CFTC v. Advanced Trading Workshop (2016)
Settled
Checked against the primary document on October 2, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.
In 2016, the CFTC issued a settled order against Advanced Trading Workshop, Inc. (later renamed Sniper Scalping, Inc.) for fraudulently soliciting clients to buy access to an online futures "trade room" by claiming its trader traded live when he only simulated trades, and for failing to register as a commodity trading advisor. It was ordered to pay $470,000 in disgorgement and a $470,000 penalty.
The record
| Agency | CFTC |
|---|---|
| Release number | 7453-16 |
| Date filed | 2016-09-27 |
| Date resolved | 2016-09-27 |
| Status | settled |
| Asset class | futures |
| Criminal parallel | No |
| Defendants | Advanced Trading Workshop, Inc. |
| Techniques |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- $470k
- Disgorgement
- $470k
- Prejudgment interest
- —
- Total relief
- $940k
- Alleged gain
- —
What is alleged to have happened
the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced this matter on September 27, 2016 as release 7453-16. The respondent named is Advanced Trading Workshop, Inc. of Jamesville, New York, which changed its name to Sniper Scalping, Inc. in November 2013. The order finds that from August 2012 to at least June 2013 the firm sold six-month access to a "Real Time Trade Room" for about $4,995 to $7,500, telling clients its trader traded futures live when he only simulated trades and had never profited, and acted as an unregistered commodity trading advisor. It orders $470,000 disgorgement, a $470,000 penalty and permanent trading, solicitation and registration bans.
The record was tagged newsletter scalping because the company's later name contains the word "scalping", which is a style of short-term futures trading. Nothing in the order alleges a recommendation made while secretly selling, so the tag is removed and no other technique fits.
For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.
Timeline
- 2016-09-27 CFTC release published
Primary documents
Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.