I don't get this place...

[river251]

Looking for a forum for discussing stock investing. This is an odd forum....lots of posts, no replies. What sort of forum is this?

Jim

[Thierry Martin]

Why don't you reply to one of the posts?

[river251]

Why don't you reply to one of the posts?

Well I don't see anything that I have anything to say about. But still I ask, what is the nature of things here? It's obviously active, as there are lots of new posts, and people are viewing the posts pretty regularly, yet there is no discussion....so I'll try again, can you or anybody explain what's up here?

Thanks,
Jim

[Thierry Martin]

Well I don't see anything that I have anything to say about. But still I ask, what is the nature of things here? It's obviously active, as there are lots of new posts, and people are viewing the posts pretty regularly, yet there is no discussion....so I'll try again, can you or anybody explain what's up here?

Thanks,
Jim

There are lots of posts from professional contributors and websites, which are updated daily and don't really require replies. Also, the week before Thanksgiving is slow. If you look back you will find threads with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of replies. Traders who use this forum don't like to babble nonsense. Threads are moderated to prevent spam. Also, we are an odd forum.

[txjeff]

I agree. When I first came here, I thought it was odd too. I expected more discussions of certain stocks, or methods employed, or observations in general, but there isn't much of that. Too bad. But since I came on about 2 months ago, I've been a bit more strident at commenting now and then, although I try to keep it relevant to the discussion. As long as there is a point to the conversation and forum, I don't see why anyone should be afraid to post. If there is a problem with that, I think people would soon disappear.

[Respect]

Wow, glad to know I wasn't the only one feeling that way. And its not just this site either, its basically every trading forum.
I guess it might be because on non-trading forums, you have a lot of teens and younger people who say anything that comes to mind and don't hesitate to click submit. A lot of traders are older in terms of age and old people are typically lazy.

But I guess that's what keeps this site to a professional level. It cuts out all the spam and the nonsense and business is top priority from what I have seen.

And Thierry, huge respect out to for keeping the site as it is. You do a lot of work here in the forum and I hope you''re receiving sufficient help.

[Davecash77]

Every forum has it's own identity and this one is no exception..This is a great place to get excellent info on just about anything pertaining to the market and i do visit alot mostly on weekends but do not post much..If you are looking for a day to day hour by hour as it happens thread during market hours this is not the place to be, there are other forums that offer that kind of information.The content posted here is second to none IMO and i use the strength's of what onlinetradersforum provides to assist my trading.. for example Likesmoney DXY weekly post which i find invaluable and all the contributors on stock picks you don't find that on most forums..GL

[Thierry Martin]

Thanks for the support you guys - we can't compete with sites like stocktwits.com where about fifty people a second are posting, so we are trying something different here - and we have kept growing using our own formula. The moderators, including me, reject between 20 and 100 posts a day, mostly spam or thinly disguised excuses for links to third-rate sites. We could just leave it all on the forums, but instead we have chosen the "less is more" philosophy.

[txjeff]

TM; Thanks for the effort of keeping out the spam. Especially posts that are pump and dump oriented. I run a medical website that has a forum that is teeny compared to this but even that can be time consuming.

[VielGeld]

Erm, since no one else is saying it, I might as well. Most of the "contributors" here are known as "Vendors" in trading language. Some are legit, some aren't. Most of the news types around here are more or less legit, yeah. If they profess high returns with magical systems -- well, avoid!

For non-Vendor types, there is still a good bit of good info to be had, too, which is why I stick around. John Bradford knows what's up when it comes to options, and MadCowDisease, a moderator, also has his ear close to the market. Likesmoney provides interesting cycles analysis on a weekly basis and contributes to the metals thread by analyzing Gold's cycles.

Each section has its good and bad, up to you to discover who's who. Think for yourself, there is no substitute for doing your own intensive research into any trading idea. Also, be aware that if a trade idea is widespread (it appeared on CNBC, for ex.), it's likely the "dumb" trade as all the retail "investors" will jump on it.

All that said, I like this place for that kind of mix. It pushes away those who detest vendors while keeping those who see value in the few who know what's up. Unusual business model, but hey, you do what works! :lol:

[txjeff]

I've made some money from several trades based on analysis provided by some of the vendors here, and I'm appreciative of the time and effort they put in and the willingness to offer it up on the the forum.

[madcowdisease]

Erm, since no one else is saying it, I might as well. Most of the "contributors" here are known as "Vendors" in trading language. Some are legit, some aren't. Most of the news types around here are more or less legit, yeah. If they profess high returns with magical systems -- well, avoid!

For non-Vendor types, there is still a good bit of good info to be had, too, which is why I stick around. John Bradford knows what's up when it comes to options, and MadCowDisease, a moderator, also has his ear close to the market. Likesmoney provides interesting cycles analysis on a weekly basis and contributes to the metals thread by analyzing Gold's cycles.

Each section has its good and bad, up to you to discover who's who. Think for yourself, there is no substitute for doing your own intensive research into any trading idea. Also, be aware that if a trade idea is widespread (it appeared on CNBC, for ex.), it's likely the "dumb" trade as all the retail "investors" will jump on it.

All that said, I like this place for that kind of mix. It pushes away those who detest vendors while keeping those who see value in the few who know what's up. Unusual business model, but hey, you do what works! :lol:

Thanks for the props, VG.

To be candid I'm not a fan of the vendors on here. As an oldschooler at this site who can recall the first name/URL I remember when the site didn't have them and personally I feel it makes the site cluttered and it's difficult to find "live" posts. I would prefer if all vendor material was confined to it's own section but then again I don't pay a fee to frequent the site so I guess I can't b!tch too much.

I think Thierry hit the nail on the head when he said most live contributors are short and to the point. There was a time when I asked a lot of questions and replied to a lot of posts. Any more I'm simply too busy than to check in once or twice a week now. And he also makes a good point, StockTwits put a big dent in the frequency of posts here. I know a handful of former posters who went all-in on StockTwits to the point they are/were broadcasting shows on there. It's a different medium that I never got in to but a few of the oldschool crowd jumped ship two or three years back.

All in all there is a good amount of quality information on these boards. This is a direct result of TM and his team filtering out the garbage. So long as they keep the place clean I will continue to pop in from time to time.

[Bellringer66]

There is plenty of good info here. The Precious Metals thread by Likesmoney is one of my favorites. You can find good information in posts from MCD and Wonder, (to name a few). Bosnian is one of the better stock pickers I have seen. I have been here actively looking for almost 2 years and am just scratching the surface of all the information available here. Point is, many of the regular posters here are short and to the point and they cut through the B.S. Thanks to Thierry for all his work on this site.

[madcowdisease]

Is it just me or does it seem like the vendor activity in the Stock Picks and Trading Discussion forum has increased significantly lately?

[Thierry Martin]

Is it just me or does it seem like the vendor activity in the Stock Picks and Trading Discussion forum has increased significantly lately?

When things slow down in the Stock Picks and Trading Discussion forum which they often do when the market is behaving badly as it has in the last ten days or so I copy some of the posts from the official contributors (which you call "vendors") over from the Charts, news, advice and analysis forum to give visitors something current to read.

[madcowdisease]

When things slow down in the Stock Picks and Trading Discussion forum which they often do when the market is behaving badly as it has in the last ten days or so I copy some of the posts from the official contributors (which you call "vendors") over from the Charts, news, advice and analysis forum to give visitors something current to read.

Just a friendly suggestion since in the end I don't have direct control, but I find the vendor material to limit the appeal of the main "live" discussion forum. This is for two reasons, first the vendor material is almost like TV in the sense that it's a one-way medium. There is no dialog aka: discussion. Questions are not asked, opinons are not sought, it's simply one post making a declarative statement and then the next day there's another one just like it. Second, the creation of a new thread for each vendor each new trading day tends to crowd out the live discussion threads. This makes it more difficult to navigate and find a thread you were responding to a couple days or weeks ago. This makes it all the more likely that those who are not fervent contributors will simply skip it and go check out another site or create a duplicate thread which stalls or interupts the original discussion respectively.

I understand that the main discussion forum tends to slow down when the equity markets are selling off (mainly due to the long-only nature of most retail investors) and I understand the desire to have some "new" content during these periods of reduced activity. However, the way I see it as a regular contributor for going on seven years now is that the vendor material is available in the designated forum(s) if live users want to read the material. Also, I can say with confidence from my own experience I'm less likely to contribute or add to a thread if I have to go searching for it which implies the addition of vendor material does more harm than good in the discussion forum during periods of reduced activity.

Just my .02
Take it for what's it's worth but please know that I would like to see more live discussion/dialog so I think my goal is the same as yours. I just view the net effect of the vendor material differently as it impacts live two-way discussions.

[Thierry Martin]

You may be right, I have noticed the same thing.

[The Oracle]

Just a friendly suggestion since in the end I don't have direct control, but I find the vendor material to limit the appeal of the main "live" discussion forum. This is for two reasons, first the vendor material is almost like TV in the sense that it's a one-way medium. There is no dialog aka: discussion. Questions are not asked, opinons are not sought, it's simply one post making a declarative statement and then the next day there's another one just like it. Second, the creation of a new thread for each vendor each new trading day tends to crowd out the live discussion threads. This makes it more difficult to navigate and find a thread you were responding to a couple days or weeks ago. This makes it all the more likely that those who are not fervent contributors will simply skip it and go check out another site or create a duplicate thread which stalls or interupts the original discussion respectively.

I understand that the main discussion forum tends to slow down when the equity markets are selling off (mainly due to the long-only nature of most retail investors) and I understand the desire to have some "new" content during these periods of reduced activity. However, the way I see it as a regular contributor for going on seven years now is that the vendor material is available in the designated forum(s) if live users want to read the material. Also, I can say with confidence from my own experience I'm less likely to contribute or add to a thread if I have to go searching for it which implies the addition of vendor material does more harm than good in the discussion forum during periods of reduced activity.

Just my .02
Take it for what's it's worth but please know that I would like to see more live discussion/dialog so I think my goal is the same as yours. I just view the net effect of the vendor material differently as it impacts live two-way discussions.

firstly..do not take this the wrong way

vendors sell..that is what they do

most people want the easy way..as it means less work..and less critical thinking..which most find very hard due to the way they were educated..which is another topic for discussion..but not here

personally..anytime any person asks me for my opinion..i always tell them to keep their hard earned money to do some live trading..as..from my experiences..a person will learn 10 times as much if they start off very small..with small risk..and learn how to become net positive

it is amazing how quick a person learns when their hard earned money is at risk..far quicker than handing out the money for some information..that will not give any real experience..for..there is a big difference..i think

also..there are some people who are willing..and able..to help others for free..all people have to do is ask the right questions..but..that also requires some hard and serious thinking..which again..most people do not do easily..due to education system

summary..the only person who really cares about u is urslef..and the only real friend u have..is ur pocket

TO