Traders rarely try to make their money from other traders (if they could even realize them on the tape consistantly from the MM(s).) The real money is made from institutions that must put money to work and when that dries up [There are more esoteric edges, but those are even less likely to be discused.] Markets where all you have is traders and very little investment money are mature markets. In fact most professional traders shy away from those markets unless they are market makers.
However, your point is well taken. If you look through ET, 99% of what is talked about here is of very little value in actually extracting money from the markets. The good posts aren't about working strategies because anything of direct value is not going to be disclosed on an anonymous trading board. The good posts are about things that are philosophical in nature that is intersting to discuss, or things that can save you money by avoiding pitfalls when first learning like internet connections or monitor setups or rule changes, risk management, tape reading, how do I use FIX, proper psychological approaches, what is delta and gamma, etc. The basics that must be in place to know how to get to the next step.
Much can be learned at ET about the business of trading - but no one is going to give you the fish inspite of all the journals you see, and beware of all of those that want to "mentor" you, especially chatroom operators
nitro
