RE: Stag's a DragSometimes, hell almost all the time, if everybody is doing "it", "it" becomes "right", despite the law (I know you can think of a dozen examples in society where that has become true), since "right" is a culturally defined term.
However, without getting to esoterical about the whole thing, it seems that you are arguing that it is not amoral to state your position "I am long on Wi-Lan" for example, and then promote that position, UNLESS, you do the same thing, but don't really mean it. In other words, intention is the key to morality, despite the actions being identical.
Put another way, do you honestly believe that if the kid had a website filled with stockpicks he promoted from the heart, with no malice to anyone, and the results were identical from a profit standpoint (just like you sold WIN for profit at times), that then he would be a MORAL soul? That the SEC would let him be? Uh. Uh. No way.
I think the kid did way less wrong than Todd Copeland, who pumped up or knocked down Wi-Lan as his and CIBC's objectives required. Yet, nobody fines them or threatens jail! Big guys 1 little guys 0.
I grant you the kid needs a lesson in ethics, but he is, after all, still a kid of 15, not really that mature, and his only real crime is that he was more effective at promoting his stock than others who post on internet chat boards were/are, but that's the only difference, whether you like the comparison to you or not.
His objective was to buy stock at a price and sell that same stock for a profit later. His method of achieving this included getting up at 5 AM to listen to CNBC, and then he'd post his essentially worthless opinions (as are most 15 year olds on money matters) on as many internet chat boards as he could, or by passing along fake rumors in the same fashion. Any adult would shake his head and say "the kid's got a lot to learn about how the market works".
Yet, it actually worked! Nobody checked out the source of their easily obtained scoop! Due diligence my butt.
Compare that to a situation where some old lady loses all her money on WIN, thanks to CIBC's Todd Copeland, and you should finally get my point, which is, that Todd Copeland is a bonefide public figure whose reputation as a professional should not be in question while he is employed by CIBC World Markets to give these opinions. When he says, in the same style as the kid, WIN IS GOING TO $200!, his opinions should be unbiased and of value. It turned out they were neither, but, unlike the kid's, they had the seal of approval from CIBC - and thus were, IMHO, a much more criminal act, as a result.
While I did not directly intend to "connect what you do" with the "activities of that amoral dufus", I maintain that the reason for his stock promotion on those boards matches at least one of your reasons for posting here on this board - to enhance or maintain the stock's price. This is my opinion, I may have your motives entirely wrong. It's my read given the nature, frequency and verocity of your involvement on the board - one with a vested interest he wishes to PROTECT. That's fair enough, by the way.
Granted, he was not as articulate, nor as learned, nor did he have as good a grasp on the companies he invested in as you are and do. Yet, he actually managed to manipulate the stock prices! By parroting what he saw on CNBC no less! That's incredible, and, in a way, admirable. It's also condemning of the guys who show up every AM on ROB TV to spew their worthless pitches to an unsuspecting public, for they gave this kid his "lingo", the "stock-speak" he needed to pull it off.
Like they often say of the genius criminal, "if only he had put his skills to use for the betterment of mankind"!
Anyhow, take no offence by any of this Jim, its just a pleasant distraction from the usual whine about what's happening with Wi-Lan today.
For what it's worth, I HEARD A RUMOR TODAY THAT WI-LAN AND NORTEL NETWORKS AND CELL-LOC AND DTSX ARE GOING TO ANNOUNCE A MAJOR DEAL ON MONDAY TO MAKE NORTH AMERICA COMPLETELY 802.11A WIRELESS BY THE FALL OF 2002! MY SOURCE, CHAMP9 AND HIS BROKER, SUGGEST WE ACCUMULATE ALL WE CAN BY FRIDAY AND HANG ON TIGHT FOR THE RIDE TO THE MOOON!!!