John Forman, author of The Essentials of Trading, addresses some prudent points on how to think about resources for your trading education and development.

While there are many free resources, John challenges you to think about what it means to pay for a resource.

In his recent blog post “Good, Free Trading Resources,“  John mentions a couple of sites that are of benefit to developing traders.  I wanted to call attention to a couple of points he makes as well:

“The question is one of value, though. The old saying “You get what you pay for” holds true in trading resources as it does in everything else. Keep very much in mind that there is a reason things are free.”

“Also, what you get out of something must come into consideration when determining what you pay for it.”

“[Institutional traders] understand they are investing their money with the expectation of a positive return. [Retail/at-home traders] think instead of cost and expense without considering the value of what they receive in return.”

Furthermore, John pursues this line of thinking much deeper in his cleverly titled post “When Free Isn’t - and When Paying Makes More Sense.”

It is a lengthy article, but includes sections entitled

What’s the Value
Time Isn’t Money - It’s More Valuable!
Getting the Most of it All
Knowing What You Need

I’ve been guilty of these notions, in thinking “Well, it seems expensive, and so I shouldn’t go for it” or “What can I get for free?!” or the like.  I’ve found that the best benefit comes from interaction and structured learning.  An author or educator who spent a considerable amount of time developing a lesson, product, or service will naturally offer their information (or tools) for a reasonable fee, while those that throw something together hastily will not.

Ask yourself which option will benefit you more and give you more of a potential information edge against other market participants.