All these people with the Ponzi schemes... are they just screwballs from day one? I'm thinking that they are maybe fools of randomness... they think they have a winning strategy, they think they are going to be rich the next month all along, they think they are going to perfect the strategy but in the meantime they need to take in some investment money to keep things afloat...
I don't know about all of them. But I can tell you that I've known Dennis for a long time. Or I thought I did. What the investigators have uncovered says that the man that I thought I knew was a complete fabrication. I think he's a sociopath, totally incapable of understanding that other people have any sort of rights or any reason to exist other than to serve his purpose. I'm deeply saddened. There's much more I could say on this, but for now I'm just going to reflect on it. Mark
I say the following with all due respect considering it's an anonymous message board here in the first place. Zanger made enough money to retire from years ago. Most NFL stars do not have career earnings that match what he did. Chuck Hughes has made more millions in audited live trade contests than 99.6% of the cumulative aliases who've passed thru this joint ever will in their wildest dreams. Now, it's entirely possible you are one of the few here who have made and continue to make spectacular gains. Or maybe not. How would anyone know? Many of us know people who have made several million $$ trading and either retired, switched to a different mode or blown out broke and broken for a myriad of emotional mistakes. Buffett potentially comes to mind these days. Does that diminish what they accomplished in the past and/or are capable of in the future? Is their knowledge base therefore worthless, whereas some random prop guy currently enjoying a brief moment of success with unsustainable tactics is deemed superior in some way?
I'm just sorry Mark got so used in all of this, being one of the few real teachers and analysts who also trade profitably. The red flags were up for me years ago, and I mentioned to a few friends that he swaggered and blustered a bit too much for me to believe he was real. I'm not so clever that I could put my finger on it, but I was always waiting for something to happen. What I was expecting was nothing on the order of what has now happened though. I was always expecting a scheme whereby he "sold sub-par shovels to the gold rushers". I certainly didn't expect that he would outright steal money in this fashion. When someone makes such a huge effort to imprint the following into the minds of their target market, I become uncomfortable: - I'm a devout Christian! Look! - I give to charity and mention it all the time! Look! - I have a giant house! Look! - I have a giant car! Look! - My personal needs require the resources of most small-cap corporations. Look! The most telling thing for me was the derision that he held for anyone that wasn't a devotee of his when it came to discussing methods, strategies, analysis or tactics. I told a good friend of mine years ago that I felt that anyone who has made it through the dark tunnel to profitable trading would never address other traders so derisively. Learning to trade is probably the most humiliating processes through which I've ever been. Something was just wrong in the equation to me. My thoughts now are with the innocent people that are suffering because of these personal "needs" of his -- from great analysts such as MarkB to those whom were following his widely-touted methods to those whom "invested" in his scheme. I have to wonder though ... Dennis used to have a wide circle of snarky, abrasive cheerleaders, all of whom were as derisive as he was when it came to those who were not "devotees". I wonder where they are now? I also noticed in a couple of the recent articles that the investigators mentioned that there existed some unnamed helpers. I wonder who they are.
Mark, did you believe in his 'First Trading Bar' approach and his 20 contract size statements? Did you ever see him trade successfully? As a trader you must have questioned his trading approach. No?
Thank you sinewave - and slacker, I'll post a whole history of the first bar trade tomorrow. And yes I did see him trade profitably; that's one of the things that confuses me about this whole thing. For now, goodnight. Mark
I'm curious where "Jab" is now, after all of his loud, distasteful, derisive chortling guest posts on Dennis' blog. Or those whom collaborated with him with his "Trading Rooms" endeavor? Where is "Wan" and the others who were promising this huge new system? curiouser and curiouser.
THEY CAUGHT HIM!!! I was wondering what happened to him, so I googled and they actually caught him. I thought he would be already in Europe or SE Asia hiding. They caught Dennis in Pa. He's headed back to Tn to face charges. Wow. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/mar/14/bolze-headed-back-here/?partner=RSS I guess they got him on Thursday, so I'm a bit late on the news. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/mar/13/bolze-arrested-in-pennsylvania/?partner=RSS That's sickening and devious.