I agree. Most of the trading threads tend to stay more focused. Most but not all. But when a thread gets any real attention....meaning it goes on for a while, no matter what the content, it will usually get off track. (See "superstition, luck and Voodo" for an example that comes to mind...had a zillion responses and posts; and was eventually closed). My point was that a limited number of people seem to thrive in taking any discussion off topic. And usually with an agenda. Usually having to do with the topics that are so dear to their hearts and so very difficult to discuss without raising emotions and tempers....ie: religion and politics. But those topics are important. And if discussion leads to at least understanding and empathizing with another point of view, then much is accomplished. Or can be. There is indeed more to life than just trading. And discussions that go on in "chit-chat" serve as a good distraction. I don't believe it is healthy to only think about and discuss trading alone. Makes for a very limited and boring life. The world is a mess now, and topics other than trading are a real part of life. Where better to discuss them than on a forum visited by people from the world over and from every imaginable background. I can sit in my office in South Florida and discuss international politics with people pretty much like myself....mostly representative of where I live. Mostly liberal. Mostly Jewish. Mostly affluent. Or, I can come here and discuss things with a guy like Traderfut, who is an Islamic Arab living in France. An intelligent guy with a completely different perspective than my own. And a guy that it is unlikely that I would find myself sitting next to at my office. With whom is the discussion going to be more interesting? On the one hand, I could essentially be talking to the mirror. On the other, I get to hear a point of view in real time, from a real person who will respond directly to me (as opposed to just reading Arabic opinions in the press, etc.). So, again, I think the "BS" threads, and the chit-chat forum serve a worthwhile purpose. Maybe not an important purpose in the context of trading, but again, there is more to life. As far as your question about my posting about trading, I thought I answered it pretty comprehensively in the thread that turned into a "feud" between me and Max401. Since that thread is now closed, I can't quote from it....I will try and cut and paste it...let's see if this works: Ahh...it seems to have worked, so here, again, is my answer: If you or anyone would like me to post my thoughts about any specific aspect of trading I have not already addressed, I will be glad to when I have the time (fortunately my wife returns from Israel today, so my time will be more limited). But I will not, as I never have, get specific in any way that I do not think will be generally helpful to all. In other words, I will not address technical approaches to trading (using oscillators, stuff like that). I would not ever want to feel responsible for someone taking my own specific techniques and having them not work out for them. I have always tried to limit my passing of knowledge to the few but important aspects of trading that will help virtually everyone regardless of style, temperament, size of account, etc. Again, there are no "secrets". I wish there were, and I wish I knew them. I don't if there are, and I don't believe I am missing anything even if they exist. Because common sense tells me that any "secret technique" cannot remain secret for long, and this seems well documented by the fact that the very best money managers, the very best mutual fund managers, the very best hedge fund managers don't seem to be able to hold a candle to the outstanding performance we hear about here on ET. The guys that get returns of thousands of percent per year. I clearly claimed to be more than happy to get a 1/10th of 1 percent return per day. Which adds up to a nice return per year. But certainly not the 5% per day (and the like) I hear about here. If I believed these numbers, I would gladly give all my money to these guys. Of course they would have no need for my money. They would end up with the entire wealth of the planet in a very short time with whatever funds they start with. They wouldn't need much!! Peace, rs7
i didn't realize that topics in chat were taken seriously by anyone. i guess i held this opinion because this being essentially a forum for traders and not one devoted to international politics or the like, i just assumed those who have a true interest in topics other than trading would seek out more well-informed forums devoted to the same. i never expected real intelligent informed debate on these other topics here, because the truly informed in something like international politics would never debate here would they? (of course there is an exception or two but on the whole)
"Jokes is a useless thread"....ok, maybe true. But what harm does it do? In what way does it detract from anything? Some posters like Optional777 are really funny consistently. He is a great asset to ET. Some posters are very serious and rarely show any humor, and they too are an asset to ET. And many members can both be serious and have fun. Not necessarily at the same time. Yet MrSubliminal manages this extraordinary feat with great success. It takes all kinds. And we have them!!! ET is a great site, and attracts and extracts great material. I just hate to see a few bitter participants strive to ruin it. I wish I had all the answers. I only have opinions. And that is all I can give. Here is the post I made that I had the most fun with. It had zero to do with trading, and contributed nothing of benefit to anyone but myself. But hey, we all get bored, and we all need our outlets. Tell me what harm was done. I can tell you what good was done...it made me laugh and it lightened my spirits for a bit: Of course, taken out of context, it is not quite as much fun to read as it was in the thread. See "Trader's Girlfriends". I hope Max doesn't try and pick this one apart. Hey Max...I will head you off at the pass....It is all lies! (But I had fun with it).
Yes, and they can also read what Wild has to say about his love of the Taliban and support for Palestine, Iraq and Arab Nations, his hatred for George Bush, and essential trashing of America in general. A good time can be had for all. Join us. We are the World!
Well, you never know.... are you assuming that traders are, by definition, uninformed and therefore not worth discussing stuff with? Maybe you are right. Hey Optional, what do you think? How about a graphic response??
Take for instance the subject of mathematical topology. Yes, there may be a few people here that can speak to this topic, but this isn't the forum to engage the true "professionals" on this this topic is it? On the whole you're going to get amateurish "chit-chat" here, nothing more than you might expect from the guy next to you in a posh bar. Look at the paucity of informed replies to a recent topic -EMT- a topic that should be near and dear to the hearts of Et'ers, a topic pretty damn close to home. Noone here could hold a candle to vladiator (you didn't even weigh in on this one rs7 ) valdiator chewed everyone up, he was clearly well-informed and knowledgeable, and noone here got even close to challenging his viewpoint. he got a lot of "you are FOS" responses but nothing to back it up. And this is on a topic pretty damn close to home here on ET! Do you really believe "international politics" or something of the like even further removed from the main forum topic will fare any better here?
"Jokes is a useless thread"....ok, maybe true. But what harm does it do? In what way does it detract from anything? -rs7 no harm, imo. but what harm if bolt preaches in it, as long as he confines it to chat (the semi-useless section )