Working at Integra FX Trading — Reviews by Employees

Everything at Integra is geared towards making successful currency traders. The concepts taught in the training class carry over to the daily webinars where Rich continues to teach, and give trade recommendations, and share his thoughts about the markets. Both rookies and veterans have access to the same market info i.e. computers, software, dealing systems, email and text alerts, and most importantly Rich. It is a level playing field. What makes it uneven is the ability of the traders to follow the techniques and strategies taught. Those that do, do well.

It is very rare when you can meet and learn from someone like Rich in any field or industry. So the mere fact that he shares his time and knowledge is truly valuable.

Who bestowed among this guy Rich a "top-ranking"? As far as I can tell, the title is self-proclaimed. If he's in Forbes or Entrepreneur magazines, on CNBC or in the WS Journal, I could see someone paying $5k, maybe; even then I would remain skeptical.
Education and training is reserved for colleges and universities. Anything outside of that has no credibility as far as I or the rest of relevant and successful Wall Street firms are concerned. Rich is merely hyping up these young enthusiastic people with classic salesmanship. It saddens me to see a young man who just graduated college, in one case a gradated law student, throw his and his parents money and time away to become a forex "trader".
The only people who make money in trading are investment banks who leverage themselves and engage in proprietary trading - hundreds of millions of dollars at a time - and they cannot be beat at their own game by some pimple faced, smart ass 23 year old in Delray Beach.
If you still think this is a great opportunity, only one of two possible explanations exists. Either Rich is very brilliant (I guarantee you he wouldn't be doing this if he wasn't making great money) or, I'm sorry to say, you are a hopeless idiot. More than likely, it's a healthy mixture of both ingredients!
Good luck to you all.

I'm not been funny, but these guys are nothing more than failed traders ! why would you lose the $4k/5k ? because you cant trade thats why ! simple, draw a line in the sand, end of story, Rich and the people at integra try everyway they can to help make you profitable, from setting up a service that allows you to see riches trades, to begging people to communicate to share trade signals at all hours of the day including night ! DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THEY DONT WANT A ROOM FULL OF SUCCESSSFUL TRADERS MAKING THEM MONEY ?????? GIVE ME A BREAK YOU IDIOTS !!!!! Where in the world can anyone actually sit and learn from a top retired wall street trader/ hedge fund manager !? doesnt happen and I dont care what you say, the few dollars it costs to get involved is 100% better than the shit that is all over the internet from marketeers selling there wares who have NEVER traded in there lives, yet still charge newbies thousands for there so called knowledge ! . Make up your own mind, PLEASE dont listen to the failed bitching trader babies on this website. Ask yourself why anyone would be on here trash talking if they could actually trade ! EVERYONE of these people slagging integra and rich off are FAILED TRADERS. If you want to learn sound trading methods that DO make money and will give you a brilliant foundation for your trading future then please give interga a look and pay NO attention to any of these idiots on here. I promise NOT ONE of them will be successful traders, rather a bunch of moaning failures who blame others because they cant stick to a plan/methods, and dont have the dedication required to be a success. I'm an integra trader and proud of it. If anyone would like to send me an email so that we can hook up on the phone etc and I can give my honest opinion then please feel free. Mark Chapman fxpipsondemand@googlemail.com notice how very few of the poeple slagging integra off ever leave there details. Please dont listen to any of these halfwits ! use your own brain and make up your own mind. Many thanks.

I honestly can't believe anyone would ever trust going to work with a group that has the reputation Integra FX has. Not to mention all the terrible reviews on this site. Integra IS NOT a trading firm. I am a veteran trader with NYC connections, who did some investigating of Integra and came to the conclusion these guys are full of crap. Rich is a trader who has blown out before and who ran into financial problems last year when several backers pulled their capital. They don't really have any capital to truly back anyone. They make money off their brokerage up-charges and the fee they charge people to enter their class. If you want to "PAY" to learn how to trade from these guys, go ahead, take it for what it is. You may learn something about trading, but not nearly enough to be successful or profitable. Definitely not worth $5,000! Learning to trade takes years, not weeks. No professional trader will ever divulge his trading secrets.....EVER. This business is set up to lure inexperienced people off the street who have no clue about the business. Its a predatory business. If you want to learn about trading get a job on Wall St. The biggest financial companies in the world seek the most intelligent people in the world because you have to have an aptitude for trading, not a $5,000 check made out to a bunch of clowns operating out of South Florida.
I also wouldn't fall for the positive reviews on here. Probably written by Rich himself, or his secretary.
Stay away!! You are barking up the wrong tree with these guys!

I joined IntegraFX three and half months ago, after doing my due diligence on several options for starting a career in FX trading. I had been in the financial services industry for over 35 years. Over that time I ran a financial services company and was a financial services partner at one of the top consulting firms, working with many of the top investment banking, banking and related firms. I say this not as a boast, but just to give you some context for what follows.

I never traded professionally before joining IntegraFX - a true newbie - and I was looking for an opportunity to learn and be mentored, which is the only way to grow to be a professional trader. As you probably know if you're reading this, everyone and his brother offers to help you trade FX. Most make it sound so easy to be successful. It is not easy to trade successfully. It takes sound trading strategies, a clear understanding of both market psychology and your own psychological strengths and weaknesses, ongoing training and ongoing mentoring - whatever you do, don't trade alone!

IntegraFX offers a unique opportunity to become a professional trader, but it takes time. If you believe you can approach this market as a 'cowboy', investing little time and effort and expecting huge profits, you're setting yourself up for a big fall. Some of the comments on this site come from novice traders that did not really understand what it takes to succeed in this business. If you see FX trading as they did, please go do something else - you'll save yourself a lot of pain and heartache, a lot of frustration and a lot of time and money.

But, if you want a career with huge upside potential, you're trainable, and you're willing to invest time and effort, IntegraFX offers a truly unique environment to achieve your dreams. It is the only firm led by one of the top currency and options traders in the world. It has added a core of very experienced traders to a group of over 80 relative newbies like myself. And, every one of these experienced traders is available everyday to provide advise and counsel. We have 2 webinars every day to help position us for what the market is offering. We have ongoing seminars covering various technical and fundamental trading topics. We can go to any of these traders whenever we have a trade idea we wish to discuss. We have set up teams with more experienced team leaders who mentor us, review our trades with us to help us understand what we have done right, and to learn how to do it better next time.

If you think about it, it took tremendous courage, creativity and foresight to create a trading firm/trader training program that blends years and years of successful trading experience with a large number of novice traders. There is nothing like it it available anywhere else. If you are serious about FX trading as a career, IntegraFX is the place to build a strong foundation for successful FX trading.

Do your own due diligence - look at the opportunities, talk to a lot of people, spend time in their trading room, ask questions. Call me, if you like (561-558-4870). Good luck.

With no previous experience as a trader I began my training at Integra five months ago. I was a bit hesitant about paying for the training, unsure whether there was a potential to become a trader who makes money. I heard of the day- traders who believe the promotions that state they can learn quickly to trade, open an account and make thousands monthly . Usually, they lose all their money after having a few small profits that keep them trading and risking their money as the trading platform makes its commissions.

I knew that If I wanted a new career as a trader I would need to be taught and mentored, probably at an investment firm or bank. I did not realise that training is available to those who cannot gain entry to the training programs at the major investment banks. I have worked in a business consulting think-tank, as a lawyer and a partner in a private equity firm. I know the industry and its realities. I have many friends and relatives who work on Wall Street as bond, equity, commodity and currency traders and many as investment bankers. Many spent their entire lives in this industry. I was told about Integra and the head trader and teacher Richard Scalone. I researched him. My contacts told me that the opportunity to learn from him is rare and extraordinary.

After meeting Rich Scalone I made up my mind immediately to make the commitment. I don't regret it, in any way. I found him honest, enthusiastic and genuine. My impression was that he was typical of the hardworking self-made "what you see is what you get" New Yorkers all over Wall Street that built careers by hard work. I was told that I might not make any money for months. I was told that it would be a lot of work and concentration but I would be tutored, mentored and supported for as long as I continued to apply myself and worked hard to build a career.

After the week-long course I was given a place at a trading desk and a demonstration account looking at trading screens for the first time in my life. I sat alongside other recent students with about 6 months of experience. All were enthusiastic, hard workers and a lot of fun to be around, joking about their bad trades, sharing their good ones. I was amazed that all day long Rich had a semi-circle of students constantly interrupting his trading to ask questions or to suggest trades and getting a full explanation from Rich of the potential of each trade. For the first time in many years I jump out of bed at 6am to get here. It is a great environment. A lot of hard work and concentration but I love it.

I had the demo account and now a live account on my home PC and trade the Asian and London markets at night. Then and now, if I have a question I can call Rich at night, any time. Traders wake him, often at 2am to alert him to a great trade. Text messages are exchanged with him and other traders, all night long.

My account is positive, the most I have lost, since beginning is less than $200. Another student who took the class 2 months ago recently told me that profits are " a few hundred a day". The reason for this was: " I follow Rich's rules, it works"

Students who were here, and failed, did so because they did not follow those rules, did not put on trades, did not work hard and concentrate. But they were not told to leave. Every effort is made to help them succeed, but there has to be a limit to how much time effort and money is spent on someone who fails at following both trading rules, reccomendations and advice. The opportunity to make a six or seven figure income is here for those who are willing to apply themselves. The adage " you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink" applies here.

If you look at trader help sites and blogs they will tell you what to expect from trading firms who train and support traders. Every requirement listed you will find here. I know the industry. I did the research. I invested in Rich. I am here. I am staying.

You will not make money working here. No one has ever received a paycheck. This is only for those who can afford to lose money.

OK, guys, so I guess that, according to prior posts, I fall into one of the following 3 categories:

1) I am one of the poor suckers who was scammed into giving my $5000 to IntegraFX
2) I have a vested interest in beefing up the reputation of IntegraFX on these boards even though I know it's a scam
Or
3) I am a genuinely objective new trader at IntegraFX who has just completed their course and is now sitting side by side with the head trader and learning a ton.

You guys can all believe what you want, but I will tell you where I fall and then I will give you my completely 100% honest take on IntegraFX and it's owners.

I fall into #3. I have spent the last 12 years out of college either working on or for wall street with banks and hedge funds. I was a financial advisor, an institutional sell side trader, then I recruited traders, analysts, and PM's to hedge funds and banks, and most recently back into trading equities and now FX under Rich Scalone at IntegraFX.

I have worked with top banks and hedge funds and small ones. I DEFINITELY had my doubts before my first meeting with IntegraFX, due to what I read on jobvent as well as my general cynicism (sp?) about these type of setups.

However, I think I am a pretty good judge of character, and after meeting Les and Rich, I believe I made the right choice by aligning myself with them. They seem like great guys, and more importantly, HONEST guys and Rich is a great trader. I have watched him trade every day now for over 2 weeks. He is consistently profitable, knows a ton about the markets (more than most of us will ever dream to) and he is a master of technical analysis and risk:return/trade management.

Between sitting near him every day, and the course I just completed I can tell you that I have learned more about trading methodologies, risk management, and market psycology in the last 2+ weeks then I have in my 12 prior years of wall street experience. Do you think it is a ripoff to learn how a master trader looks at and employs trend lines, fibonacci retracements, elliot waves, correlations and risk management in order to build a consistently profitable trading career? Do you think it is a ripoff to then,. after learning all of this from a master trader, to have him constantly at your disposal to ask questions, hear continuous market updates and insight from him, and have real time help with trade management?

If so, then I guess paying $5000 for the above is not for you. For me, personally, even if I do not succeed at Integra, I will not say that it is because Integra is a scam. It will be because I did not follow these very powerful concepts that were taught to me and I blew myself up...and that is what I suspect happened to several of the previous negative posters on these boards.

Who cares if they take your $5000 and use it as a backstop to make up for your trading losses once you start trading real money? All I know is that I paid $5000 and I got my money's worth and then some...I was taught by and continue to have intimate access to a decorated and profitable trader who has taken countless hours out of his days to help me learn to trade properly since I have been here. Time is money, guys and Rich has definitely met and exceeded my expectations for the amount of time I would expect him to spend teaching me for my 5k.

At the end of the day, its a business, and they have to protect themselves...if they turn you live, and you SUCK, they should turn you off and put you back on demo until you can trade the right way. What would you have them do, let you continue to trade against their methodologies, lose all their money and put them out of business? I mean...really...

Riddle me this. what do you think they would want more?:

1) to take your 5k, lie to you, scam you, then fire you and never make another penny out of you again, also while completely ruining their personal and professional reputations?

OR

2) take your 5k as payment for their services, help turn you into a wildly profitable trader, up your buying power and start splitting profits with you as you start earning 10k+ per month for the next 5-10 years?

It stands to reason that they would want scenario #2 since not only do they make infinitely MORE money off of you, but they preserve their repuations as people and as a business,

Trading is a tough business, guys...probably only 5%-10% of people who try to make a career out of it fail...thats not Integra's fault...thats just fact. So you are going to have people who come here in hopes of becoming profitable traders that dont have the fortitude or what it takes to follow EXACTLY what they teach you and fail miserably...

That might happen to me...I doubt it because I believe in myself, but who knows...but one thing is for sure, I wont blame them if that happens...they are sticking to their end of the bargain.

I walk into a nice, professinal office each day

I sit near some good traders

I get constant help when I need it

I have use of their computers, trading and charting systems

I get treated with respect

I am being set up for success. It's on me if I fail, not them.

If I am profitable, and supposed to receive a check from them in the coming months, and they dont pay me...well THEN I will call this a scam and Ill be sure to come back on here and let you guys know...but I seriously do not see that happening...I really dont. They put SO much effort into trying to make everyone into a profitable trader...if they succeed, well the profits that they can make from PAYING YOU when you earn it WAY outwiegh the profits from one small up month and never paying you and then losing your business after you take you newly found profitablility to another firm who will pay you...think about it...also, after having gotten to know Rich and Les I doubt it. Take this as you wish, but Im not a pumper or a scammer...im just calling it as I see it.

I am a hedge fund investor and at one point we had money with Rich Scalone. Not much, but it was just to test him out. He has blown up once for sure, and I am pretty sure a second time so the ones referring to him as having a good reputation are mistaken. He would sell options, he might put on some funky structures and spreads to help it look like it was less risky but at the end of the day he is short gamma and short volatility. You can make money doing that, but the thing is there is going to be some violent moves that wipe you out. Nothing against him, but if he was very profitable he would still be running a lot of money not teaching guys off of the street

Integra FX takes anyone off the street who pays $5,000 for their course, so I don't see how people can be upset about not getting "hired' by them. Then offer no salary, no benefits, you sign no contracts, and they fire you after you've burned through $2,000 of the $5,000 you've payed to take the course. You can always put more money in an account after you've blown out, but you can do that anywhere. They really don't hire anyone.