A Possible Way Forward . . .
As ever, the views expressed on this issue are pretty diverse. That said, it strikes me that the camp that wants vendors to provide evidence of their profitability is growing and this trend is likely to continue.
So, perhaps the thing to do is to see if some consensus can be reached on what constitutes profitability or evidence of an ability to trade? For example, mention has been made of vendors providing brokerage statements showing their P&L. Off the top of my head, this will throw up various issues . . .
- Who verifies the statements?
- Are they posted on the public boards for all to see, or only shown to T2W admin'?
- Understandably, some vendors may not want their private accounts published on a public forum. Conversely, if admin' approve them and say a vendor is profitable, detractors will simply accuse admin' of being paid off by the vendor etc.
- How many weeks, months or years of statements need to be supplied? Lots of traders made a fortune in the bull market in the late 90s up to the dot com bubble in 2000. Were they really good traders or just lucky - being mostly long in a raging bull market?
- If there are 5 years worth of statements and, say, the vendor was unprofitable in year 2 and only broke even in year 3, does that mean they're unprofitable overall?
- You get the general idea, I hope. Providing proof of profitability isn't quite as straightforward as some peeps might imagine!
Understandably, many vendors will be reluctant to post any concerns they may have about any proposals directly to the thread. If a fair and simple test can be devised, I'm happy to PM them for their comments and report back to the thread. If a solution can be found that both sides agree on as being fair and workable, I'll then present it to Sharky. He looks at all ideas from a business perspective and, as a bare minimum, they have to fulfil these three criteria to be considered:
1. Is the idea workable? In other words, is it simple to implement and does it add real value to T2W and its members?
2. Is the idea technologically doable within the confines of the Vbulletin software (that's what T2W runs on) and . . .
3. Is the idea within budget? Like any well run business, financial resources are allocated to areas that will help to develop the business. (Hint: there's no point in demanding that all vendors submit their brokerage statements for an independent audit by Price Waterhouse or Ernst & Young - at T2W's expense!)
Tim.