Regardless of your opinion on this matter, this is one of the most entertaining threads I've read! We're really getting some insight about how people view not only the markets but life. Some posts are funny and some are insightful, some both. tntneo, Think about it, if you do the exact opposite of what you did, you would make a lot of money. It was all YOUR CHOICE, not a conspiracy. I have often thought about my own losses in the same way; thought about the guy (gal) on the other end of my trade who made money as I lost money. There must have been something they saw that I did not. From this alone, I think that there is probably not a conspiracy and that there is always hope in trading. In fact this is one way to know how much money can be made, for if you lost x, then it must be possible to make x (less commissions of course). Overall trading must be profitable for the Big Boy's or they wouldn't be in the business, end of story. The specialists and probably the market makers (for the NAS) have an advantage in that they can see order flow. This can be helpful for sure, but it is not the end all. They're all out there trying to screw each other as well as everybody else they can get there hands on......and aren't we? While I have no proof, I just can't imagine "them" really being able to agree on what the conspiracy should be, how it should be executed, how it should be kept hush hush, how the winfall should be split, etc, etc. Microsoft can't seem to keep Windows from locking up never mind screwing me by helping the Big Boys setup a network capable of coutertrading my trades (regardless of how profitable it would be, LOL), and getting my internet connection to crap out so I can't exit when I need to (now there's a plan), etc. Although the richest guy on the planet keeps getting me to fork over more cash to upgrade every couple of years! I'm not the richest guy on Earth & he is, go figure. After thinking about it, he's probably leading the conspiracy. (Please excuse me while I go bang my head against the wall)......... I'm typically not a conspiracy theorist by nature, but when faced with the (apparently) inexplicable, the thought of a grand scheme with the exclusive purpose of screwing me does enter my thought stream. But my fate is in my hands, as it is for you. Also, after reading a book like Josh Lukeman's "The Market Maker's Edge", it seems that the market makers don't see themselves on the right side of some conspiracy.............but then again Mr. Lukeman might be part of it, hmmmm.
I always get a good laugh when you see one of the big market makers with a lot of money trying to kill a good run...many times they are successful and crunch one on the way up...you know that they are up to no good...they have all that money behind them and just buy everything up and take the stock in the direction they want it to go...its usually best not to fight these guys but rather to go along with them...but on those occasions when I see them have to eat crow because of overwhelming volume...I just laugh out loud and say pay backs a bitch ain't it.....he,he,he