Investors Underground
Overview
Investors Underground (IU) is Nathan Michaud's day trading chatroom and education platform, focused on momentum and short-selling strategies in US equities. Michaud is a veteran day trader with a long public track record of live trading sessions — he executes trades in real time while chatroom members watch. The chatroom format means this is not a traditional signal service with structured alerts; it's a live trading environment where experienced traders share ideas and newer traders learn by observation.
How It Works
The core product is the live chatroom, active during US market hours. Nathan Michaud and a team of moderators trade in real time, calling out entries, exits, and analysis as the trading day unfolds. Members can see the reasoning behind each trade as it happens — this is live execution with live commentary, not pre-written alerts.
The educational component includes a video course library covering Michaud's core strategies: momentum long trading (buying stocks with strong intraday moves), short selling (profiting from overextended stocks reversing), and VWAP-based strategies (using volume-weighted average price as a reference for mean-reversion trades). The education is oriented toward active day traders who monitor positions in real time.
Signal clarity suffers compared to structured alert services because the chatroom format is inherently messier — ideas are shared conversationally, not in a standardised format with entry, stop, and target. Experienced members extract value from the discussion; newer members can find it overwhelming to follow multiple conversations and identify actionable trades.
The $297/quarter pricing reflects the chatroom-plus-education bundle. You're paying for access to the room, the course library, and the community — not for a structured signal feed.
Performance Analysis
The live trading sessions are the primary verification mechanism. Michaud trades with real money on screen, and the results are visible in real time. This is stronger than self-reported results but weaker than independently audited competition results or broker-verified third-party tracking.
Michaud's specialty — day trading momentum stocks and short selling overextended moves — requires specific skills that not all members will develop. The performance of the lead traders in the chatroom doesn't necessarily reflect the performance of the average member. Day trading has one of the highest failure rates of any trading style, and most academic studies show that the majority of day traders lose money.
Subscriber feedback splits along experience lines. Experienced day traders who join IU for community and idea flow report high satisfaction — the quality of discussion and the calibre of traders in the room are consistently praised. Newer traders who join expecting to learn day trading from scratch report a steeper learning curve than expected, with some losing money before the education clicks.
The honest assessment: IU is an excellent community for existing day traders and a challenging but potentially rewarding educational environment for serious beginners. It's a poor choice for anyone expecting passive signal-following income.
Strengths
- Nathan Michaud is a veteran day trader with years of publicly visible live trading — genuine transparency
- Chatroom community includes experienced traders sharing high-quality ideas in real time during market hours
- Education library covers momentum trading, short selling, and VWAP strategies in depth
- Live trading format means you see the reasoning and execution happen simultaneously — powerful for learning
- Quarterly pricing at $297 (~$99/month) is competitive for the day trading education category
- Strong short-selling coverage — a skill set rarely taught well elsewhere
Weaknesses
- Not a structured signal service — chaotic chatroom format makes it hard for newer members to identify actionable trades
- Day trading requires full-time screen commitment during market hours — not suitable for part-time traders
- Signal clarity score is low because ideas are shared conversationally, not in standardised entry/stop/target format
- Day trading has among the highest failure rates in trading — the majority of participants historically lose money
- Risk management guidance is informal — embedded in chatroom discussion rather than systematically structured
- Equities-only with no coverage of forex, futures, options, or crypto markets
Pricing & Value
At $297/quarter (~$99/month), IU sits in the mid-premium range for day trading education. The quarterly pricing encourages longer commitment, which makes sense given that day trading education takes months to produce results.
For comparison: Bear Bull Traders (#24) offers a similar chatroom format at $99-199/month. Warrior Trading (Ross Cameron, #79) charges $197/month. Premium day trading education from prop firms like TopstepTrader (#21) costs $165-375/month. IU's pricing is competitive within this category.
The value proposition depends on usage. Active daily participants who engage with the chatroom and education library get substantial value. Subscribers who check in occasionally get very little — the chatroom's value is in real-time participation, not after-the-fact review.
How It Compares
Against Bear Bull Traders (#24), which operates a very similar format (Andrew Aziz's chatroom with VWAP and ORB strategies), the comparison comes down to trading style preference. IU has more focus on short selling and momentum; BBT has more focus on VWAP and opening range breakout strategies. Both are legitimate day trading communities with veteran lead traders.
Against trade alert services like Vector Ridge (#1) or Oliver Kell (#4), IU is a completely different product. Those services send structured signals for swing trading. IU provides a live day trading environment. The time commitment is dramatically different — IU requires screen time during market hours; signal services require minutes per day.
Against the practice of day trading independently, IU adds community, idea flow, and educational support. Whether that's worth $99/month depends on whether the community accelerates your learning and improves your results enough to cover the cost.
The key question: are you a day trader (or aspiring day trader) who benefits from community engagement during market hours? If yes, IU is one of the best rooms available. If you want structured, set-and-forget signals, this isn't the product.
Who Is This For?
Active or aspiring day traders who want a live trading community with experienced lead traders, real-time idea sharing, and a strong educational foundation in momentum and short-selling strategies. Best for traders who can dedicate full market hours to screen time and who learn well in interactive, community environments.
Not ideal for part-time traders, swing traders, anyone wanting structured set-and-forget signals, options or forex traders, or beginners who aren't prepared for the steep learning curve and high failure rate of day trading.
Our Verdict
Investors Underground earns #17 as one of the best day trading chatrooms available, with the caveat that it's a community and education platform rather than a signal service. Nathan Michaud's live trading transparency and the quality of the chatroom community are its core strengths.
The lower ranking relative to its quality reflects the mismatch between chatroom format and signal service evaluation criteria. IU scores poorly on signal clarity because signals aren't structured — they're embedded in live discussion. That doesn't mean the quality is poor; it means the delivery format doesn't suit traders who want clean, actionable alerts.
For serious day traders willing to invest the time, IU provides a calibre of community and education that justifies the cost. For everyone else, the structured signal services ranked above will serve you better.