Selling a strategy & Ethics

[adrianallen99]

Ive had a decent 3 months trading and made really good returns. For some strange reason this month I have been receiving emails from people wanting to pay me for my strategy.

One Email offering me cash, wants to know how much capital he would need to make $2000 per month. Another just offered me money for telling him my strategy. I have received countless others, and all this because I made a post about people trying to sell systems and most being a scam. I then jokingly put at the end, perhaps I should sell my strategy for $100.

Even if I did tell people my strategy, I have found that very few actually make money out of it, even if I tell them the exact trades I make before I make them.

Okay, I could use the money, but Ethically I would find this very hard. One person was quite persistant so I said I would give him some info on my strategy if he donated some money to a children's charity (which he did).

Sometimes people really amaze me, but I guess money makes people do strange things.

 

[FetteredChinos]

well the only thing to do now is cleanse your soul and put your strategy up on these boards for critique lol


interesting post though.


good to see you have morals though.. have you thought about becoming a dentist? (sorry, crap dyslexic gag.) ahem..


nice to hear about the donation to charity though.

FC

 

[Rhody Trader]

I think there can be some value in selling a system, but not if it's just a one-off transaction where you provide a set of rules (or worse, a black box) an then never have anything more to do with the buyer. It's like any other product. The value often comes more from the support provided than the actual product sold. If you were to sell your system and stand ready to help folks learn and apply it, I see no major ethical problem.

Of course, that sort of thing needs to be worth your time, and not take away from your own trading.

 

[adrianallen99]

It isn't in fact a system as such, more just rules of how much to risk and when to risk it. The money management side is the most important part, my strategy for when I buy/sell is more based on pretty simple chart patterns, high/lows, etc. and I actual make the trade when the price confirms the signal. Very simple but requires strict observance of the money management rules. Depending on the strength of the signal, I assign a value 1,2, or 3. This tells me how much to risk. 1 =2% 2 = 4% 3 = 6%. I rarely ever use 6%, but on the few occassions I have, it has always won.

 

[Roberto]

This tells me how much to risk. 1 =2% 2 = 4% 3 = 6%.

Wow, 6% in a trade is scary stuff. Almost enough to give a guy palpitations just reading about it ...

I rarely ever use 6%, but on the few occassions I have, it has always won.

This, on the other hand, suggests that you're being too conservative with your 6% (depending on how many times it's come up, of course!).

Certainly looks like you're doing something right, anyway. I'm beginning to understand why people are wanting to buy your system from you and why FC's making crap dyslexic jokes. If I had $10,000 for every person who had offered to buy my system for $100, I'd be the butt of a dyscalculic joke myself ... which I probably am anyway ...

 

[DaveJB]

In my youth I bet on horses, generally 50p a time, avoiding anything more complex than a 'double' as a rule, when I was flush I'd bet a quid. (This was in the 70s). Maybe 5-6 times I bet £5 when I was doing particularly well - one week I ran £1.62 (2x50p wins and a 50p win double) up to over £120, having deducted several nights out enroute... about 4 weeks pay at the time. I NEVER lost a £5 bet.... I suspect it's the same with the 6% ones, they're once in a blue moon, trades you are rock solid sure about. Oddly enough, when you know it, you are rock solid sure.
(I gave up gambling on horses as I decided I simply didn't have a gambling turn of mind, I'm quite risk averse... now look at me <g>)
Dave