RE:why are there I read an article about a year ago that talked about trolls/bashers/pumpers on the web who are paid to do what they do. They follow traffic and have various goals. It was interesting... I'll try to track it down. It was from the point of view of a person who has several online personas and how he/she uses them.
With the massive influx of retail investors (unprecidented in the history of stocks) there is money to be made from market fear/exuberence. Most new people consider these boards "DD".
Thank weedstocks. Everyone in Canada wants a trading account now.