Nickola,

The points you raise are valid. Ultimately, though, the robots are proprietary creations that Pascal and Billy have generously made available to subscribers. What if this service were no longer available, for one reason or another? Many here rely daily on the words Pascal and Billy share. I hope they will share their insights for many years to come, but in sharing their insights and toolset, they are teaching us "to fish," and that is where so much of the value is created. The same can probably be said of Gil and Dr. K.

Is there not value in a diversified set of methods? I believe there is, and one could easily allocate a portion of their funds to the robot while developing and fine-tuning other methods for which one is suited.

A CANSLIM investor might go for long periods (months or even years) with nominal returns, and then a growth market comes along and they make an absolute killing. But that only comes with practice and the likely challenges and trials that come with developing any skill.

To answer your question, I don't believe the robot makes homework obsolete, in so much as that homework reflects one's personal goals as a trader. If one is capable of developing and back-testing their own algorithms to create their own robot, then the answer could be different. But for someone like myself, not trained in mathematics and programming, I need to rely on more nuanced methods of interpreting the market, which boils down to experience, precedent, hard work, and study.

Perhaps my youth makes me a bit stubborn, and you do indeed have very salient points about the Robots. Many thanks for the thoughtful discussion.

Eric