Rather conflicting statement, if it is work time what are people doing in a chat room? Posting trades or following other peoples calls isn't work. Chat rooms best usage is for down time, comic relief, stave off boredom. It is ludicrous to believe anything productive can be found in a public chat room. Now, a private chat room where individuals of like minds, take it seriously, sharing daily duties, analysis, etc... "collaborating" that is something different. Virtual office, trading environment . But an ET chat room? People are dreaming if they think anything productive will materialize. Between the Trolls, Stealth vendors, Wannabee's and Newbie's nothing but misinformation, chest pumping and hyperbole will be experienced. Look around, how many people on ET would you truly take trading advice from? 2-3? and of those, how many do you believe are willing to share their hard earned edge in a public environment? Zero. Those that are profitable hold their strategy's and methods close to their chest. Those that aren't either try to sell, or coat-tail...
Besides, of what value is seeing another's trades without knowing said trade plan? I've had the pleasure of being in voice chats with a small group traders whom I've known and respected for a long time and it still can be distracting when one of us is going long as the other is going short...both perfectly valid signals (we were very familiar with another's trading as we were happy to share ideas and charts) but you don't need to be second guessing your signals. You either have one or you don't. I agree with NB, ET chat was simply something to do while waiting for a signal or for a trade to work or not.
That's what I mean make fun of their calls, while you $ I are banking ours which we will find out rather quickly. You game? We all do this anyway why not in realtime? what do you have to lose
My visit to ET chat room was brief and I didn't see what you mentioned. Instead, I saw personal attacks, threats, people outshouting others (e.g. using caps) and any argument from the regular forum (e.g. Political/Religion threads) being continued in ET chat. Thus, I don't think the chat room was being used for "trade advice". Instead, it seemed more like "venting" or letting off some steam. Simply, my brief visit saw some of the same PR folks and Chit Chat folks hanging out in real-time in the chat room...I didn't see really any kind of trading discussions. I still remember my first day in the chat room...two members agree to meet in Chicago for a fight (anything goes). One member actually showed up but admitted some of his buddies were there "waiting" across the street just in case he was losing the fight. The other member didn't show up and joked (I think) that he could not find his gun as his reason for not showing up to the fight meeting. P.S. How does someone lose their gun ?
A good (trading) chat room would need real people, talking about their real trades/results But alot of people, I sense, are rather private about that kind of info, or talk. Trading is War. ...there will be blood on the streets on a daily basis -- for better or for worse. And those kind of stories/results are ...fun...to share and talk about. Not mindless chatter about dumb questions and hypothetical, sleepy, so-called tried and true backtested studies. and future crystal ball questions and useless debates that have no end game.
There was one asshole (ostensibly back-up) that showed-up and tried to hide on Eugenie St... like behind some shrubs. I lived in a bldg on that corner. I ran after him and he booked it to the EL platform on Sedgwick. Some bald fuck running away with his camcorder. I would've turned him into a hand-puppet. I chased him all the way to the EL, but he had too great a lead. There was zero mention of firearms. I had no friends there. The guy that didn't show actually lived in NY.