trading systems. I’ve blown up three. If I told you how much money I’ve made then blown up most of you either wouldn’t believe me or you’d start crying. I could write a book about day trading. In early 2011, I found Rios Quantitative. It has changed my trading life. Like Cassie, PFG was the broker I was using. In 2012 they stole a tremendous amount of my trading capital. But that hasn’t kept me from continuing with Rios Quantitative. As a former competitive athlete and coach, I have found a “team” atmosphere. I have found consistency. I have found trading education second to none. Personally, I believe Mr. Joe Rios is a financial genius that is able to relate to anyone willing to learn. I consider what I’ve paid for his proprietary software and all the education I’ve received from his firm, the best investment of my life. I am blessed to have found Rios Quantitative. The trial is free. But if you really want to learn then you need much more education which Rios Quantitative provides ongoing. I promise if you you’re serious and willing to learn, you will learn and in my opinion most likely be a profitable trader. My ROI vs. what I’ve spent for software and other fees to Rios Quantitative tell the true story. I know they do for the cadre of traders I see in the live trading room each morning and other education webinars/classes they offer on an ongoing basis.
Len February 12, 2016
I have been a member of Rios Quant for 5 years – almost since the time Joe Rios started his Trade Lab and can say that he is a true professional who is caring and concerned for those involved with his program. There is a learning curve and there is expenses – as there is with nay product which has great detail and deals with intricate financial markets. I have found Joe to be extremely honest about wins and losses and draw downs – let’s face it – if you trade for a living you will have draw downs and losses but with the Rios Quant program these are kept to a minimum. The Trade Lab is extremely well run and you can be an active participant or a silent listener – either way what you put into the product and program you can get out of it. I would not be a member for 5 years if it was not a high quality product and trading room. The loses I sustain are usually from my own errors and no one forces you to take the trades. Joe teaches you be able to stand on your own feet as a trader and that is something we who wish to trade for a living should all strive for – it is a privilege to know Joe and participate in his program.
Thanks for the comment!
I am aghast at what has been written about Joe Rios and Rios Quantitative or Rios Quant.
Your PROS section is correct. Your CONS section is completely in left field and not the case. I have been trading and affiliated with Joe and Rios Quant since January 2011, and I have never been told a minimum of $10,000 to trade their system. All software, especially for trading, has a substantial learning curve and $400/month with all that is offered is very reasonable in today’s market.
I, too, do not get impressed with titles and glorified boasting but Joe much like any educator prior to teaching a college course is offering a verbal Curriculum Vitae (CV), so new attendees are aware of his prior experiences.
The Trading room is traded through a simulated account and setting, but I have personally traded live with the room on another computer. I have attended retreats where Joe and all attendees are trading daily and we are trading live accounts, if one wants to, with Joe Rios personally, at his office.
Who trades without common sense practices like trailing stops, contract sizing for money management, Risk ON/Risk OFF knowledge and correlation of the markets? Obviously, a big yellow jaundiced eyeball blogger.
I have taken the time to learn Joe’s methodology and have had draw downs and all the standard pitfalls that goes with trading but Joe Rios is in no way a scammer. I should know, I lost an entire trading account to PFG Best’s Bankruptcy July, 2012 and then an excess of $20,000 to an option’s guru, who by the way is decreased, who had written books and had thousands of followers.
To sum this up, Joe is an honest, concerned and very knowledgable educator and with his organization and methodology I have made and are still making money. If it was easy everyone would be a trader, and by the way, I am a Grandma and have taken the time through clear eyes to understand GnosTICK .
Thanks for the comment. You know, having a few negative comments is a sign of legitimacy. Joe should not be so fussy over a few bad comments. In my opinion, a few bad comments give a vendor some insight on how to improve his service.
It is startling to me how some people post comments without any knowledge on the subject or the person and manage to start false and hideous rumors. I have had the privilege of working alongside Joe Rios throughout my professional career, beginning at Solomon Smith Barney, over 20 years ago. Joe Rios is a true pioneer in the financial industry with an exceptional understanding of how the markets really work. His methodology and trading model has withstood various market environments, and the test of time. His uncanny ability to read the markets and quickly adjust has helped him navigate through several market challenges including bubbles and crisis. A good example is the last and infamous financial crisis, which began in 2007. He spent over 3 months in a -34% draw down but managed to finish the year up 30%, followed by 84% ROI the following year and 70% ROI the subsequent year, the end of crisis. Those are audited figures conducted by Forensic Accounting & Investigative Services, L.L.C. A Licensed Private Investigative Agency (A9900245), Certified Public Accountants and Certified Fraud Examiners.
Jose Gomez
Professional Trader
Jose, are you the same one that’s in the trading room with Joe every morning? The guy that “buys the openings”? I would give anything if I could talk to you. My name is Charlie at ELLIJAY44 and I use gmail.
José, what can I do to talk you into teaching me how to ES trade at opening bell? Pay? Wash your car? Beg?
Joe Rios is a scam guys. Do not waste your time and money here. He claims he trades a CTA but a friend of mine lost 10 months in a row in his CTA program. Joe Rios makes his money selling useless software that you can get online for free. GnosTICK is simply Pivot Points calculated intraday on ninjatrader (free), Nextreme is simply Rate of Change or ROC in ninjatrader (also free), RQ Channel is Swing indicator (also free!!). Once again, Joe Rios is a SCAM.. He makes no money for himself or others. His teachings are a bunch of subjective information that does not help you for signals.
Manuel, Spain
Signed up with this company in 2010. Used $20000 to use his signals. Within 4 months I was down to 50% of my account. No help from them. They said it’s just a short term blip and to stay with it. Lost another $1K and I was done with them. They are a scam.
You should do your homework before posting a comment like that Alexander. I have been a Rios member for a couple of years, and would say that Rios is probably one of the most honest in this business. All trades from the room are also posted on the website and easy to review. If you are in the trading room you could easily verify that the same trades gets posted. Rios is a CTA and i would think there are restrictions for posting brokerage statement ( i´m not a US citizen, so someone might correct me if i´m wrong about that). Also..if you know a great trader/systemdevoloper that spend years of developing their systems or indicators, just to give them away for free, please let me know and i´ll give them a call
Alexander
Tell me more ,were you in is trading room
And did you buy is software
Rios has no brokerage statements and tax returns to prove he is not a fraud. Makes his money by selling “monthly memberships, trading indicators and trading systems”
This is true. His brokerage statements are not shown. A close friend of mine lost 10 consecutive months in his CTA program. Joe Rios blamed the “market conditions” to it. Remember, he makes a living selling software. You cannot make money using his methodology. Believe me, I know and I can prove it.
Hi Manuel, thank you for leaving the comment. Can you please contact me directly at emmett@tradingschools.org. Would like to verify this. Thank you.
Emmett
Emmett
Did you get original brokerage statements for RiosQuant??
Emmett,
Did you use an IB account for trading in the RiosQuant room?
Thanks again for the reviews,
Adam
Hi Guys.
This is REAL Service . Those charts are not mess . Initially i thought so .. BUT you need to understand them first . I tried lot of the junk trading services as this website owner pointed ( Tim Skyes , Investor underground , Jason bonds , Market delta trading room, OEX street ) etc … I agree as most of them snake oil vendors ,,,
I am with RiosQuant for the past 5 months . If you want to try this service, you goal should not be making quick money by shadow trading…
If you would like to learn about market (Macro and micro) in a systematic way so that you can do trading on your own in future then this is the service you should choose . Trades are taken based on ” inter market relation ships ” which you don’t find many teachers in open market . At least for that price and Joe Rios teaches in live market with live examples . Their trading room is to help you understand their methodology and you can do trading by your own after apprenticeship ….
Learning curve is definitely very steep but its worth if you want to become a independent professional trader with sound money management skills . Mr.Rios and their team are very honest as i have experience with many scamsters around as mentioned few above .
Out of all my 4 + years of hunting for shadow trading to make quick money , i realized its better to follow some one to learn the trading methodology than for quick bucks , so that i can live rest of my life with the skills learned than merely show trading others to become a slave to them in trade calling services .
Again , their chats are not mess . You need to take time to understand their methodology and inter market relation ships .. Once your brain is trained to understand this , you will be seeing your good future in those lines . Again, this is not quick buck making service . It is for who has passion and patience to learn ,… …. Yes ..its better to be on sim mode for few weeks until you understand whats going on there ..
Sai,
It’s been a few months since this post. I wanted to get your take on RiosQuant and how you’ve progressed through his training and mentoring program. Thanks for any feedback.
Regards
Sai…I think you are still in there aren’t you?
As I am writing this on 18-Jun-2015 the latest trade on their Performance Log is from 19-May-2015
FYI, Rios Quant had a free “workshop” Tuesday night, open to the public. Rios made mention of TradingSchools.org during the workshop … mentioned that you had given them a favourable review.
ok I am in a trial now. So far breaking even on their calls. But I do like the fact that they trade many markets so i get a heads up about ones that I am not personally covering- wheat for example. The charts are an absolute mess and mean that to see what is happening and which trades they are in takes a bit of work
I would like a very clean screen showing only trades that are live or with orders in place as at the moment we have to listen carefully to understand what they are doing.
It has promise though as the room can supplement my own signals.
I have checked out a couple of partial days in Rios but I simply couldn’t get past the spaghetti charts. I am a designer by trade and I lose it with too much clutter on a screen, even though I am a bit of a slob at my desk…lol. I also don’t like splattering myself all over the trading world with too many instruments.
I want to check them out again after reading your review. I am starting to really value honesty and I feel I could get over the technical hurdles but dishonesty is much more difficult and why should I even try?