def,
I wanted you to know that I always found your contribution to be priceless. I wish there were more firms that gave the kind of support you did.
Moreover, it is not often that a firm has a great talent like yourself who can both handle very tough questions, adversity, competition, etc., yet be sincere and honest about everything.
And ... the number one reason I liked your contribution is because it came from the heart. It never felt like you were doing a job rather than having fun on the board.
In short, you are a true class act, and although I am not an IB customer (Terra Nova is the Broker Dealer I use), I have learned a lot (I'm sure others have as well) from your numerous posts on this site.
You will be missed.
Baron,
I completely understand where you are coming from. I can see the conflict of interest while having a paid service and publicizing it on the board. In fact, I said my good-bye well before I released my pay service just to avoid being in this situation.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=4132
Dear Forum Members,
When you choose to become a member of ET, you accept the membership rules and guidelines. It says there in bold letters: "Advertisements are strictly prohibited. You warrant that you will not solicit our members through your posts." Although I'm not suggesting that def has broken this rule, this rule gets broken on a daily basis. I am probably guilty of breaking this rule myself (although I never considered the few bucks I make on a book a motive for a post. Also, the Oz Scanner is a RealTick product and they are a sponsor on this site). But 24% of the members thought that I abuse the rules.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=3032
Although I will be using Hitman as an example (Hitman this is not a personal attack) to illustrate the following point, others may feel the same way he does. When Hitman says, "The reason that up until now Baron have not touched me is simply because, well, he knows that my trading journals, whether people consider it quality content or not, are the most consistent traffic producer and possibly the biggest draws to his board. That is a fact." He says nothing more than, "Since I bring value to this site, I shall not have to obey the RULES and GUIDELINES that all other members agree to when they join this site." This is wrong! We all, myself included, must be subject to the same rules. We can never forget that we are only able to use this site, because posters before us provided content that generated traffic and consequently paid for the existence of ET. In other words, you couldn't possibly be today's star if someone did not pave the way for you. It takes more than just class to understand that. As one of the original members of this website, I can certainly remember many Forum Members that were yesterday's stars who are long-forgotten now. In other words, "Hitman, you can leave tomorrow, Elite will do just fine without you." Or why not try this, "Tony Oz, you can leave tomorrow, ET will do just fine without you." In short, the overall content in this site is better than a contribution by a single person no matter who he is! So please don't think that you (anyone) are bigger than that.
Good Trading Everyone and good-bye until next time,
Sincerely,
Tony Oz