Has it ever happened to you?  You put time and effort into making a relationship work.  You give them your trust and your confidence, and then it happens…

You find out they are faking their trades.

After you get over the pain, the anger, and the “hurt”, what do you?

Do what I do….nothing.

In 2006 I came across a trading blog that I really liked.  The author was illustrating a style of trading that I had never used before but that immediately spoke to me.  I followed the blog religiously, examined the analysis, and started incorporating some of the techniques into my own trading.

Then one of the readers that regularly commented on the site reached out to me and informed me that he thought the blog’s author was in fact not really trading at all. He accused him of “faking it.”

At first I admit that I was shocked and perhaps a bit mad.  But then I realized something.  The techniques I had learned from following the blog were working in my trading.  I was making money using them.

It dawned on me that analysis from this blog was 100% spot on and it was irrelevant as to if the blog’s author was really trading these set ups or not.  My goal was to learn and to improve my trading skills, and this blog had helped me do it.

And I get it.  Isn’t the person being deceptive?  Shouldn’t you try to expose the truth?  Blah, blah, blah.

In poker we use term “table police” for someone that feels they need to make everyone toe the line and act accordingly.  You’re not the trading police.  Trust me, you don’t want to be, it’s a waste of valuable time and energy.

So the next time you hear that someone might be “faking it”, first look at the information, and content, and more importantly the tone that comes from the accused.  If it is competent and brings value then use it and pass it on.

And if it doesn’t, then go ahead and rip them a “new one” the size of Florida.

I posted this video on my blog a few days ago. Is the analysis dependent on if I took the trade?

(Note: If you are new to my blog, I post about all sorts of things.  Sometimes it involves something extremely personal, like creating a 30K baby or a trading blow up.  Other times it deals with hot ex-porn stars who trade stocks.  And sometimes it’s about how to avoid “suicide”.  But a good place to start is The Best of bclund.  If you like what you read, please tell a friend.  If you don’t, please tell two friends.)