OK - some final comments here and then I'm going to butt out of this. I can see that Larry has posted some replies of his own and due to both his own personal style and desire to maintain some sense of civility, his comments are a bit reserved. I, on the other hand, have no need for such restrictions.
This thread seems to have been started by one of the main protagonists, thunderdog, with the intent of slamming Larry's reputation. You posted a question, and the vote didn't come out the way you wanted and several others have joined in on the fray. So I have a question for all of you. Just what has Larry done to you that makes you have such a vendetta against him? Do you even know him, or have you ever even met him?
My guess would be that you guys are frustrated traders who haven't been able to make it at the trading game. So to ease your frustration, you gain some moderate level of satisfaction by trashing the reputation of someone who has been successful. If that's not the case, then you must have an underlying issue that you don't want to discuss. Perhaps your roll of the dice in the gene pool left you a bit, well let's say - shortchanged.
If you're having a lot of problems handling frustration let me offer my assistance. I grew up in central PA which has the toughest high school wrestling in the country. A lot of guys from the area have gone on to win national championships in college and medals at the Olympics. Currently, I work out at the VisionQuest gym in Auburn, WA where we have two full size wrestling mats. If you want to learn a good and perfectly legal way to deal with frustration, then come to the gym and spend about an hour or so with me out on the mat. I think you'll find the experience quite educational.
Oh, and since this web site is really about trading/investing, let me tell you how Larry's advice has worked for me. I'll start by telling you I'm not a good trader. That's not Larry's fault - I'm pretty good at developing decent trading systems and methods, but I get a little too nervous when I try the real thing. And with good reason, because I came to the conclusion that I was too undercapitalized. Scared money never wins.
However, that isn't the same as saying I haven't been successful. Back in the mid 90's I sensed that the San Diego real estate market was bottoming out, but like everyone else, I was a little too nervous to pull the trigger and actually make a purchase. So guess who I spoke to for advice? Yeah - the same guy you've been trashing for the last few days. Pretty stupid of me, huh? Well thanks to Larry, I did pull the trigger and got in at the very bottom of the biggest real estate speculation wave in the last 30+ years. But, on top of that, I knew we were in a bubble and I sent some local articles to Larry that were hyping San Diego home prices saying they were going to go up forever. Larry said that's a sell signal if there ever was one. If I could dig up those e-mails, I'd post them here just to show I'm not BSing.
Well, I sold just a little early before the market peaked out, and I walked away with a huge profit - way up in the mid 6 figure range. And, as all of you know, the market bubble burst just a little later, but thanks in a very large part to Larry, I made more money in that one trade than what I'll bet many of you have made in years of trading.
So there's my too bits, and you guys can take it or leave it any way you want to - it's no skin off my nose. Just keep in mind that when you start trashing someone's reputation in a public forum, some of their friends are going to start hitting back. Just make sure you don't find yourself getting hit too hard.
