I think T2W should be doing more for members?

[neil]

That depends on the liquidity of the instrument.
Give a "system" to 100 people and only a handful will use it long term in the right way in any case.
It also is dependent on the "system" itself in so far as any discretionary element will grossly distort the individual's results.
t2w would be on a hiding to nothing by recommending anything, imho.
Richard

Didn't the Turtle trader neophytes find this. Some prospered but others failed?

 

[MrGecko]

Anyone dissatsfied with T2W should vote with their feet. It is "feet" that T2W needs to survive. Do that, and the problem will sort itself out, or it won't. Either way, there will be a result.

 

[bangkoker]

Well it is an interesting debate and love the idea but then what kind of system, what kind of instrument, what timeframe etc etcetera. So many variable and so many different opinions, it will be interesting to see if this has legs..

 

[Mr. Charts]

Didn't the Turtle trader neophytes find this. Some prospered but others failed?

Absolutely, Neil.
Richard Dennis demonstrated that even with very strict rules, (which worked in those days), only a minority of the people he trained actually executed entries and exits according to the rules he gave them and the way he trained them. Some were able to do it, others were not.
There is a degree of variation, of fuzziness, of interpretation which means that human application is simply not robust enough in actual live trading to be consistent without a certain degree of judgment bred by actual hands on experience.
Algos and HFT are a different matter and not usable by home traders.

I don't think t2w could or should give any "system" its imprimatur as no such "system" would work for long in all markets over a long enough period of time in a trade-by-numbers mechanical sort of way without experience.
It's a bit like driving, there are rules but experience in their application, judgment and common sense always play a role, even if it's a small one, in making a difference between consistent success and failure.
For example, you might have a perfect set up and trigger to take a trade with all your criteria fulfilled, but if the FOMC is a minute away from its announcement, you shouldn't trade a US stock.

Richard

 

[Dommo]

Thanks Richard - nice to see the term "imprimatur" in a modern context.

 

[Atilla]

I think the T2W should assist and provide facility, the environment and materials necessary to pursue member interests and ideas if it wishes to be popullar.

These could be at cost or via promotions from advertisers. What ever floats???

Trading systems can be developed and discussed as per co-operative rules. Won't be the first time... They can succeed or fail in what ever time period and who's ever hands they are applied in.

I do think this is an excellent idea and in principal as well as policy and perhaps as a mission statement of this public T2W forum should be encouraged in every possible way.

Discussion, theory and practice often are not always the same and best way of learning is through execution.

If these ideas aren't adopted here - I'm pretty sure they will be on other sites sooner or later.

T2W "About us" says as much too.

"Trade2Win (T2W) prides itself on being the leading community web site for active traders. Our aim is simple, we want to unite and support active traders across the globe. To this end we provide a range of facilities to enable our members to communicate with one another, share their knowledge and express their views. Furthermore we seek to provide educational and thought provoking content to help better educate our members in their trading lives."


Has my vote...

 

[MrGecko]

If Trade 2 Win were seen to be endorsing a particular strategy this would be the equivalent of commiting commercial seppuku.

 

[Xenophobia]

Is it just me ... or do others agree T2W should be growing its brand more, through offering more to members?

Why would sharkey bother when he has no staff to pay and more and more people get involved in trading/ search engine , and find T2W on the net than every before ?

Who needs old members when one old member leaves and another 20 new members join these days when spread betting/trading is more and more promoted on the web/newspapers/mages and TV than every before! Its a ever growing industry with all the promotion done big the brokers. T2W sits back and they are instantly found by the new trader on the search engines typing in the marketing they saw else where!

I mean what’s shareky making these days from IG Index and the rest ? £3/£10k per month on ads ?

Its all cool with all the dudes doing there bit here with posting systems tips and advice and all that, but come on!!!

Who the fook needs them when you have a forum that is found on practicly any search engine term on trading. One click of an ad or sign up and the money is made!

How many people here have joined the old school SB affilate scheme where the trader joins a SB firm through a link on T2W and sharkey gets commision on every trade placed by that trader on the particular broker.

 

[counter_violent]

Indeeed. Theyre already critisised for allowing mods, advisors and "special members" to pimp commercial product, blatently promoting such a scheme would damage an already weak reputation.

Imagine taking advice on system development from some of the individuals who work for T2W ! you'd have to be insane.

Whilst Its a great idea commercially to juice the membership, its the worst possible idea I've ever heard in terms of assisting others. Its not altuistic, its bloody irresponsible !

The brutal truth is that trading isnt a team sport and collaborative development is a dumb idea. My advice to the OP is either take the idea to a site with zero integrity, e.g. babypips, and grab a slice of the profits generated from the mug punters, or do it yourself.

The standards at T2W have been in decline for years, do you really want to put the final nail in the coffin ?

It's not true what they say....we have missed you....honest !!

 

[Dommo]

what’s shareky making these days from IG Index and the rest ? £3/£10k per month on ads ?

That is a very interesting question. I'm interested in the broad business mechanics although not particularly in prying regarding this site - I appreciate the free access. I have never in my (internet) life knowlingly clicked on a banner ad - who does that? I have an idea what it might earn per clickthrough, but have no idea on success rate. I'd be very interested to hear feedback from anyone with ecommerce insider info!

 

[wackypete2]

Click rates are historically very low. It's a volume game. New sites have to struggle initially because they don't get the traffic to the site that they need. SInce this site is popular (appears near top of google searches) and has been around for a while I would imagine it gets thousands of unique visiters each day. Even a 1 in 200 click through rate would generate a nice sum. This is just the surface of ecommerce. When you are getting significant unique visitors to your site additional revenue streams open up.

Peter

 

[Dommo]

Thank you, I appreciate the insight.

 

[wackypete2]

Welcome!

Peter

 

[Adamus]

Click rates are historically very low. It's a volume game. New sites have to struggle initially because they don't get the traffic to the site that they need. SInce this site is popular (appears near top of google searches) and has been around for a while I would imagine it gets thousands of unique visiters each day. Even a 1 in 200 click through rate would generate a nice sum. This is just the surface of ecommerce. When you are getting significant unique visitors to your site additional revenue streams open up.

Peter

But what do these unique visitors have to do to bring in the money for T2W?

The dot com bubble burst so you can't just wait a few months and do an IPO......

 

[Waterfield]

Adamus, the advertisement windows are (probably) rented out, probably for a couple hundred a month, plus the revenue split if someone opens an account.

 

[Ingot54]

Well, we sometimes have a couple of reincarnated intellectual whacko's making the usual cynical remarks, but unsurprisingly when the heart is not involved ... NO progress. In other words, because these members do NOT have the theme or topic of the thread at heart, they crash the thread without making any useful contribution to move the discussion forwards.

When the ego is involved, they come out of the long grass.

This is seen on thread after thread. Total ego-driven rubbish, that gives 12 silver-lined reasons why something won't work, complete with 8x4 glossy colour photographs. Of course no alternative approach is offered - the purpose of the assault is to intimidate and belittle, and draw attention to self.

So this brings me to the second issue the forum needs to address ... forum bullying, thread-trashing and personal attacks.

http://tinyurl.com/295utey

The T2W rep is not good as forums go, and unfortunately the mods here are volunteers. Consequently they can not be aware of what goes on in every thread at all times.

We do have the "Report Post" flag bottom left-hand corner ... but how long does it take to get a response from mods ... and what action is taken anyway? I'd like to see mods given more muscle ... I think personal attacks or thread-trashing should result in automatic sin-bin time ... at least three weeks on the sidelines, and repeat offences should result in mandatory banning.

As a form of social networking, forums need to be rigorous in dealing with the anti-social personality ... else the modus operandum will persist, and the integrity of the site suffers. Those who can and probably should participate, are effectively frightened off.

I am certain we have all had the experience of meeting up with the damaged personality on our threads - you know the one - no homework or pre-reading of previous posts ... just wades in and bang!

You got it ... he gives birth ... to ... ta-daaahh! AN OPINION!

I think T2W needs to do much more than it is currently, about the serial thread-trashing bullies resident on the forum, or as we have recently seen on some threads, newbies flexing their trashing-muscles quite early in their forum life.

For a healthy atmosphere to prevail, where debate and discussion can occur without the bullying and abuse-of-privilege that occurs, moderators need the assistance of members. Successful forums are self-policing ... members do not respond to the bullying, and continue as if the bully was not there. Bullies simply can not tolerate being ignored - ANY response is better than NO response ... it's the ATTENTION that feeds his ego.

But on a large forum, not all participants understand the power of "ignore" and as the bully is adept at pushing buttons, eventually the temptation to strike back verbally is too much. The response is just what the bully is waiting for ... and so a war breaks out that has little to do with the topic, and all to do with the personality.

On a large forum like this one, an effective way to defuse the bully, is to NOT take the situation into your own hands, but to report the incident, and have the rooster's wings clipped for a couple of weeks.

I think T2W could provide a section on "The Forum Bully 101" and make it prominent for members to use in dealing with the emotionally challenged amongst us, whose drive for infamy is their only raison d'être.

 

[DionysusToast]

A common attitude, particularly in the western world is "If it's not broken, don't fix it".

This causes complacency and can end in the competition coming up behing you when you weren't looking and taking your business away from you.

If you are complacent and have a business that is stagnant, then the chances of someone taking your lunch bowl away without you being aware it is happening are fairly high.

Look at the US Auto industry vs the Japanese. The Japanese are way ahead yet STILL making constant improvements in their products and manufacturing techniques.

This forum, like any other business, should constantly improve both in terms of what it offers it's advertisers and how it maintains it's base of users. If it doesn't, then somebody else will and T2W may eventually expire.

 

[barjon]

We do have the "Report Post" flag bottom left-hand corner ... but how long does it take to get a response from mods ... and what action is taken anyway?

usually pretty quick - except when we're tucked up in bed - we will delete post(s) and warn in minor cases. If more serious or repeated we'll give an infraction which carries a number of points. If the points mount up there are levels which generate 1 day, 3 day, 5 day, 10 day and ultimately permanent bans. The number of points relating to some infractions result in an immediate ban, either for a number of days or permanently.

jon

ps: we've all got other things to do so can't be watching every post on every thread. Thus your reports are very important triggers for us.

 

[Adamus]

So what do you have to do to get yourself a ban?

Back to the original subject, what the forum is doing to develop itself and to stay on top of the game, I think it should add in more functionality to the website. Like some of the other posters here I don't think a T2W system would be feasible - who's going to put it together and who's going to do all the hard work and what for? Who's going to take the risk that all the effort needed to build a profitable automated system isn't wasted when a ton of people start caning the system and destroy it's profitability?

The functionality already exists for private forums where groups can get together in private to collaborate. We need more stuff like that.

I already suggested blog ware, which apparently used to exist but was removed. To enhance that even more, T2W could offer the ability for users to make a URL based on the T2W domain, e.g. adamus.trade2win.com, for my blog or my home page even.

Another useful thing would be enhanced user functionality with a few facebook-style bells and whistles - so users can get a more succinct round-up of the other people's postings, plus anything else that might work like lists of links or reviews or status or recommendations given or received. The user control panel in the current standard forum control panel really doesn't do the trick these days. At least not for me.

 

[Adamus]

Just figured all the things I suggested would require a heap of programming by the T2W webcoders, so I guess it'd have to be obvious the changes'd end up bringing in more income before we saw any of them implemented.