Policies For The TraderFeed Blog And My Personal Site

I've never had to write out the policies for the TraderFeed blog (which also apply to my personal site), but the time has come to make them explicit so that there are no misunderstandings in the future. I'm receiving an increasing number of requests from commercial vendors and purveyors of trading services to use my blog to promote their sites and products. Here are my policies about such matters:

1) I don't do link exchanges. Ever. If you think my sites are worth linking to, that's very nice. I'm not interested in increasing my "exposure" or in selling any services. I'll be more than happy to look over your site and, if I find unique, educational material, I'll be only too happy to link to it from my personal site. I don't expect links in return.

2) I don't accept payments or promotional considerations for mention on my sites. Ever. If you have something worth linking to, I'll gladly link for nothing simply to inform readers. I do link to commercial sites and services that provide unique information to the trading public, but this is not on a compensated basis. I don't link to sites that are largely self-congratulatory and self-aggrandizing.

3) I post essentially all comments to my blog. The only exceptions would be spam and obscene, name-calling, or vulgar posts that do not offer constructive content. The role of comments is to establish dialogue among colleagues. I prefer that personal messages to me be sent by email to me directly rather than posted as blog comments. I welcome constructive criticism and, indeed, learn much from it. If you send a comment that isn't posted the same day, please email me with a heads up. I average well over 100 emails and comments a day and occasionally overlook some.

4) I do not authorize my articles to be republished on other sites without my expressed permission. Respect for copyright is the operative principle here. At present, only one site has permission to republish selected articles from TraderFeed: Seeking Alpha. Once again, anyone wishing to link to my articles is welcome to do so. The appearance of my articles on a site could be construed as an endorsement, and I choose to avoid that perception.

5) I don't provide coaching or commercial services to the trading public. I appreciate requests for my services and am flattered that someone would think of me, but my responsibilities to the trading firms I work for, my own trading, my writing, and my family preclude such involvements. If I can, I'm happy to provide free referrals for professional services.

So there it is. The blog site and my personal site are designed as educational tools only. They are not designed to recommend specific trades or investments; nor are they designed to provide counseling or psychotherapy assistance. My goal is to help traders become their own coaches and mentors. I've appreciated the tremendous support over the past year and wish all readers a wonderful 2007!