There’s a vast difference between traders and investors, although both have the same goal: to make money in the markets. An investor typically has a longer-term perspective when she or he makes basic judgments about the growth opportunities. By definition, a trader takes a much shorter-term view of investment opportunities, sometimes getting in and out of investments on a daily or even hourly basis.

Traders typically try to find patterns in the movements of stocks or futures, and exploit what they see as “signals” given by those patterns to get in and out and back into a position. They’re not as concerned about the fundamentals of the investment as they are about market gyrations.

I think the vast majority of people who read my columns belong in the category of long-term investors, using individual stocks or mutual funds to build wealth slowly over time. But if you’re one of those people who are attracted to trading stocks, options or futures, you owe it to yourself to learn some skills and do your homework. And now you can do that easily from the comfort of your own home or office.

The Wealth365 Summit is a week-long series of free online trading seminars that will give you wide exposure to advisers who consider themselves successful traders. This online event runs from January 21 through January 26, and details, schedules and registration can be found at www.Wealth365.com/pass.

The Wealth365 Summit is the creation of Rob Hoffman, who calls it “the largest online investing, wealth and business entrepreneurship summit in the world.”

Hoffman is more than just an entrepreneur. He’s the winner of some of the world’s most prestigious trading contests — where real money is at risk. His bio states, “Rob has won more onsite, real money only, international and domestic trading competitions than anyone else in the entire world.” It’s quite a brag, but in 2018 he won the international trading championship at the Salon du Trading in Paris, and he made the most money at the IT Forum Live Trading Challenge in Rimini, Italy.

Hoffman also operates his own website, BecomeABetterTrader.com, which features free tools as well as a paid video newsletter with his trading ideas.

But with the Wealth365 Summit, Hoffman is trying to broaden the opportunities for ordinary investors to learn about trading stocks, options, futures and forex. The weeklong event features seminars by more than 70 professional traders/speakers, each with a distinct approach to trading the markets.

This is the fifth Wealth365 seminar held since January 2018. More than 100,000 people have registered to attend previous sessions, and Hoffman says interest is growing as the program is now widely advertised.

Hoffman’s own teaching session will take place online on January 25 at 11 a.m. EST. Among the other presenters will be Ralph Acampora, often referred to as the “godfather of technical analysis,” who will give an online seminar on trading stocks, options and ETFs on January 21 at 9 a.m. EST. The entire calendar of programs can be viewed online at www.Wealth365.com/pass.

Since the entire program is free, I asked Hoffman how he makes money on the deal, and how the presenters are compensated. He explained there are paid corporate sponsorships and VIP memberships to the summit, which give viewers access to recordings of the current and past programs and access to advanced trading programs. This membership currently costs $47 per month. Some speakers also offer paid subscriptions to products and services they demonstrate during their presentations.

I’ve always viewed trading success as much like athletic prowess — you have to be born with some special gifts. But even a natural athlete needs to learn skills from a good coach. Here’s your chance to see if you have what it takes to be a successful trader. That’s The Savage Truth.