“The Fly”: Founder of iBankCoin, He Is Not Your Typical Blogger.

iBankCoin…?  The Fly…The Peanut Gallery…King of PG…The PPT…What the hell???  These are the first thoughts that crossed my mind when I discovered iBankCoin.  Now, if you’ve ever visited the site before (and I know many of my readers have),  I’m sure you can attest to the “not-so-typical” impression you got during your first visit.

Well don’t worry.  There’s a reason why you were caught off guard when you visited iBankCoin expecting a typical financial blog…because it’s not.  The mastermind behind this atypical blog, mostly known only as “The Fly” (probably except a few lucky people who know his true identity), built his reader base through spiced up writing style and contents.  As described by “The Fly”, his edgy commentaries combined with his value-adding insight on the market are what led him to his current status.

If you don’t know him, get to know him now because he’s certainly a big part of my entertainment during my morning commute.  With over 2,000 followers on Twitter (@The_Real_Fly) ,~10,000 visits a day, and hundreds of comments per day, “The Fly” is doing something right.

So who the hell is he?? Although I failed to get anything that gets me closer to his true identify, he helped me answer some of the questions I personally had for him.  I hope you enjoy the interview and get to know his character that you’ll get to consume at iBankCoin.

“I know this may be a silly attempt, but I gotta try. Who are you? What is your background? Besides dishing out valuable investing contents spiced up by your entertaining style of writing, do you have other secrets that led to your popularity?”

I am “The Fly, ” better known as “Le Fly” in France or Senor Tropicana in Vegas. I’ve been managing money for more than a decade. Aside from being the best wordsmith on the internet, constantly keeping the blog updated with fresh/relevant content and generally not giving a f*ck about what people think, there are no secrets to blogging. Like anything else, in order to be successful, you need to do it better than everyone else and with greater frequency.

“Recently, the topic of bloggers and our “anonymity” sparked some discussions, thanks to Dennis Kneale and his idiotic attempts to attack the bloggers. I believe iBC was one of the bloggers mentioned by Dennis on his show – the so called “cowards”. Well, what is your rationale behind this whole anonymity? Given the premium service (PPT) you offer, you’d think you’re better off not to go this route for credibility purposes?”

Some people enjoy having their name out there, so deranged people from the internet can prank call them, during late hours of the night. Personally, I’d rather have my eyes gouged out by a pack of wild dogs, than have that happen to me; thank you very much. As for my premium service: the issue of anonymity is an irrelevant factor, since it is an analytic engine, not some sort of paid newsletter.

“Why did you start your blog? It is now quite popular with over 10,000 visits per day with hundreds commenting on posts each day. What got you so popular?”

The blog is popular because I filled a void. Before I started blogging, most finance sites followed a ridiculous moral code, whereby edgy commentary was banished and considered blasphemous. Aside from providing edgy commentary, I win a lot too, so that helps a great deal, with regards to credibility.

“You have a very unique style of writing, a rather abusive one I’d say. I personally love it and use it to spice up my dull morning commute. However, I suspect not everyone reacts the same way. Has your writing led to any haters? Threat mails? Any fun stories you can share?”

Not really. If you notice, I rarely single out people. My threats and insults are broad and general. Therefore, they are meant for no one, if you know what I mean. I’ve received a few “you’re a real jerk” emails, but nothing to call the internet police over.

“Can you tell us a bit about your PPT (premium service)? How many subscribers do you have?”

It is an analytic engine that ranks every stock that is publicly traded, sans non-listed, thinly traded turds, using specific technical and fundamental data. It’s like iBD on steroids, but better by a factor of 1,000. At the moment, we have about 400 subs.

“Your blog has been around for a few years, but I suspect you’ve been a trader much longer. How long have you been trading?”

I started investing when I was a teenager; but I did not trade until I got in the business. One of my early wins was AMER, before it became AOL. I made a lot of money on the stock, which in turn motivated me to enter the field of money management.

“What do you think of Jim Cramer?”

Jim is an entertainer and has not managed other people’s money in nearly a decade. Like an old baseball player, Jim has lost his swing, sad but true.

If you did not at least grin at some of his commentaries, you need help.  I hope you enjoyed his responses as much as I did.  Thanks to The Fly for his “exclusive” participation as he indicated he had never done an interview for anyone else.  We all get lucky once in our lifetime.