I think Babak hit the nail on the head when he said: "The interesting thing is that he hasn't noticed that 'dumper' plays are much better sold short in a bear market than bought." Playing bounces is a legit strategy but like all techniques, it's certainly not one that works well in every type of market. The market dynamics have changed substantially from when Ken originally published his "dumper" strategy, so forcing it to work in an environment like we have now seems challenging to say the least. I think half of the battle of being profitable over the long term is being able to quickly notice when the underlying market psychology starts shifting, and then adapting your strategies accordingly. Of course, the problem for many of us is that it takes us too long to notice that things have changed. We want too many fundamental and technical indicators to confirm that change has actually occurred before we change how we trade. One thing I remember about Todd Harrison's posts is that he was good at assessing the general market conditions and psychology, and then trading within the context of that assessment using appropriate strategies and risk control.
Pardon me for starting what seems to be a Wolff bashing session. My intent wasn't to do so. I just didn't enjoy seeing one thing in the room, then something different on another large audience site. It was misleading. You know what they say about first impressions. I just felt as if I learned more on these boards then I did in a room.
PTTrader- Don't be sorry...I also trialed Ken Wolf's room and frankly I thought he was terrible...maybe I'm just making an excuse, but my worst month this year was the month I was in his room. Also he contradicted himself by telling the room and thestreet.com room that he trades, then i watched an interview on yahoo finance and he said he didn't trade anymore 'cause he was too busy with other stuff. This board has helped me more than any other board out there. The best thing is to do your own homework. BTW, I also enjoyed Todd Harrison's RM posts...good intra-day stuff on just overall mkt feelings.
This is more to my original point. Too many contradictions to feel it was teaching me anything. BTW, on his book, who are Chris Schumacher and Jeff Tappan? Are they traders also. Why didn't his daughter Shawn write the book with him instead of these guys?
Chris Schumacher is a trader that used to work with Ken at mtrader.com. He later left to form realitytrader.com with Vadym. He actually checks out this board once in a while so you may catch him. I think he uses ChrisRT as a handle. I think Chris is very good. I've watched him on rm.com and have seen only an excellent and consistent trader. From what I've seen I would recommend anyone who's tried Ken to try RT.com (they have a free trial as well as lots of free stuff on their website). Disclosure: I have no relationship with them. Jeff Tapan is Ken Wolff's original partner in mtrader.com. I really don't know anything more other than what it says on the flap which is that he is an investor/trader.
Thanks for the recommendation, but I'll back off of the room scene for now and try to get more from here. Thanks.
One final comment (and I mean that as this discussion has been driven into the ground and I've done my share...) A number of people here are mixing up their success at mTrader, or lack of it, with Ken Wolff the trader. I've been the first to acknowledge that the subtle mechanics of his methodology is tough to communicate (of course, the same could be said for P2's GNP). But whether or not someone can implement Ken's methods may well say something about Ken's (lack of) ability to teach effectively, not necessarily about his proficiency as a trader. Certain styles complement certain personalities, and take a considerable amount of time to be thoroughly understood by a third party. In all honesty, how many people on this board have been able to make consistent money trading the GNP? Does that mean P2 is a lousy trader? I don't think so.
Only because he's been mentioned a few times on this thread, but my understanding is that he hasn't left realmoney.com. He's now president of Cramer Berkowitz and is busy finding new offices for the firm since 9-11, but will be back writing when he's done. I look forward to his return as I consider him the best trader I've ever seen in action and have made a lot of money off his calls.