qxr1011 you are absolutely correct. Back then (somewhere around 1999, 2000), there was some b/s stock OMKT (Open Market). I don't even know what it was, but I did pretty well on it. During that time, I used to sometimes look at the posts on Raging Bull. I'm sure a few were good advise, but I expect most were just pumping their position. I remember there was some guy who bought OMKT in the $60's based on the stuff people posted there. A few weeks or months later, he was threatening to kill himself because he said he lost all his money on it. I'm guessing he bought it on margin because it had not gone to 0 at that time. At least trading platforms are better now. Back then, we were trading with Datek Online using a 56k modem. Stocks could move a long way before your order even reached the market. You'd never ever use a market order. I still never do although I remember Smartmoney showed me how to play a dead cat bounce on a big gap down and it worked. I think we put in market buy orders at the open. Been a long time so I could be incorrect. Jump right into the buzz saw and make a profit real quick.
Well a lot of stuff better now, since more completion in the market opened the doors for smaller commissions, better platforms etc, etc. But all those possibilities did not change one thing: neither public, nor so called carrier traders do not know how to trade....
trading from work via Datek.... awful! It would log me out randomly... and the bosses hated traders, go figure. I was trying to get chart providers to give me daily bars that updated intraday and they couldn't figure out who would want that...
LOL! I was called into human resources and reprimanded for trading at lunch time with a portable quotrek machine--- worked for an insurance company-- man, they HATED traders. surf
I think the peak of elitetrader was in the early 2000s. You had some real top notch guys like praetorian2(Harris Kupperman) posting their trades in detail and plenty of drama from the journal entries of Hitman. Its been a slow fade ever since.
I'm still reading and participating a bit. I'd forgotten about Hitman and that whole debacle. I've met just about all my trader friends here. My favorite moments include the very big days in 2008/2009 put up by some of the members.