Jeff:
I agree about the risks of chat rooms generally, on SI or Yahoo. It is a fascinating phenomenon, and the psychology that exists, which you probably best understand. Some chat rooms are filled with animals of multiple stripes; should an outlier happen onto their turf, it can become a feeding frenzy. Witness your reference to another thread on semiconductors.
I think this thread is filled with mainly mature individuals. That maturity, in conjunction with intellect and the fact that many come from all walks of life, would seem to prevent excessive group-think. I think there are enough objective, independent-minded individuals, that differing points of view are encouraged and brought to the fore.
This chat room is in some ways similar to being on a team. Members have different skill sets, or talents; it would seem we nearly all are participating in the same game, ie Q; I would think that since we are all vested, negative information would be posted quickly here and evaluated so that many of us could reduce our exposure. The team approach is such that we would likely warn eachother of imminent storm clouds. There are examples of us not just encouraging eachother to buy, but also to get out.
There are examples of disagreements. Some of us have chosen to take positions in potential gorillas, which are mid-chasm, such as Gemstar and Rambus. Some are widely diversified, some restricted to a handful of stocks, and one famous and nimble individual entirely concentrated in the Q alone. Some weeks ago, this latter resulted in heavy discussion and widely separate opinions about investing philosophy.
I also think that this is not a thread focused on 1 company, but on many, and that invites greater heterogeneity of membership. OTOH, the Cisco thread or the Ascend thread or others could be quite biased, and have in the past been less tolerant of hetergeneic opinions. Some with differing opinions are improperly labeled "thread morons"; some may fit that label, but others do not IMHO, and are sickeningly barbecued.
Finally, some threads are chaperoned by Stalin or Gestapo clones, whilest here, we have been supervised by mature, experienced, diplomatic and mannered leaders. We disciples are learning more here than just Q fundamentals, gorilla-hunting priniciples, the definition of diversification or otherwise.
stan |
