Hi London guy, Don't worry, this is a perfectly normal observation. If you keep on coming regularly, you'll grow used to it. Now more serious, what you see is a rather accurate reflection of what is really frying in the market kettle. If you foster any ambition to greatness, you'll become quickly convinced about the inexhaustible opportunities offered by this environment. Be good, nononsense
Never claimed to be a god of trading. I am still very much learning as everyday I seem to learn a new lesson. That is trading for you, a constant never ending learning experience. I was just merely passing on an observation. I have long noted the more a trader brags about his performance or how easy it is the closer he is to a severe drawdown. Don't ask me why, just seems to happen like that. Moreover, I have also noticed that the truly successful trader trading big size never seem to talk about their performance. Just observations, not criticisms of anyone. "The only sure thing about luck is that it will change." --Bret Harte
I don't think it's you. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48400&perpage=6&pagenumber=1
A stupid person doesn't learn from his mistakes. An intelligent person does learn from his mistakes. A wise person learns from other people's mistakes. - Bismarck It was a major realization for me about 2 years ago when I understood that looking down in a snobbish way upon others or beginners was a waste of an educational resource. Nowadays, I try to understand "what made him think that way?", and let me tell you, the psychological lessons I've learned this way were numerous...
I find value in poor opinions too. If you're not well connected on the street, ET serves a need for a sounding board. Much like how I used to call up my counterparts and shoot the crap about their views, etc. While 95% of it was garbage, it did sum into an overall view on the market. At least you don't get the idiots trying to push their day-trade higher by posting bogus comments like on Yahoo. That's so truly pathetic that I can't believe it. A negative indicator is still an indicator...
it seems that sometime in the spring of 2005 they let the inmates out of the asylum.... a lot of pontificators and big headed self proclaimed greats... it seems we are stuck with sifting through an ever deepening pile of crap to glean a few good ideas.... what ever happened to courtesy and style... i 've been involved on the markets for quite some time but only a short time as a sole prop daytrader... i still learn everyday... remember the ones you meet on the way up are the same ones you meet on the way back down....
This remark is addressed to those who insult others: Almost in any thread and on any page you find postings from people insulting others. Itâs unbelievable that posters on Elite have to come down to this level of practices in an attempt to prove their supremacy in trading knowledge. Is it so difficult to stay civilized and to use a decent way to express your opinion on any subject? Do you always have to break down someone else and call him an idiot because he says something that might be wrong. We are all here to learn new things; this implies that nobody knows all and therefore everybody can say stupid things. Donât ridicules others, explain them that you think they were wrong and explain why. My native language isnât English, so I learned a lot over here. I think my vocabulary to insult others in English has grown exponentially; unfortunately I canât say I learned a lot on trading. Insulting others only proves your incapability to beat your opponent based on your knowledge. In fact it proves you known nothing more than your opponent.
While ET does have a lot of juvenile posters running amuck, I don't think it's a bad thing. If a board is carefully regulated for quality, then only members who qualify as being sufficiently serious can join. But then the breadth of members will be narrow by defintion and the character of the membership will be more homogenous. A board that is open like ET lets all kinds of riff raff in, so there is a lot of noise. But there are a lot of different ideas and different viewpoints that float in. It takes time to dredge through all the trash to find good and unique insights, but at least they are there.
What you say, in principle, has merit, but there are examples of other message board (trading related) that follow a rather strict code of conduct and they thrive. Since I don't want to list the specific site that I frequent (since the trolls will flock in), the place is dominated by guys who are middle aged and experienced traders. Most of them are not scalpers, but the quality of analysis and discussion is top notch. The moderators make a point of forbidding any members to talk politics or religion. Also, members who constantly take cheap shots and/or insult other members are banned. Elite Trader is still rolling along fairly well. I used to think that it was the trolls that drove away alot of the guys who had alot of value to add, but I have changed my opinion. I think its the markets themselves that have thinned out the trading population and/or just led to more apathy and less enthusiasm for trading related discussions.