TRADER / BLOGGER COMMUNITY

I have been reading a lot of bloggers in the investment and/or trading community and I found it fascinating. This is a surprisingly tight community with extensive cross-links, a lot of communication (mostly via blogs, comments, Q&A, and discussions), a lot of respect and strong support for each other. There are a lot of commonalities and I put this piece together, just for fun. I hope my generalization of this diverse community will not offend anyone.

1. Most have gone through the Tech Bubble, September 11, and the recession of 01-02, and survived and thrived. They are veterans and proud of it (born in the bubble, baptized during September 11, survived 01-02 recession, triumphed in 03 rally, and matured today).
2. Almost all of them love what they do (reading, writing, investing, trading, and original thinking), and they will never exchange it for a lifeless office or a cubicle.
3. They are voracious readers and very fast learners. They read a lot of books, news, commentaries, studies, arts, politics, current affairs, and most importantly each other. They read, they learn and they share (they come, they see, they conquer).
4. They are diligent writers and keep up their blogs. Their writings, while most short, show a lot of characteristics described here.
5. They are impressively original, and fiercely independent, and consider these factors keys for their success. They guard their originality and independence with the same passion to investing / trading.
6. They are in the cutting edge of technology, not only with respect to investment in tech, but also to using technology, to being aware of new technology development and trend. They are intellectually curious, adventures and resourceful. They are willing to try new gigs and always spread around the community. I refer them as "Beta-ers" because they will be the first group to try "beta" version. Google ought keep this group in mind whenever it issues a beta version, which it has done rather frequently.
7. Their investment philosophy, while diverse, tends to be technical in orientation. However, each has developed its own methodology, which is reflected in their writings and blogs, and usually becomes the key feature of a member's blog. Such features, in turn, attract a lot of readers, particularly within the community.
8. Although most of them are professional traders, by which I mean they make their living by investing and trading, they consider themselves as small investors and tend to hold contrary views.
9. They are usually very disciplined investors.
10. They are deadly honest and generally are not afraid of admitting mistakes in their writing and postings.
11. Different from institutions, they are accountable as most update they portfolio recommendations regularly (monthly, quarterly, and annually). They should be. It's their own money at stake.

Comments are welcome.