A reiteration of the "Statement of Purpose" of this group

[A HERETIC I AM]

For as long as I have been a member of DU, this group has been a relatively quiet, low traffic back corner of Democratic Underground. It always seemed the reason for that was because it had a specific directive; the discussion of investing as a PERSONAL matter or issue, as opposed to one that was generally or broadly noteworthy.

By that I mean the mundane, the boring, the specific, as opposed to the flashy, the exciting and the general discussion of the topic at hand.

Personal Finance and Investing.

I have always viewed this group as one that is not necessarily a forum to discuss sensationalistic trends or financial news stories that have gained wide attention because of their unusual nature.

Those sorts of topics are best suited for General Discussion or the Economy Group, in my opinion.

I requested the administrators of DU to be made a host of this group a couple years ago. I asked for that designation precisely because of an uptick in traffic and the predictable off topic posts and threads such traffic would provide.

I said it before and I will restate it now, I do not want to be heavy handed in any way whatsoever in the moderation of this group. It is my sincere desire for there to be open and frank discussion of the topic at hand. The “powers” of a group host are relatively limited anyway. All I can do is lock a thread as off topic and ban members from participating, both of which I have done precisely once each in over two years as host. The banned member, BTW was a somewhat new member of DU, was sort of stalking me, was “Flagged for Review” shortly after and has not had posting privileges restored.

But above all I think it is important, nay, PARAMOUNT that accurate information be the rule here, not the exception. Leave the folks that don’t know or care to know the difference between an account and an investment to post elsewhere.

Why?

Because in many cases we are talking about people’s life savings here. Accurate information is of the utmost importance, because the opposite, if acted upon could be financially ruinous.

This is the Statement of Purpose of this group;

Discuss matters of personal finance and investing, share advice and ideas to improve your financial situation, and learn about personal finance and investing

The regular posters here have done real, GOOD work in the past and have provided guidance that made an actual, positive difference in people’s lives. That is important and something to be very proud of. It needs to continue.


I have no desire to lock threads that discuss topics relevant to the SOP if they contain information of general interest to the group. But starting threads that are not in line with the primary focus of this group and are best suited for other groups or forums, do a disservice to those who have come to know this group for that which it is noted, and as such, I encourage posters to put up such threads in a more appropriate forum.

May all your trades be net gains

Paul

[3Hotdogs]

1. I agee.

Just a suggestion that when you do lock a thread, that you direct the poster by private message as to where to re-post the topic?

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. I think I have locked 2 threads. That's it

Last edited Sat Jan 30, 2021, 02:40 PM - Edit history (1)

The last appears a few threads down on the first page and I did PM the author who admitted it was a mistake to post it here.

I have no intention of locking any threads, currently active or otherwise.

Edit to say I mention in my OP I locked 1 thread and here said it was 2. I am not actually sure! There has been one other occasion that I remember where I sent a PM to the OP and they deleted the thread. In any case, it’s rare.

[DonaldsRump]

2. I may have been one of the OPs that strayed outside of your desired focus for this forum

I posted something that I saw about the collective "pump and dump" that was going with GameStop et al this week.

The point of the post was to warn folks not to fall into this frenzy. If you are late and/or high in coming into this kind of manipulation (which applies whether you're a market maker or a single investor), you're going to get burned. In other words, DUers should stay away from this.

I didn't mean for it to be sensational. I meant it to be directly relevant to fellow DUers. I wouldn't engage in this kind of trading, and I hope others would see merit in staying away too.

You're the forum host, so it's your call: however, I think this is directly relevant to personal investing.

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. My "desired focus" is accuracy and relevance, that's it.

I get your point and I understand what you were trying to do, the discussion was lively and as such, I didn’t entertain the idea of locking your thread in the least.

Here’s what I don’t want;

I don’t want this group to be a place where inaccurate and downright misinformation is promulgated. The reason is simple, as I mentioned. We are talking about people’s life savings at times, and real harm can be done if bad information is acted upon.

That is why you didn’t get a PM from me on your thread. It wasn’t misleading or inaccurate. Was it outside of the SOP (a Statement of Purpose that I DID NOT WRITE, by the way)? Sure. A bit. But it was a warning on a particular sleeve of trading that bears attention and explanation and that’s perfectly fine, as far as I am concerned.

I wrote this OP to simply try and give a slight course correction, that’s all. I do not intend to scold or put anyone off from participating. There are other places and threads on DU that do that sort of thing.

[DonaldsRump]

5. Thanks. I just read the other OP and subsequent discussions and now see where you're coming from

I didn't know about that when I wrote in this posting.

More generally, I find coordinated action to manipulate pricing completely unethical. In many instances, it's illegal (antitrust, securities trading, etc). And it's not that hard for the SEC and other regulators to track and nail.

I was stunned to hear the great Robert Reich casually imply that, since no one went to prison for the 2008 economic collapse, that somehow makes the current manipulation ok:

Link to tweet

It isn't ok, and all of us need to stay away from this, IMHO. That's what Reich should have said. What led to the 2008 collapse, to the extent it involved single-firm or coordinated multi-firm manipulation, it was manipulation. That no one went to the pokey then does not make what is happening now right or legal.

Market manipulation and/or coordination to achieve manipulation, whether it's done by big firms or single investors acting in concert, can have serious economic and legal consequences for all involved. The wisest course is to stay away.

I have totally strayed from your pinned post, but I get your point!

[whttevrr]

6. Is there an issue with my AMC thread?

Just be clear about what it is that you are alluding to; your post is ambiguous. If there is something specific that is troubling you, you should say exactly what it is.

We all grow'd up now. Say what you mean.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. No

If there was, you would know

The message is intentionally ambiguous, but I think the larger point is clear.

If you have a subject or a news item you want to post about, consider the SOP before you choose this group in which to post it.

Simple.

[whttevrr]

8. ok, thanks