Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Beware of investor chat sites

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Has anyone else read this article? I thought it was quite app.


http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,25479,22975496-14327,00.html



Online chats can degenerate into slanging matches
Consider what's motivating a post before taking advice
More personal finance news in our Money section

ONE of the attractions of investing in speculative resources stocks, is the possibility of doubling or tripling your money in a short time when a company releases some spectacular news.

While trying to consistently pick out the companies which will produce these kind of returns is a fool's errand, it does happen.

And if you believe some of the pundits on stock chat sites such as Hotcopper and ShareScene.com, they can tell you exactly where and when to invest your money.

In reality however, the information on these sites ranges from the useful to the ridiculous, with a fair bit of personal acrimony mixed in to keep it interesting.

Take for example the recent share price run experienced by Adelaide company Flinders Diamonds.

Flinders has been a hot topic of discussion on Hotcopper since it released an iron ore target in the Pilbara last month.

The shares ran up 790 per cent cent in one day and have garnered a lot of interest since.

Discussion has ranged around what the real value of the announcement was, and hence, where the shares should be.

With equal vehemence, posters have predicted the stock will "definately (sic) be two dollars next year'' (note: if they can't spell, think twice about taking their stock advice), and that it would plunge back to the 1c levels it had previously floated around.

Often when a stock is the subject of such wild conjecture, the debate devolves into a slanging match, with posters playing the man rather than the ball.

Despite the noise surrounding in-favour stocks, these sites also have their fair share of posters who generate well-considered critiques of companies, and help others to understand company valuations and prospects.

The key, as with all other areas of investing, is to understand the risk you are taking and whether it is a risk you can afford and are comfortable with.

Anonymous share tips posted on a website, claiming to have identified the next big thing, should start the alarm bells ringing.

How many of these will be traders looking to "ramp'' stocks they own, and how many will be selfless individuals willing to risk being prosecuted for releasing market-sensitive information, just for your enrichment? I'll leave you to decide.
 
Hotcopper is pure vaudeville masquerading as 'investment' discussion.

I have to admit though that I am a subscriber. It is highly entertaining and there are a few decent posters on there in the morass.

If I was a psychologist, I would do an in depth study of HC and the abuse that is bandied about by the various posters. Also the wild claims of excessive riches, trading success and general 'one upmanship'. The facelessness of the internet seems to allow some a false sense of bravado and a licence to attack at will.
 
A day out at the races can bring fortunes to a fool
who doubles up his losing bets by some outdated rule
there's no exceptions sadly from the ASX floor dins...
.. one trader always loses when another trader wins. ;)

Having said that , I'd like to say thanks for all the altruism shown in 99% of the trading posts around here ;)
 
You'll notice that not-surprisingly ASF was not mentioned in that article. Thanks to Joe and the other mods vigilance against ramping at ASF has been extremely effective...not to mention a lot of hard work.
 
You'll notice that not-surprisingly ASF was not mentioned in that article. Thanks to Joe and the other mods vigilance against ramping at ASF has been extremely effective...not to mention a lot of hard work.

I have to second that one ASX.G..... it's not easy to monitor a live website for ramping and I am always impressed by how quick the mods respond and query....

My hat off to Joe and the team as well...

Cheers
 
You'll notice that not-surprisingly ASF was not mentioned in that article. Thanks to Joe and the other mods vigilance against ramping at ASF has been extremely effective...not to mention a lot of hard work.

For Joe's sake it would have been good if ASF had been mentioned, but in a positive way.

Anyone with connections to the newscorp writer quoted who could go to bat for the forum?

gg
 
For Joe's sake it would have been good if ASF had been mentioned, but in a positive way.

Anyone with connections to the newscorp writer quoted who could go to bat for the forum?

gg
Probably no need for connections, GG. You could do a great job of writing to them explaining the difference between ASF and the others. Then maybe they'd like to interview Joe, etc etc.
 
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