RE> For example, my decision to go with IB was made easier by the fact that many of the comments were from 'contributing' members and as such held some weight in my mind. In this case the broker ratings helped me in my decision making. On the other hand, I didn't see one comment (good or bad) about Bright, from a contributing member (apart from Don's). Therefor, in the Bright case, the broker rating would be of no use to me whatsoever in my decision making. Very good analysis Macal...I noticed the same thing in the broker ratings area........just hought it might be an aberation. Good trading all..... mrktwiz
What does that say about new members? Their ratings and opinions are worthless? Why join EliteTrader if your contributions will carry no weight until you've built up an arbitrary quantity of posts? I hate to say it, but some of us don't have all day to rack up the post totals like some of the more active members of this site.
JK9, It's the difference between taking advice from a stranger you've just met on the street and taking advice from an old friend. Is the stranger's opinion worthless? Not necessarily by any means. But is it taken with the same trust, given the same credibility as someone who has established a track record? Of course not. And I don't mean "racking up posts", I'm referring to the content of posts over time.
Don't get your feelings ruffled......all Macal and I were pointing out was the ratings and how they came about <note this part> ***"In the Broker Ratings area"*** This was the only area we were pointing out (one) specific aberation where many of the postings were by absolutly new members who had not posted before......obvioulsy it could be manipulation by either the brokers (who sponsor this site and you should realize get preferential treatment by the moderators) or by people who (for whatever reason and I count myself as a opinionated poster too) defend or want to shead the most positive light on their "choice" of Brokers in this one section ..............thats all we were both discussing. W/o new posters (like yourself) it would be a bunch of similar minds just posting endlesslly...wait thats exactly whats going on! PLEASE we do need new blood, hope we didn;t offend none was meant. mrktwiz
I know specifically who a couple of the "raters" were at the time, and when a firm gets as big as ours, we are sure to ruffle a few feathers from time to time. 2 people apologized and had their posts taken down (I didn't ask). When people have traded themselves into a gigantic hole, and have to be asked to leave, or if they have not followed through on agreements, then we must ask them to leave....nothing more to it than that. Don
To me, yes a members opinion is worthless when he/she has made only one post to broker ratings, either good or bad. If I see one more post from that person that is not either overly praising or criticizing a broker/service then that persons opinion will start carrying some more weight. This is my way of filtering out the spam, and is not a criticism on new members. Heck myself, mrktwiz and Magna were new members once. JK9, if you were to look at the Bright broker ratings, would you honestly say that it is an accurate view of their company, based on the fact that every post is from one post members. If you think it is then you would have to believe every one post spam message that comes on ET.
Blackjack can be beat, roulette can't....(doesn't mean it's not fun however). It's just more fun when you win at something. don
Folks. A lot of people are driven to post on ET for the very first time because of an issue they feel strongly about. Otherwise, many would not post at all. If their first post is therefore critical we can only speculate on their real intent. But wholesale disregard of their comments is not always intelligent. Often if even one important piece of truth is uncovered in an otherwise unpalatable post, it means that the post has added some degree of value. All I'm saying isâ¦lend credence to the old farts , but give the youngsters a chance!!
I had my rating of Bright Trading removed because Don private messaged me and he sounded sincerely apologetic. It does not however, negate the validity of the comments that i made at the time. Sorry Don, but I feel compelled to share this information since it was left out of your previous post. Also, i had nothing to apologize for and left on excellent standing therefore i must not be one of the trader's that Don refers to that apologized. And speaking of not following through on agreements.....naw, let's not go there!