Blotto
Registered: Jan 2010
Posts: 535 |
05-25-13 02:07 PM
Quote from MattSF:
You've not denied anything specific. Here and the Gekko thread you attempt to come off as this guy with a superior return when you've not made any money from trading since leaving Schonfeld.
Opportunity for personal growth here, for all involved. First, I don't get the Livermore references. Interesting life for sure, but a cautionary tale rather than a model to emulate for speculators...
I can relate to where you're coming from as the ET member "NoDoji" brought out the absolute worst in me - the guru persona when it was clear what she didn't know about markets. So you're popping up to give the other side of the story when you perceive someone is either boasting or is presenting an image which isn't 100% accurate and will be used to sucker in newbies, or worse, investors.
However, is this really an accurate view where RM is concerned? First, the allegation about looking for a backer; investors must do their own due diligence. People can buy and sell what they please, a little self responsibility is a good thing. The universal truth about people who are "duped" by bad investments is that they fool themselves. Greed and sloth. So why not rely on actual and potential investors to sniff out any problems if RM is really looking for backers? I'd suggest you don't have any direct knowledge of his P&L, or whether he is actively attempting to raise capital. RM's mentioned Last Atlantis to me, I don't think its any secret or something a diligent potential investor would miss.
RM has been very frank about some of his personal issues and shortcomings, including some past blowups, and issues with overtrading. Further, his calls here and how he describes the market give all the information we need to work out how good a trader he is (and where his weaknesses are). Sure, I thought the long ES calls position was a shocker (based on how I understand this phase of the market) and told him so, but he explained his reasoning so why continue to bring it up? People can judge for themselves whether it was a wise decision or not, but the call was still profitable overall as well as many others which have been posted here.
In fact, I only mentioned it as I was interested in how people viewed this part of the market cycle, and how likely it was that the market could have gone all the way back up the following day. RM gave his view that it could do either/or, hence the insurance. That isn't something I happen to agree with, but horses for courses. I didn't bring it up to take the piss out of someone for having a losing leg of a trade. I suspect that is how you have come across.
I don't think either of us should appoint ourselves arbiter of the "correct" motives for posting calls, and the value readers may obtain from this thread is not altered whether the motivation is pure altruism or blatant boasting. I don't need people to give me market calls, but RMs contributions here have provided me immense value in terms of insight into psychology and human behaviour - both through RMs contributions and the way others react to him.
I agree with you that some of the people who posted don't know RM beyond a nickname on an online forum, and also may not know sufficient about trading that you or I would value their opinion. However, their motivations appear honourable in defending someone they perceive as honest, successful, and generous against what they perceive is an ungentlemanly personal attack motivated by sour grapes.
So in summary, I don't think there is any evidence RM has done anything dishonest, potential investors need to have the savvy to look out for themselves, and ET readers should find their own voice instead of wanting to listen to gurus - but can still give kudos for a rare public demonstration of trading skill, and perhaps learn something from the experience overall.
I don't think any of us has all the facts (save for RM and perhaps MattSF) but it is nevertheless an interesting exercise to observe how people interact and their varied motives. Plenty of lessons here. And in my limited experience of talking with RM occasionally over the last few years I've never uncovered any hints of dishonesty - in fact nothing but polite, thoughtful, intelligent discourse. But I'm not looking for a guru to follow or someone to trade my capital - so it is entirely possible my perception of RM is different to others.
Also, RM provides a great (and rare) service to newbies who are suffering from "four minute mile" syndrome and need some proof that it is possible for an independent trader to take millions out of the market. Regardless of how his story ends or what personal problems he may struggle with in his trading and personal life, for a time he was doing exactly that. Perhaps a little compassion would be helpful here?
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