I remember viewing the trading threads back in 2006, 2007, 2008 and they were lively with lots of activity but things have gotten a lot quieter in 2010. Are there that many fewer traders out there? Have they gone bust? Are the high frequency traders and the bots sucking the life out of the markets? Is this just an Elitetrader phenomena or is this happening elsewhere? I have only noticed it on Elitetrader. The volatility has come back, but the traders don't seem to have.
There is a core cadre of people who have been here for years, through thick and thin. It appears to me that over the years they have become thicker headed and one presumes no thinner. But they seem to post less, one hopes because they have become wiser. Or perhaps just tired of the generally low level of intelligent dialogue.
I cannot remember the exact report but there some sort of number pumped out by the CMR Group in Chicago and they have reported that the small timers have hit the road. I guess there is a real dearth of 1-3 contract positions which is the hallmark of the small timer. Funny, because some Senator was bitching about daytraders the other day when the market was down huge. On that day, I was listening to tradersaudio and it wasn't even the local professionals on the floor .. it was all JPMorgan, and Goldman coming in with the 1000 lots to the S&P pits. Also consider, unless you have $30,000 you can no longer day trade. Watch for an explosion in FOREX trading.
Arthur you are right, many years have gone by and I'm moved by your reminder of that solid seasoned-core of individuals here on EliteTrader through thick & thin and a duration of so much time and so very much of everything else.
Was it your stomach that heaved or your bowels that moved? Any time you need "moving" I'll be happy to post.
Once you have gone thru the site and been around a while it becomes obvious that the same, often irrellevant topics get reborn time after time which suggests an Elite Trader lifespan for most people. I find that the Wall Street News and Economics threads can sometimes reveal interesting information that makes it worthwhile paying a visit. Meanwhile I just continue to plod along doing my thing. Also, many people who partied up whilst the music played are still cleaning up the aftermath, you are not likely to see them step up and roll the dice any time soon. Regards Johno
I haven't been here for a while but already I can tell you my posting style. When I'm up in the market I tend to not bother posting here. Chances are I'm busy making trades or researching next weeks trades or figuring out when to sell. When I'm down in the market I'm all over this forum trying to see where it all went wrong, what the psychology is, who else got burned pretty bad, etc. I bet the lack of posting is really just many people having a good year.