11/05/2011. Question and Answer Session with Charles Martinsen of ExoticFX. Part I

BEWARE! THIS PROGRAM HAS STOPPED PAYING! DO NOT INVEST!

Hello everybody! If you’ve been following MNO over the last couple of days you will have no doubt noticed that in co-operation with Charles Martinsen, the charismatic administrator of ExoticFX, an invitation was put out to all readers of my blog as well as all members of ExoticFX to submit any questions or comments you might have had regrading the program. Indeed if you’ve been following MNO over the last two and a half months you will have noticed even more so ExoticFX‘s evolution into what’s become the most exciting development in the world of online trading of the year so far, arguably even of the last 18 months (though it’s still a bit early for that).

With the opening of ExoticFX‘s new ForEx Trading Apprenticeship (FTA) scheme now getting into gear, the program (as predicted by many it has to be said) is really starting to pull away from anything else on the net at the moment. So Charles and I more or less came up with the idea – simultaneously but independently of each other at the same time – that after the success of his first interview on MNO the time was right for a second one. Charles however graciously agreed that rather than following the same old format it would be better to turn it into a “question and answer session” for MNO readers instead. ExoticFX is after all offering something new and not seen before in the industry, so how about something new for MNO as well I thought.

Enough has been written on these pages by now to make sure that anyone who wants to know about them pretty much does. If you’re still getting around to it then I would suggest you start with the original program review first published here, followed by my own interview with Charles published here. However before we hear from Charles I want to make a couple of quick points about the questions submitted, just so you know that everything is fair.

First of all, a sincere thank you to all the readers you made a contribution. This article is for everyone, but especially for you. Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed by the response, and despite the invitation only being open for 24 hours (and even that was a Sunday!) the sheer volume of interesting and diverse questions that came through was a real eye-opener has to how ExoticFX has captured the imagination of the investing public. So much so in fact that I’ve had to split this article into two halves. You can see the concluding part on MNO tomorrow.

The other thing I wanted to say is apologies to anyone who doesn’t see their exact question here as it was submitted. The thing is that a large number of them were asked more than once, so in the interests of brevity I needed to edit some of them. However I do believe that more or less everything that was asked has been covered in some form in Charles’ answers. I’m not prepared to ask him the same question three or four times, but I am satisfied that the issues you raised were dealt with properly. Anyway, let’s hear from Charles.

“1. Hi Charles. Before we move on to the members’ questions, I would like to just briefly re-cap on a couple of things anyone still unfamiliar with ExoticFX may not be aware of. First of all, can you just reintroduce yourself to the readers, tell us about your personal role in the program, and tell us about your background in money management?

I would be happy to, Paul. Since some of these answers are found in the first interview we did with MNO, and this particular interview will be a full blown Novel by the time we are done, I am going to copy the answer to this question from the first Interview, seeing as nothing has changed.

My name is Charles Martinsen. As a brief history, I was born in the U.S. and lived there for most of my life. I obtained a dual citizenship a few years ago and currently reside primarily in Hong Kong.

I have a Business Management background and co-founded a trust management company about 20 years ago. After collaborating with a select clientele, we privatized our efforts and exclusively manage a handful of trusts for a small group.

About 3 years ago, realizing the state of the global economy, we began looking into alternative investment opportunities when we were introduced to the firm known as Dantex Trading Limited.

When Dantex announced that they were creating an online program, I expressed an interest and was given the opportunity to become the Admin of ExoticFX.

I am not a trader, nor do I want to be. I simply administrate the ExoticFX portal in addition to my Trust Management duties. I have spent the last 25 years managing or handling other people’s money. This has never been easier to do, nor more profitable, than the last 3 years since my association with Dantex began.

2. Now can you give us a description of ExoticFX itself as an investment opportunity? What are you offering by way of investment plans?

ExoticFX is, in our opinion, the number one Investment Opportunity Online! That was by design.

If you look at EFX singularly, we certainly have the whole market covered. Currently we have 10 plans to choose from. A person can invest as little as $10 and have their investment and profits returned in as few as 5 days. Wiser investors can invest any amount and receive profits of up to 5% per day. For specifics on our plans I would like to defer to our website or your blog posts as they are explained fully at both locations.

3. And finally can you tell us about the Forex Traders Apprenticeship (FTA) program? What is it, how does it work, who is it intended for, what are its benefits, and what do you think both you as an admin and the average member can achieve with this?

First you have to understand the ultimate goals here. We developed EFX to support the FTA. Our goals are to develop a superior Trading Room, a Forex Trade School, and an Apprenticeship Program that is a marketable entity. You can read all the details, features and benefits by clicking here.

The inherent problems with learning to trade forex include lack of startup capital, time constraints, fear of loss, greed and an overwhelming amount of misinformation. Our program will eliminate them all. With the FTA program, the ‘average member’ can participate in the ExoticFX plans and earn profits whether they are involved in forex trading or not. This eliminates the fear of loss, time constraints, and covers the greed as well. Since we allow profits from as little as $10.00 participation, the startup capital problem is also eliminated. Those members that are more proactive can utilize the tools we are presenting and begin trading forex with a demo account, learn the strategies we offer as they come along (all the while earning from our Hands-Off Fully Managed EFX plans), and develop their skills and mindset required to trade forex with a live account.

Once we finish developing the Trading Room and the Forex Trade School we will begin a more regimented course of study. This will involve a step by step progressive set of actions that will develop the skills to take the ‘average member’ from Zero Knowledge to actual trader and then on to a professional level.

Those that display the necessary skills and successes will be inducted into our Apprenticeship program where they will have the ability to operate a live trading account and use our bankroll to trade. This 12 month apprenticeship will ultimately create Mentors that will begin earning commissions from those they assist.

Success tends to compile success. We feel by offering this opportunity to the HYIP community, we will develop successes that will procreate and evolve the opportunity to others. In retrospect, we could have done this differently and we are implementing alternative strategies in regards to advertising. However, we are not going to abandon the hyip community. We still feel, that as time goes by, many will begin to feel confident enough to take us up on our offer to teach them to trade. We WILL develop professional traders from this market. Many will see their success and begin to follow in their footsteps. The end result will be the Very Best of both worlds: HYIP and Professional Forex.

The profit potential from this endeavor will be tremendous for all that are involved.

4. So let’s start with the members’ questions now. One of the most frequent ones that arises in relation to programs (allegedly) trading ForEx via investors’ e-currency deposits is how can it be possible to receive members’ money, exchange it, withdraw it, trade with it, and then reverse the process to return the profits to members’ accounts in such a short time?

You can’t! Anyone who tells you that you can earn this level of profit by doing so is absolutely lying to you. e-Currency protocols simply won’t allow it. It is too difficult to move funds quickly enough to make it work. We have NEVER said we were taking your funds and investing them directly. It simply cannot be done fast enough to provide the level of profit we deliver. Your deposits fortify our positions and support our e-currency positions. As stated in our Terms and Conditions:

When you deposit funds with EFX, you are in effect ‘Loaning’ your funds to us. We may or may not directly invest your individual deposit. We Pool all deposits that have been ‘Loaned’ to subsidize our Cash Flow and to Liquefy our own Investments. Your actual deposits collateralize our e-currency accounts. Your profits are derived from our collective trades. We provide for you a Guaranteed return on your investment (loan). Due to our structure and Trading strategies, we are earning in excess of what we return and can therefore cover our losses and provide this guarantee.

Again, this was all created to provide a platform to create the FTA program. The goal is not ExoticFX. ExoticFX is a vehicle, a catalyst for the FTA programs.

5. I see the official exchange rates in the newspapers every day. Nothing ever (or rarely) fluctuates by more than a small fraction of 1%. How can you therefore come up with payments as high as 2% every single day and still cover your expenses and turn a profit?

In Forex, leverage can be as high as 1000:1. Using leverage allows us to obtain a much higher return on our investment than 1%. Although we rarely utilize 1000:1 leverage, we most often are leveraged to a fairly high degree. As you can see by our Performance chart, we are on average easily earning in excess of what we return to you and thereby have the ability to provide our guarantee.

6. Exchange rates are the same whether I trade $100 or $1,000. So why do you have different interest rates for different length plans? If you can pay me 2% for 180 days why can’t you pay it for 120 days? You’re still doing the same thing with my money, right?

Although I understand your logic, actually this is incorrect. Our Investment strategies require longer term participation. Those that are invested for the longer term, allowing us the time to play the market for all it’s worth, are rewarded. Those of you that actually participate in the shorter term plans are supported by the longer term trades and therefore receive a lesser profit.

7. With all the popular HYIPs disappearing without notice, if your program takes a turn for the worst would you be honest enough to return the members’ money or make announcement alerting us that the program will be closing?

Since our program is not based on the same structure that affects the HYIP industry, this question is actually invalid. We are not supported by new investor participation and will not be affected by HYIP closing or HYIP market participation. However, to clarify and answer your question, if something were to happen (albeit I can’t foresee what that would be) which would cause us not to be able to continue, your investment principal would fall under our guarantee and be returned with your profits.

8. With The 50 day plan that is only designated for FTA members, how do you know what percent you will receive. It simply says from 2.3% to 5%. Does the percentage depend on the daily results of the trade or the amount being invested in the plan? Will the principal be returned at maturity date or is it inclusive the percentage?

Currently, you will have to simply look at your investment return. The script defaults to 2.5%. On days of successful trading, we manually adjust the % return prior to the script running the payouts program. When we get the New Website completed, this will also display to you on the homepage and within your account. There is simply so much happening that we don’t have enough hours in the day to do everything we want as fast as some would like. We apologize for this and hope that you can see our motivation reflected in the way we are managing our efforts.

9. Since the goal of the whole program is to seek professional traders and mentors by offering this free education, will the other part of the program always be available, precisely, the investment area?

Yes, It has been designed from the start to be an integral part of our program and will remain as such. This actually provides us with a higher profit margin than the trading room and apprentice program will on a dollar for dollar basis. It will also be a big part of the mentor commission structure and therefore we wouldn’t want to be without it.

10. With so many members on board eager to learn forex, how will you be able to deal with so many people at once? Are there going to be enough mentors for everyone?

Yes and No. The reason we have and continue to call this a pre-release phase is we are currently training mentors and seeking to develop others to handle the load. This will not all happen overnight. Invitees into the FTA program will also be implemented in phases. At some point in the future we aspire to be able to handle everyone that wishes to apply. Remember, at some point there will be an entry fee involved.

11. What are the requirements to be considered as the professional trader and mentor? What types of tests will be given to ensure that you meet the requirements?

The first phase of this will be successful demo account trading results, and that will then be coupled with an exam that will originate from the strategies and materials provided via the FTA program. Part of the details are also itemized on the Announcement page in the FTA members area.

12. At what level would I be able to learn and earn? When you see learn and earn, does this have anything to do with the ExoticFX.net main page or is strictly related to the FTA program?

Actually, it has to do with both. When we have talked about learning while you earn, we have meant both. If you are accepted into the FTA program, you will be trading with our money and therefore you will be earning while you are taught forex. Again, you can see how this works by logging into your member’s area and reviewing the FTA program Advancement table located on the Announcements page. Here you can see the funds we will make available to you as you progress through the levels as well as the minimum earnings you will be able to actually pocket. You are also welcome to participate in the ExoticFX.net plans at any time or no time throughout your association with the FTA program.

13. When you refer family and friends, is there a problem if the same IP address is being used? Some programs allow it, others do not.

We have no problem if you use the same IP to refer family members and friends. It is, however, against the rules to self-refer. If accounts are setup to simply acquire the referral fees available via either program, we will eliminate the accounts.

14. Will you be able to provide marketing strategies for the FTA program? Not everyone knows how to market and get people to join.

Absolutely. In fact, we have recently sent out a solicitation for those that have developed the science of Affiliate Marketing to assist us in putting together an entire program designed around this very issue. You can read more about that by clicking here.

15. If there is a test given to see if you have understood the training and you fail the test, how many times can you retake that test?

You can take the test as often as you like. Understand this: We are building a Forex Empire and we want you to be successful. You becoming successful is what will propel our program to a never before achieved height. Once we have developed a number of successful graduates, we will eliminate the FREE part of the program and begin marketing it. At that point there will be no test other than the progression required as outlined on the Advancement table located in your FTA member’s account.

16. Is your website protected from hackers? How safe are your members’ funds? I can only imagine the type of security your website would need, considering how much opportunity is being offered. How long do you intend to be around?

There is not another program anywhere, including the ecurrencies we accept, that is more secure than we are. Surely you can see from all that we have and are doing that we are designed to endure indefinitely. This question is kind of like asking Bill Gates when he first started how long he planned on being around.

17. Is the success of ExoticFX dependent on the success of your FTA program?

Now this is a really good question. If our FTA program were to be unsuccessful (and it won’t, who doesn’t want to trade and profit from other people’s money?), then we would have to say yes. We are not interested in running a simple HYIP. That is not the goal.

18. I agree with recent comments about the expenditure of time spent with people withdrawing miniscule amounts of money. Wouldn’t it be advantageous to all participants to have a higher minimum deposit and a higher minimum withdrawal?

Sure it would. Those changes are actually scheduled to be implemented later this week.

19. Any idea when the option of bank wires will be available? We dislike going through payment processors with all their fees. If and when you put bank wires in operation, is there going to be a connection with a US Bank for people who don’t bank at an international bank?

Bank wires will be an option once the Trading Room is online. This will happen sometime later this year. Yes, there will be a US Banking connection available.

20. What is your vision on how ExoticFX will be 5 years from now according to today’s marketing and economical adversities panorama?

Our time line looks something like this:

New Website and Trading Room online – 6 months

FTA Program first phase invitees – 8 months

Last FREE phase FTA invitees – 18 months

Initial Fee driven FTA programs implemented – 12 months

Full FTA Fee driven program implementation – 2013

1000 annual graduates achieved by 5 years

And then we begin exponential growth

21. Are ExoticFX.net and ExoticFX.org two separate entities? Is it possible to create some sort of “single sign on page” which takes you to a central page where you can access your account, the forum, and the blog without having to login to all of these?

No, they aren’t two separate entities. However, we have maintained their separation for security purposes. The blog allows us to communicate in the event ExoticFX.net is ever offline. The FTA program handles no financial transactions at this point and it was easier to also have it separate due to the heavy FLASH laden website at .net. The new website will combine the .net and .org entities but the blog will remain separate.

22. Maybe I’ve overlooked something, but is there some sort of tracking system telling you about the progress you’re making? For instance: how could you tell if someone actually started the Quick Start program after signing up for FTA? Also, a tracking system might be handy for members so they know where they stand and what they have to improve.

Full tracking will be implemented into the new website. Those that are interested in the FTA programs need to read the Requirements as outlined here.

23. With the Quick Start guide, the video tutorials and the 153 pages of theory and all the e-mails, is there some sort of roadmap available telling what path you have to take to actually become a forex day trader?

Once again, this is Pre-Release. It is perhaps not as organized as some of you feel comfortable with. Those that are ill at ease with what has been made available are free to disregard it. We are not here to attract everyone, only those astute enough to realize that out of what may appear as chaos to some will rise a massive opportunity. It takes time. The first steps for those of you with no experience should be to read the ebook, open a demo account and put to work the Quick Start strategies. More definition will be delivered as it is developed.

24. I need a dependable source of income over the next several years to finance a work related project. Can I depend on ExoticFX to stay around and to continue to earn forex income over the next 5 years?

The answer is simply yes. Whether you want to rely on ExoticFX or become a forex trader, we are going to be here ensuring the success of both.”

OK, guys. Sorry if this appears to end somewhat abruptly but as I said at the start this was quite a lengthy session so in order to keep it more readable and more effective I’m splitting it into two installments. Thanks a lot to Charles as well of course and I must say I was impressed with how fast he managed to not only deal with every question but to deal with them so comprehensively while keeping the same level of straight talking clarity we have come to expect from him.

Make sure to tune in tomorrow for part two, everyone. See you all then!