Hi Frank! Time for me to rant!
Each of the Qualcomm boards has its own personality. I would include the G & K board in that category since probably half of the messages relate to QCOM. I like your idea of some disclosure (long, short, etc.).
I also like to read some informed opinions that may be different than mine. I am open minded and would sell any stock in a heartbeat if I found legitimate and convincing evidence that it was overvalued. Longs, shorts, they are all welcome as long as things are kept civil, polite, and we agree to disagree.
The problem I have, and I think many share this opinion, is with those who claim to have no stake in QCOM, either long or short, yet spend countless hours posting about it. I follow SI for really one reason - TO MAKE MONEY!!! And I have made a lot of money, largely through knowledge and insight gained on these boards. Mostly in QCOM, but other equities also. So I do not understand the motivation of those who would spend so much time and effort here without any financial stake. Because I do not understand their motivation, I do not trust them. I listen, trying to filter out the static, hoping to gain some insight, hoping (actually FEARING!) that perhaps they have found something that I have missed. So far, they have only given me confidence that my research has been fairly complete, my judgements correct. The results are in my bank and brokerage accounts, which is what really counts. Let them have the rhetoric, I'll take the money.
The question remains however, what motivates these people to spend so much time following an investment they have no financial stake in? I have a few ideas, and welcome any one else's input.
1. These people are really shorts, they just do not want to disclose it. Too bad, since I have more respect for those who bet and lose than those who do not bet at all. You have to respect those who put their money where their mouth is!
2. They are paid bashers, like others a few years ago, who are on the payroll of Q's competitors to cry that CDMA will never work, it violates the laws of physics, it will never perform as well as GSM, Jacobs is a hypster (A few long timers may remember "Jacobs Platter", an all time classic). Now the claims are that QCOM IPR can be worked around, WFII will make CDMA obsolete, the demand for wireless communications is overblown, other variants of CDMA will doom QCOM, 4G will bypass 3G and happen without QCOM at the party, other chipmakers will make their own CDMA chips, and so on, and so on. It is almost pointless to debate these paid bashers, as they are not interested in a rational discussion, FUD is the name of the game. As each claim is disproved, they move on to a second claim, then a third, then back to the first in an endless cycle that never gets anywhere. The static is the same as it was years ago, only the source and frequency have changed somewhat.
3. They have some type of strong hatred of Qualcomm. Laid off employees who sold thier stock before the liftoff, employees of a competitor, whatever, they feel it is worth the time and effort to bash QCOM, even if there is no direct financial compensation. Debating this type of person is futile for the same reasons debating the paid bashers is futile.
4. They are legitimate investors, mostly value investors since many of their posts concern QCOM's valuation, and they follow the QCOM board out of curiosity. They cannot understand the "Growth" method of investing, only "Value" investing based on current earnings, current book value, current dividends, etc. They are Bulls on some stocks, and Bears on others, and post here as an intellectual exercise to balance their Value thread postings. I have absolutely no problem with this type of basher. Unfortunately, I do not think that many bashers here fall into that category. If you look at their profiles, they seldom have posts on the many SI "Value Stock" threads. I find it hard to believe that a legitimate Value investor who has so many negative things to say about QCOM's value would have nothing positive to say about any other stocks. Our bashers post a lot about what they DO NOT invest in and why we should not invest in it also, but seldom, on this or other boards, mention what they DO invest in.
4. They just do not have much of a life. Perhaps they have no job, perhaps they are a stay at home "domestic engineer", perhaps they inherited some money (perhaps in a trust where they do not make investment decisions), for whatever reason they have a lot of time on their hands, do not have the money, skills, or confidence to invest on their own (as in #3, if they did, they would post more on what they are investing in rather than what they are not), and for some reason have latched onto QCOM bashing and perhaps a few other high growth/risk stocks as a hobby. Basically, can you spell L-O-S-E-R? Ironically, some of these bashers seem to be fairly well educated, or at least can write fairly well.
5. They are Communists/Socialists. Not that I mean that in a bad way, but Qualcomm is a classic Capitalist success story. Qualcomm's entreprenurial spirit would not have made it in a true planned economy (Communism) or in an economy with significant government interference (e.g. Europe deciding on GSM to the exclusion of other digital formats). It has made some people incredibly wealthy, and some people view that as wrong. I have been debating one frequent contributor/basher of this thread on another board (a real estate board) and he seems to view a lot of things in a "the rich are getting richer by taking advantage of the poor" context, seemingly resentful of those who are financially successful.
So much for my ranting. Comments? Which of our bashers fit into which category? Any other ideas as to why someone with no financial interest in a stock would spend so much time bashing it?
Steve
Very long for a long time, although did sell some in the 100's. |
