[serf]

>Really? I thought that HN commentators were typically smarter ...

That's a common sentiment.[0]

I've made money on forex, but to be clear -- I made the trade knowing it was a gamble and made out. This isn't smart behavior.. but I'm surely not the only one here.

It's a 'hobby' that appeals to people who like to automate and script things, even if the exchanges are actively malicious towards hobbyist-'quants'.

[0] : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-group_favoritism

[whimsicalism]

I don't think it is "in-group bias" to say that if I gave an SAT test to a random sample of HN commentators and then gave one to a random sample of Americans, the HN commentator group would very likely do better.

[fractionalhare]

An SAT? Maybe, sure. Forex trading? Doubt the modal HN user would do statistically better than the modal American.

[whimsicalism]

This is entirely consistent with my claim, if you read my comments.