What do you value most in a Trading Chatroom?

[KCalhoun]

Having run my trading the open room for 20 years I'm curious -- what do you value most in a trading room?

What I think matters is:

• Performance, winning percentage of SPECIFIC price alerts called in realtime ahead of time
• Authenticity..... educator must really trade and be able to prove it
• Training quality of instruction using live market examples
• Interactive coaching and answering trader questions honestly
• Community of smart traders
• What else? Thx...

On the flip side, what I think sucks are rooms where: no specific alerts ever provided, instead just rambling on about a day's watch list, lack of professional training quality, cheerleaders/ shills pretending to make lots of money when it's all fake, BS YouTube videos claiming to make $10,000 a day, or chat room operators trading a sim account and trying to pass it off as real (check DOM/tape). Or upsells into overpriced courses and coaching programs that are ridiculously overpriced. Lots of bad actors out there.

 

[Baron]

I think the number one aspect should be a minimum level of competency amongst the participants in the room. The problem with the current setup of most rooms over the years is this:

You pay me the money. I allow you access to the room. I make the calls. You do what I do.

So what you end up with is a bunch of people that can technically afford the room, but they really have no business being there in the first place because they have no level of competency to absorb what you're doing and saying, much less take real-money trades based upon that same action and information.

If you want to create the best room possible, you have to create a minimum level of competency for ALL who enter. Maybe that means they need to take your course on Trading 101, Trading 102 and Trading 103 before they are even allowed to enter.

If you don't do it that way, you'll end up with a room full of people that are all looking at their guru for guidance. But that's not really a successful room. A room that flourishes would be one where there's more collaboration instead of just following one person's calls, and the turnover rate is essentially zero.

Here's the thing. I have some mentors in my life, many of which are a lot older than I am. One of them is a friend of mine who is now approaching 90 years old and he's an expert options trader. I just talked to him for an hour last night and it was awesome. I'll never forget when he told me this one sentence years ago: Baron, be careful about the gurus that you follow in the market, because they will ALL let you down at some point.

It took me a while to process it but I eventually got it: Nobody is perfect so if you're just following someone that's posting trades for you to mimic, he will eventually make some pretty shitty trades that will take you out of the game if you're not careful. And that one aspect is what creates the turnover in so many rooms. The leader makes a string of losing trades and then here comes a similar string of cancellations down the pipeline.

So the better setup, no pun intended, is to structure a room where the competency is high and each person in the group fully understands that he or she is in the room not to just follow others, but to be followed, or in other words to contribute to the overall betterment of the group.

If you have an environment where the contribution from qualified individuals is valued more than the guru/clueless student model, then that's a recipe for sustainable value over the long term for everyone in the room.

 

[Tradex]

if you're just following someone that's posting trades for you to mimic, he will eventually make some pretty shitty trades that will take you out of the game if you're not careful.

The trick is to limit your loss to 1% or 2% of capital.

It's virtually impossible to lose even 25% of your money in that scenario, no matter how bad the guru's calls get.

Nice post overall.

 

[qlai]

So the better setup, no pun intended, is to structure a room where the competency is high and each person in the group fully understands that he or she is in the room not to just follow others, but to be followed, or in other words to contribute to the overall betterment of the group.

I think what you are talking about has a completely different purpose. I think OP is talking educational chat room with the purpose is following the trader who runs it. When I look for a trading room, I am looking for specific style which either compliments mine or contradicts mine, but the main goal is to learn something new.

 

[Tradex]

What I think matters is:

• Performance, winning percentage of SPECIFIC price alerts called in realtime ahead of time

In my opinion a track record is extremely important. In fact it's the first think I check when I visit a trading chatroom.

Results from a backest may also convince me, if no performance record is available.

On rare occasions the reputation of the chatroom's owner will suffice.

Personally I have no doubt about your vast expertise and experience in the trading business.

 

[BeautifulStranger]

Having run my trading the open room for 20 years I'm curious -- what do you value most in a trading room?

What I think matters is:

• Performance, winning percentage of SPECIFIC price alerts called in realtime ahead of time
• Authenticity..... educator must really trade and be able to prove it
• Training quality of instruction using live market examples
• Interactive coaching and answering trader questions honestly
• Community of smart traders
• What else? Thx...

On the flip side, what I think sucks are rooms where: no specific alerts ever provided, instead just rambling on about a day's watch list, lack of professional training quality, cheerleaders/ shills pretending to make lots of money when it's all fake, BS YouTube videos claiming to make $10,000 a day, or chat room operators trading a sim account and trying to pass it off as real (check DOM/tape). Or upsells into overpriced courses and coaching programs that are ridiculously overpriced. Lots of bad actors out there.

Please excuse me in advance for reframing your question: Why don’t people otherwise interested in trading don’t consider joining a trading room? While I can only speak for myself, I believe it is likely there are others who share some of my sentiments.

Reasons include, but not necessarily in any particular order:

1. Concern over wasted time or time constraints - This comes down to marketing and perhaps prior disappointments using other services, even those services outside of trading that create a general reluctance to try something new.

2. Concern over privacy, dilution of performance with a shared trading methodology, and even regulatory concerns related to manipulation of equities.

3. Are the fees paid, especially when looked at from a percentage of investable assets justify the expense?

4. Trader pride. The personal belief that “Doing it yourself” is the only real way to develop increased trading skills and/or using other peoples trading ideas creates a subservient relationship.


There is a psychological wall that must be penetrated in many cases before some people will even consider a value proposition. Testimonials help. A sample of an interesting chat session could stir interest. Documented historical performance is important to many.

In end, it is the ability to effectively communicate that you can help mitigate or solve a problem someone is having with trading that will stir increased interest in a trading chatroom. A brief review of chatroom logs or visualizing trading workflow from idea generation, execution, to trade management should highlight common problem areas traders have. Specifically address how you can help with those issues and over time you will see increased participation in your chatroom.

 

[qlai]

In my opinion a track record is extremely important. In fact it's the first think I check when I visit a trading chatroom.

I didn’t come across many that provide that. If they do, can they be trusted? Are they complete? If they can/are, it may be very difficult to reconstruct the risks taken to achieve the results. Was it luck or skill?

Bottom line, IMO, it’s always a leap of faith.

It took me a while to process it but I eventually got it: Nobody is perfect so if you're just following someone that's posting trades for you to mimic, he will eventually make some pretty shitty trades that will take you out of the game if you're not careful.

 

[Tradex]

If they can/are, it may be very difficult to reconstruct the risks taken to achieve the results. Was it luck or skill?

Well, the maximum drawdown can still give us a clue.

For example if the ROI is at least twice the drawdown that's a good sign.

Was it luck or skill?

That's indeed an excellent question.

There are however a few mathematical tests that will show you if the good results are due to pure luck or not, assuming there are enough trades to sample.

 

[newwurldmn]

A two way dialog in a topic where there is mutual respect and insight.

 

[JSOP]

Having run my trading the open room for 20 years I'm curious -- what do you value most in a trading room?

What I think matters is:

• Performance, winning percentage of SPECIFIC price alerts called in realtime ahead of time
• Authenticity..... educator must really trade and be able to prove it
• Training quality of instruction using live market examples
• Interactive coaching and answering trader questions honestly
• Community of smart traders
• What else? Thx...

On the flip side, what I think sucks are rooms where: no specific alerts ever provided, instead just rambling on about a day's watch list, lack of professional training quality, cheerleaders/ shills pretending to make lots of money when it's all fake, BS YouTube videos claiming to make $10,000 a day, or chat room operators trading a sim account and trying to pass it off as real (check DOM/tape). Or upsells into overpriced courses and coaching programs that are ridiculously overpriced. Lots of bad actors out there.

• Community of smart traders
• Accuracy of the trading signals given
• Effectiveness of strategies of what to do in various trading scenarios