I like Forex Factory, a place to post trading related questions and start trading related threads. I've started a thread on trading using Inside Bars, you can read it here.
But for a while now things have started to smell a little off. Threads and people getting binned and banned for, seemingly, spurious reasons. Mostly it's due to trying to sell stuff, which is funny in a way as that's what Forex Factory does, it sells advertising and makes money by having an active community. Nothing overly wrong with that, just a little 'double standards'.
What really bothers me though is that there seems to be a concerted effort to ban people who use certain indicators, specifically ones written by Avery T. Horton, Jr. aka "The Rumpled One". Avery, or TRO as he is known, has a strong following and you either love him or hate him. He's been banned on virtually every forex forum going. If you want a closer look at the typical reasons, then go to BabyPips for this explanation. TRO can be found posting at this site.
Now, I've been chatting with a user on Forex Factory called Money4Nothing who was banned, it appears, because he posts stuff with TRO indicators on them. If that was all he was banned for, then shame on Forex Factory.
Interestingly though, in researching this blog comment, I've noticed that some of the users banned, including Money4Nothing and Toddfx, have very similar posting styles. Both use TRO indicators and embed large images in the post by IMG tags, rather than the more common way of using attachments. This was a feature used by TRO on the BabyPips site, referenced earlier. Hmm, makes me wonder if these users were indeed TRO in disguise and it's not the fact they're using TRO indicators that got them banned, but more a case of this being TRO himself. If that's the case, then perhaps TRO should vary the way he posts :)
First, thanks for making this situation more public.
ReplyDeleteWhen I post, I post as TheRumpledOne. You can find me on various forums. I don't have time to keep up with different usernames. I will always be TheRumpledOne wherever I post unless I post under my real name.
People all over the world use my indicators. I tell them to post charts showing my indicators on the forums. I tell them to use www.tinypic.com to upload charts. So if someone has a posting style similar to mine, that's why.
Forex Factory banned me years ago because I exposed the truth about FIXED SPREAD BROKERS - THERE IS NO FIXED SPREAD IN FOREX. I was telling everyone about EFX Group, who at the time, was NOT an advertiser on Forex Factory. This was BEFORE I was an IB for EFX Group. My exposing the truth led to many people joining EFX. EFX later started advertising on Forex Factory but the ban was never lifted. I guess Merlin still holds a grudge.
Others get upset because of my indicators. Some I post for free. I have posted hundreds of free indicators. In response, many people have sent me donations. To thank them, I send them indicators that I do not post. People say I am selling indicators. At the present time, a $50 donation gets you over 150 indicators. Last year, I sent out over 340 indicators to people who donated.
Actually, this is all so silly as you pointed out. It is the INFORMATION HIGHWAY. Supposedly, the FREE EXCHANGE of information.
Thanks again, for blogging this.