With all due respect to everyone, I'd like to inject a few thoughts here.
I look at SI as a place on the Internet where I can discuss things of interest to me, find out ideas that I may not have thought of myself, and be entertained.
As I understand it, there are two "areas" on the site, one for discussions relating to investments, and another where you can talk about pretty much whatever you want.
In the stock discussion area, I believe the general rule is that the messages should be about the topic.
In the specific categories of the stock discussion area, I believe the general rule is that the messages relate to that specific category.
The "Market Trends and Strategies" category, for example, might contain threads for discussion of specific topics relating to specific strategies, such as one individual's analysis of fundamental data about the market, or another individual's personal trading or investing techniques.
As I understand it, this thread, started by a professional trader who has demonstrated in public and through an audited statement that he is very successful, was started to discuss the specific topic of his trading technique and the specific equities he chooses to implement his personal trading regimen.
It is rare for a very successful trader that has a proven track record to make his strategy and his actual trades available to the public in real time.
In fact, I have never seen a successful pro actually publish his trading record in real time anywhere, ever.
Taking nothing away from anyone else who has a following, or has fans that like what he or she does, or who charges large sums of money for advice about investing, my conclusions about this thread and the man that started it are these:
Michail is a total professional, and a proven successful stock trader.
Anyone who wants to be successful at this game must learn, at least in part, from someone who is successful. It's like a lab, a hands-on demonstration of competence.
There is more than one way to be successful at trading; in fact, there is a right way and a "wrong" way for every single individual. Everyone has his or her own personal strong and weak points. Nobody in the world can make a "cookie cutter" investment strategy that works for anyone, because everyone in the world is different.
Even though everyone in the world is different, there are certain aspects of successful investing and trading that can be learned. One very successful tool to understand success is to look at what the successful person does.
One of the very best ways to learn from a successful person is to sit next to him while he does it.
That, as I understand it, was the reason Michail started this thread.
I am also a pro, and I can tell everyone reading this that I charge (and have charged) a large amount of money for someone to sit next to me and learn this game. In all humility, I personally can train anyone who has the interest to be a successful trader, but I'm not interested in training people. I'm interested in trading. Other people can train somebody to be a successful trader also, I am not saying I have some inside track on this.
My point is that the people who are reading this thread have been provided a rare opportunity to watch a pro in real time - watch him and see what he does. Michail posts not only his winning trades, but comments about his personal mistakes. That fact alone is proof to me that he is honest and has integrity.
Anyone who disrupts this thread, for any reason, is disrupting a trading lab that is being conducted by a successful pro. It does not matter why the disruption occurs, or who is disrupting it.
The fact is that anyone who disrupts this thread is, for whatever reason, causing an interruption in a very rare learning experience - one that I personally have never seen before on the Internet.
There are only three motivations for disrupting this thread; by accident, for "comic relief", or on purpose.
"Comic relief" is tolerated by most people with a sense of humor, as long as it doesn't interrupt the discussion too much.
"Accidental" is self-explanatory, and usually the person that interrupts the discussion accidentally is made aware of it and wises up.
"On purpose" falls into several sub-categories, all involving some ulterior motive, such as exposure of suspected criminal behavior or fraud, jealously, the need to prove somebody else "wrong" (thus making him or herself right), or the desire to show the general public that "I'm just as good as this guy and here's my proof."
But in the final analysis, disruption is disruption, and a professional can deal with it in three ways: jump into the fray and steer the boat off course, ignore the disruption and hope it goes away, or move to a different environment where the disruption can't happen.
Education is just as much about the teacher as it is about the knowledge. Some people like some teachers, others do not. It does not follow that if one does not like a teacher, then everyone else does not like him either. We both know a person who makes six figures a month from her "students" and can't even draw a trend line.
One of the oldest and most revered rules in traditional Chinese martial arts is that you do not denigrate another teacher's style. To do so only makes you look weak. (I'm talking about masters of different styles here, not twistoid cartoon characters who don't know how to tie a belt correctly.)
I really hope that this thread can continue here, because the last time I sat next to a guy that had the knowledge, skill, and ability to teach me, I had to pay him - and it was worth every penny.
When this thread comes to an end, as all things must at some point, then I'll have some good clues not only about Michail, but the people that shut his free lab down. |
