lisa,
IMO, a post that is positive or negative in and of itself is not necessarily manipulation. One can, at times, make a reasonable assumption of intention by looking at the content of the posts and the timeliness of the appearance of the posts and poster.
It is "normal" for posters in a long position that has had a rapid and extended rise to get a little slap happy and say WE'RE GUNNA BE RICH...It seems reasonable to assume the poster is happy and not manipulating. However, if a poster pops into a thread and says "I found this stock that is going to announce something very shortly (which I can't reveal right now)that is going to send the share price to the moon." I am going to come to a reasonable conclusion of attempted manipulation. The question is more of the content of the post, rather than the positive aspect.
On the short side. If the poster identifies inconsistencies with a companies forward earnings estimates or postulates that they are unsustainable in some time frame, the post is negative, but not clearly manipulative. Similarly, if the poster appears with a thought that there are "accounting irregularites" (that can't be discussed now) that will come to light and everyone should sell NOW; I'll assume attempted manipulation. Again it is the content of the post, rather than the negative aspect.
I don't care whether someone takes a long or short postion, but I do have equal disdain for those that, without supporting arguments, hype a stock positively or negatively.
This thread is in a very slight way guilty of discouraging negative postings, but has always given the opportunity (by Venkie and others)to the negative posters to justify positions, which seem to be declined. I don't read every post here, but it is reasonably easy to find posts that support with detailed arguments a long position and quite difficult to find posts that support with detailed arguments a short position. In some sense I find this odd, because successfull short players can be some of the most informed investors around.
Lucretious, for example, has taken a position on Dell; while I don't think his posts have been very substantive, I don't consider them to be manipulative either. Other posters have recently appeared who focus on the last few trading days and appear to play strictly on fear, uncertainty and doubt. I consider these persons to be manipulative and deserving of ridicule, much as I would of the person that "finds a stock that's going to the MOON."
Best Regards,
Jim |
