Good points, Peter.
Again, a fair up and a fair down.
Regarding your comment:
>>>PartyTime, I truly believe you are not fully cognizant of how rife stock fraud is out there - it is ceaseless. Every day I find another fraudulently promoted stock - i swear.<<<
First stock I ever bought was a Nasdaq stock, LighPath Technologies (then LPTHA, LPTHU, LPTHW and LPTHZ) which was the first company to offer light-bending technology. I loaded up on the A's, W's and Z's and did extremely well. Took profits and began vigorously online trading, thinking I was somewhat immune 'cause I could pick 'em so good. Not quite!
I got taken the cleaners on ZULU (great idea, huh!) and TRGC whose CEO took all the money and tried to hang out in Colombia and it ended up bankrupted but survived (still holding this as my sleeper stock--lol). And there were a few others where I got knocked around.
But I watched, I learned and through the politics of experience eventually developed a nice position trading strategy buying IPOs in the open market, selling quickly and then trying to time the low and buying back in before Quiet Period expiration. When QP expired the the parade of analyst dutifully chirped in with the buy recs, I sold again. If I liked a particular IPO I'd hang on to some for the long haul. It was a great strategy and worked well and I guess the best part is I didn't have to become a shorter--lol!
When the once hot IPO market dwindled I settled into just trying to pick out a couple bright prospects (sorta like a major league scout trying to find the best shortstops). Except for my current prospects I don't post much anymore, unless a major issue hits and then my exceedlingly fast typing fingers get flying again.
And over the years--complimentary SI member in '97 and a full one in '98, RagingBull and Yahoo too--I've seen quite a bit on these boards and I've noted the ravage on both sides.
I once had a battle with then-Truthseeker (by the way, no longer CraigGoon.com--he's got another new one!) when my girlfriend got caught long on something he opposed. I owned the stock once but only briefly. Anyway, I observed how he: a) put his report up on his website; b) copied the report onto the SI thread of the stock (ignoring RB and Yahoo); and c) three minutes after his SI post copied all of the shorting threads, first this one. There was no chance for innocent investors like my girlfriend to get out and for most innocent folks caught languishing in this position it becomes a matter of a rideout, which can only make matters worse.
Essentially, my battle with him was: Yes, he should expose scammy stocks. I was, am and always will be supportive of that. However, it was the manner in which he saddled his horse and lit lanterns for the shorties that, in my humble opinion, destroyed any and all moral high ground which could exist from what otherwise might be considered great research.
You see, rather than invoking a genuine discussion or raising legitimate questions on the merits of a company, both pro and con, the short fix was already in and lots of innocent folks immediately got hammered.
Anyway, I hope all of the new focus on this sorta stuff will help temper some of the bad we've seen in the past and that it, itself, will somehow turn into good. Come what may! |
