Hello Stockfriend,
I agree with almost everything you wrote on your reply. Your words are certainly filled with wisdom. I quite understand that we are all here to exchange ideas, and that's good. But I think some individuals, for differents illegal reasons, try to manipulate certain boards of discussions in order to mislead people that read those boards. You would say ''listen, you don't have to believe everything you read, unless you are naive or stupid'', and you would be absolutely wright. You would add ''Do you really think those individuals make a difference on the sp or on decisions of investors to buy or sell a stock?!'' Well, the answer may not be that obvious. I'm sure you heard of paid pumpers/bashers. I'm also quite certain that you are aware of pumpers/bashers who have been taken in front of a judge to respond to their illegal behavior. Am I being naive here? Am I being stupid? I think not. Do you think corporations spend hundred of millions of dollars in publicity just for fun? Of course not! They spend a lot of money because they are well aware that by doing so, they are going to bring more clients to their bussiness. Now, there is different ways to advertise a product or a corporation. T.V., radio, newspapers and... rumors. Some corporations hire P.R. and marketing firms just to start rumors that will lead to an increase in their business revenus. And you know what? It works.
Accordingly, you will have to admit that if paid bashers/pumpers exist, its simply because it works. Moreover, pumpers/bashers don't even have to get paid to do what they do. They can do it for their own benefit. You know, when a rumor starts out of a ''fact'', the devastation can be terrible if the job is done in a ''professional''manner.
So at the end, honest people always pay for that.
When you say ''just call the company to get the truth''. Well, companies do not always want to disclose something, they say ''we cannot talk about that specific subject, you know, we are public...''
We both know that bashers/pumpers know perfectly well that elementary rule...
So that's why I say we don't want to take dishonest misleading ''facts'' like if it is just another ''opinion'' and like if it was not grave. It is grave. It is serious. It is illegal. And people that willfully mislead other people in order to benefit from their illegal behavior must respond to their act in justice. We say in Quebec; ''bandits en cravates''. It means you are not less of a crook if you wear a tie...
Just ask yourself ''why am I reading a forum? Why am I spending several minutes/hours a day reading those boards? Probably because you end up finding what you think are ''good'' infos and opinions. If not, you would certainly not waste all that time reading those boards. Am I correct? At the end my friend, we are all influenced, at different levels, by what we read, by what we ear. Me, you, everyone. Evewryone. And if someone intelligent wants to influence us, our thinking, he will find a way, and he will probably succeed. Of course, we will never admit it, unless we are filled with wisdom... Ask the germain people, who are obviously not idiots, why they followed Hitler. Remember, ''you tell a lie 50 times to a person, he will still think it's a lie. Repeat 500 times that same lie to that very same person, it will become a reality...''
Regards
