Lately, the emotional atmosphere on the blog has been running a little on the hot side, and I wanted to address this. I've received a few emails complaining about "childish" behavior from some participants, and I've noticed a higher-than-average level of needling and snark.

I know as well as anyone that this blog has a lot of bear blood running through it, even though some superbly skilled bulls frequent it as well. And, as a "bearish blog" in an environment where the market is relentlessly moving higher, it's natural that there's a lot of disappointment and frustration going around.

I would hope that bears would not take this frustration and disappointment out on others, although in a couple of cases I've seen that, and for bulls, I would hpoe that gloating would be kept to a minimum (which,again, only has a couple of problematic cases).

Preserving a culture of inane chatter and puerile rantings is a cinch; browse the Yahoo message boards for evidence of that. Promoting and protecting a culture of respect, shared knowledge, and comraderie is hard. Slopers are able to do this most of the time because of who they are (well, 99% of them, anyway) and thanks to the commitment of folks like Iggy and Market Sniper. It's also due to the contribution of writers besides myself, such as Springheel Jack, Runedge, Leaf West, and many others.

I want people to feel good when they are on the blog, no matter what kind of day they are having. I don't like seeing fighting; I don't like seeing nastiness; I don't like seeing name-calling; and I don't like seeing ugly wishes laid bare. I'm all too human, and I've definitely had my "moments", but I think that, over the years, I've become about as good a citizen on the blog as I would hope others would be.

The vast majority of Slopers are fine, and this message isn't intended as a blog-wide scolding. It is simply meant as an expression of values and an affirmation that keeping this place welcoming and positive for all manner of traders is something that matters to me.

Thank you, and good luck to you all on Wednesday.