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Oh...; I've discovered that all sorts of interesting things go on with the reported results of some of these educators / newsletter writers. A year or two ago; I almost posted to the forum, to ask whether I was being unreasonable for being so incredulous about the suddenly changed results of one of these people that I had accidentally noticed (in this case, it was an Australian, fairly well-known author / educator / newsletter provider) only to find that he/she was was not the only one who engaged in the (IMO) bizarre practice of retro-fitting back-tested results!
I could go on (I contacted this particular person, and they replied - with a lame but very friendly answer) and the bit that pee's me...is that I actually CARE that some people subscribe to these things. And - these are the better ones! Never mind the actual scammy ones...which also get people in.

Secondly, the thing I've never understood is:

Why some of these people (and here I've NOT got any particular mob in mind) go to all the efforts of advertising / making websites / writing books...or whatever...why turn to tricks in reporting results? Why not just produce a newsletter that simply beats the market? It's just not that hard to do! (Yes, for the discerning reader - I am being deliberately flippant...especially given my previously posted number one philosophy that humility is required to beat the market...but still. I'm not immune from ego and behavioural bias!) Anyway, that aside - the thing is, many people (my own small attempts on this forum included) have posted portfolios or trading diaries etc that handily beat the market. That is, after all, one of the beauties of a forum like this...you can't go back and re-doctor the results!

So...if you're going to go to all the trouble of running a business about it...why on earth would you not produce something that beats the market, without any trickery?

Because I kinda like chatting with newer investors and those finding their feet etc..there is a part of me that wishes I'd finished the financial planning part of my degree that would have allowed me to post my own newsletter, in this overly-regulated country (that still doesn't protect people, anyway!). At least (warning: ego-driven comment ahead) it would have actually beaten the market, in real-time, after costs, without any twisted, 'oh...we re-tweaked some parameters and re-ran the back tests(!)'

Sheesh!

rare rant over...sorry!

<blockquote data-quote="systematic" data-source="post: 957643" data-attributes="member: 49711">Oh...; I&#039;ve discovered that all sorts of interesting things go on with the reported results of some of these educators / newsletter writers.&nbsp; A year or two ago; I almost posted to the forum, to ask whether I was being unreasonable for being so incredulous about the suddenly changed results of one of these people that I had accidentally noticed (in this case, it was an Australian, fairly well-known author / educator / newsletter provider) only to find that he/she was was not the only one who engaged in the (IMO) bizarre practice of retro-fitting back-tested results! I could go on (I contacted this particular person, and they replied - with a lame but very friendly answer) and the bit that pee&#039;s me...is that I actually CARE that some people subscribe to these things.&nbsp; And - these are the better ones!&nbsp; Never mind the actual scammy ones...which also get people in.Secondly, the thing I&#039;ve never understood is:Why some of these people (and here I&#039;ve NOT got any particular mob in mind) go to all the efforts of advertising / making websites / writing books...or whatever...why turn to tricks in reporting results? Why not just produce a newsletter that simply beats the market?&nbsp; It&#039;s just not that hard to do! (Yes, for the discerning reader - I am being deliberately flippant...especially given my previously posted number one philosophy that humility is required to beat the market...but still.&nbsp; I&#039;m not immune from ego and behavioural bias!)&nbsp; Anyway, that aside - the thing is, many people (my own small attempts on this forum included) have posted portfolios or trading diaries etc that handily beat the market.&nbsp; That is, after all, one of the beauties of a forum like this...you can&#039;t go back and re-doctor the results!So...if you&#039;re going to go to all the trouble of running a business about it...why on earth would you not produce something that beats the market, without any trickery?Because I kinda like chatting with newer investors and those finding their feet etc..there is a part of me that wishes I&#039;d finished the financial planning part of my degree that would have allowed me to post my own newsletter, in this overly-regulated country (that still doesn&#039;t protect people, anyway!).&nbsp; At least (warning: ego-driven comment ahead) it would have actually beaten the market, in real-time, after costs, without any twisted, &#039;oh...we re-tweaked some parameters and re-ran the back tests(!)&#039;Sheesh! rare rant over...sorry!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="systematic, post: 957643, member: 49711"] Oh...; I've discovered that all sorts of interesting things go on with the reported results of some of these educators / newsletter writers. A year or two ago; I almost posted to the forum, to ask whether I was being unreasonable for being so incredulous about the suddenly changed results of one of these people that I had accidentally noticed (in this case, it was an Australian, fairly well-known author / educator / newsletter provider) only to find that he/she was was not the only one who engaged in the (IMO) bizarre practice of retro-fitting back-tested results! I could go on (I contacted this particular person, and they replied - with a lame but very friendly answer) and the bit that pee's me...is that I actually CARE that some people subscribe to these things. And - these are the better ones! Never mind the [I]actual [/I]scammy ones...which also get people in. [B][I]Secondly, the thing I've never understood is: [/I][/B] Why some of these people (and here I've NOT got any particular mob in mind) go to all the efforts of advertising / making websites / writing books...or whatever...why turn to tricks in reporting results? Why not just produce a newsletter that simply beats the market? It's just not that hard to do! (Yes, for the discerning reader - I am being deliberately flippant...especially given my previously posted number one philosophy that humility is required to beat the market...but still. I'm not immune from ego and behavioural bias!) Anyway, that aside - the thing is, many people (my own small attempts on this forum included) have posted portfolios or trading diaries etc that handily beat the market. That is, after all, one of the beauties of a forum like this...you can't go back and re-doctor the results! So...if you're going to go to all the trouble of running a business about it...why on earth would you not produce something that beats the market, without any trickery? Because I kinda like chatting with newer investors and those finding their feet etc..there is a part of me that wishes I'd finished the financial planning part of my degree that would have allowed me to post my own newsletter, in this overly-regulated country (that still doesn't protect people, anyway!). At least (warning: ego-driven comment ahead) it would have actually beaten the market, in real-time, after costs, without any twisted, 'oh...we re-tweaked some parameters and re-ran the back tests(!)' Sheesh! [I]rare rant over...sorry![/I] [/QUOTE]

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