To all:
Before you read any further, I am going to be very blunt in this post. It's time to make a decision on what to do with this thread. I am way behind on the accounting, and at this point don't feel any motivation to catch up.
The purpose of this thread is to exchange trading ideas. We chose the portfolio as the means to reach that goal, but it isn't necessarily the only way. The portfolio ensures accountability and honesty in the trades. For that reason, it is a very good way to do things. There's nothing fake here. People who post trades on this thread put their own money on the line in the market, and their egos on the line by posting what might be a losing trade.
Regardless of whether recent complaints about shorting TASR, or shorting QQQ, or trading the same stocks again, or blah blah are valid, only Carl has come forward to post any trades. I sincerely appreciate Carl's participation, but it is obvious that many more people benefit from the trades posted on this thread than are willing to give back with their own ideas. Here's how I see it:
1. Ignore those who complain if they don't wish to participate, and keep the thread the way it has been for the last five years.
2. Modify the format so that those who participate are happy.
3. Stop giving the readers of this thread who have no interest in giving anything back a free ride. This means that we stop posting trades here. We could either send our ideas through email to those who participate, or stop communicating altogether.
Just to clarify something that Larry said, I don't have burn out with the record keeping. While I admit that it is burdensome at times, I am more than willing to do it as long as I feel that there is enough give and take here. Of course this is a judgement call, but I don't consider it reasonable for five people to post trades on a thread that 263 people have bookmarked. If the five or so of us that have kept this thread going for so many years are ok with keeping things as is, I'll keep doing the books. If not, let's come to a consensus on how to proceed. It makes little sense to create separate portfolios for each participant. All that does is segregate the accounting, but does nothing to change the style, which is what people complained about. It wouldn't matter if we gave each participant $100K to trade with because nobody other than Carl has come forward to say "give me my money".
It's someone else's turn to get on their soap box. Next, please... |
