Bashers and trolls inhabit this boardThis is who they are and how they work.
Who they are:
EscapeArtist
gaggersez
Mylar1
potashluver
Nightowl
Oceaneleven
bobby1234
losecash
chalkstick
billyjones
willyjones
How they work:
-They will do their best to remain anonymous or use a fake identity.
-They will use about 10% fact and 90% suggestion. The carefully chosen and carefully placed facts are there to lend credibility to the rest of what they say, which is merely unfounded suggestion intended to deceive.
-To start with, they wait for others to help you learn about whatever stock interests you.
-Then they develop rapport and build a support base before initiating their bashing routine.
-They will enter the discussion with humor and will reply to everyone else who replies to their target's postings.
-A single basher often will use two or more aliases to make it appear that a discussion has begun. He or she will post from multiple ISP's and use multiple "handles."
-The basher usually does not start with an all-out slam of the stock. He or she will build up to the bashing over a period of time.
-Bashers will identify their foe, usually the board's "guru." Then the clever bashers will use them to their own advantage and lead them, but they will not follow the "guru's" lead.
-Bashers only bash until the tide and momentum turns, then they simply let doubt carry their message the rest of the way. Bashers try to give the appearance of being open-minded.
-Bashers are bold in their statements, knowing that people like to follow strength.
-Bashers like to write headlines in capital letters and use catchy phrases.
-Bashers will "pour it on" as their position gains momentum. Bashers don't worry about being labelled a "basher," since the current newbie being targeted won't know the basher's history.
-When identified, a basher will put up a brief fight, then back off and return in an hour or so. But if a basher's foe is a weak in reasoning powers, the basher will just come on even stronger and push ahead with the bashing.
-If a basher is discredited, he or she will change aliases, maybe change the gender of the alias, and continue on that board or another one.
-A basher's goal is to limit the momentum of the run, but not to tank the company or create a plunge in the stock; thus a basher will tend to be subtle and consistent.
-The basher is out to kill the dreams of profits, but not the company or the stock itself.
-Bashers use questions to create critical thinking, but they guide the critical thinking toward their own intended conclusion. What is posted ends up not actually being critical thinking on the part of the investor; it just looks like it is.
The investor feels informed but, in reality, the basher has guided the thinking.
-Bashers encourage people to call the company, knowing that 99% of them won't ever do so. Instead, all but the most savvy investors will take the basher's word for claims made.
-If an investor does call, a smart basher can always find something that is inaccurate in the report of what the company said.
-Bashers also discourage people from taking the company's word for anything, saying, "Of course that is what the company is going to claim."
-If the company's history or its PR is negative, a basher will continually return to that point.
-The basher will compile a list of anything negative about the company that is true before beginning to bash it.
-If the price of the company's stock rises, the basher will attribute that to the hype or the PR, claim it's only a temporary mass reaction, say "it's just the market," or give any reason other than the actual merits of the stock itself.
-If other posters share a basher's "concerns", the basher will play on his or her good luck and share even more "concerns."
-Bashers always cite low volume, even when it's not true.
-A basher who is writing from three or four aliases can dominate a board and wear down the rest of the posters.
-Bashers will bait the investors into personality debates, diverting their focus and efforts from the stocks to the posters. This is Mylar1’s specialty.
-Bashers will say they are trying to present the facts from a "different perspective."
-Bashers will try to promote other stocks that would-be investors can investigate instead of the one they are bashing.
-Bashers refuse to respond to any challenges on the "values" or ethics of what they are doing. For them, it's a game, and they are playing it by their own rules.