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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: EnricoPalazzo who wrote (48194)	10/22/2001 5:40:51 PM
From: straight life	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 54805

This thread did two very dangerous things. One, it canonized certain members... who are Very Shrewd, Well Off, and offer Sound Advice. In toppling GM from his perch as arbitrator of all things Gorilla, we unwittingly installed some of our own in in his stead... This isn't about them, but about our reaction to them... ...then, when our idols turn out to have feet of clay, we turn on them, just as we did on GM, when what we should really question is our tendency to idolize." If you read my post again, you will notice my mentioning a Value Line report that I was relying on. I idolized and followed no one, blindly or otherwise; I read many sources and thought about all of them before I bought. With 20-20 hindsight this decision may appear foolish, but the truth of the matter is that at the time this decision was made these were fast growing markets and companies. My point was about emotions in the aftermath of traumatic events. I still look forward to reading Bruce, Mike, Eric L., Downsouth (who's been seen recently on the NTAP thread!) and others with special insights on company, technology or sector expertise when they choose to write. But I have let my Value Line subscription lapse.

To: EnricoPalazzo who wrote (48194)	10/22/2001 6:15:17 PM
From: Uncle Frank	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 54805

Ethan, I admire your response to tekboy's survey. It raises some important issues that we'll need to wrestle with, particularly the question of how to avoid influencing others unduly by voicing strongly held opinions which might put them at risk. I had always visualized that our efforts would empower each of us to make our own decisions through shared due diligence, but since we failed in your case, I'm sure we have in others as well, and that's deeply disturbing to consider. >> And then, when our idols turn out to have feet of clay, we turn on them, just as we did on GM, when what we should really question is our tendency to idolize. As far as I'm concerned, that's the problem in a nutshell, but given the human condition, is there a solution? There have been no shortage of critics who drop in to tell us g&kers that we have been stupid in adopting Moore's ideas, but the punchline is that they usually suggest we follow some other guru, be it Buffett, Knighty Tin, or themselves based on the success of their personally designed schemes. That's simply an invitation to trade one flawed shepherd for another. >> we have placed too high an importance on eloquence. Perhaps so, but how can you avoid doing so in a medium where ideas are expressed through writing? That's akin to saying we shouldn't put a high value on beauty in choosing a mate. Easy to say, but difficult if not impossible advice to follow. Perhaps the solution for those who can't resist the urge to be led, is to avoid threads like this, and probably analysts and financial journalists as well, and participate in the market through a number of index funds as Mucho Maas has suggested. But then he'd be in danger of becoming a guru, too. I'll keep thinking on it, and will welcome any constructive input. uf

To: EnricoPalazzo who wrote (48194)	10/22/2001 7:58:58 PM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 54805

ardethan@eternalrecurrence.net Ethan, I have several reactions to your post but the only one that makes sense is that the past period is simply too short an investing time period to make conclusions like that. Unless you are saying to yourself to do more of your own diligence. Which seems unlikely from the quality of your past posts. My own place, at the moment, is to still consider Moore's book and this thread, which the book led me to, as the second best thing that happened to my investment skills. The first was the fact that, as an academic, I was forced/enticed from day one to maximize my contributions to TIAA-CREF. Without Moore's book and this thread, I would not have had the courage to start my own investment program with a small portion of those monies. I'm down at the moment but not terribly because I kept buying as the market went down which lowered my entry share price. I consider the present moment one of the great stock buying opportunities I'm likely ever to have. And I have some sense now of where the internet is likely to go over the next ten years, some sense of how the various technologies will shape that, some sense of what makes for good and bad companies, good and bad strategies, none of which I had four or five years ago. And, though it sounds very strange, Moore's book and this thread enabled some of it. I don't expect that to sound quite so strange in three or four years, at the outside. John