re: ..If I took the time to create a new message board with really intelligent thread interface, where topics and replies are all bunched together would anyone be interested?
No. (Well, emphatic H*LL NO, from me anyway <g>). I'm still fuming over Yahoo crippling their stock boards with that "new" format. My first experiance with message boards was on Compuserve forums in the late eighties and early nineties. They all used the thread format so it is nothing new. You could also download complete threads all at once in a couple minutes, read through and reply offline, then upload when you logges back on. And no annoying ads, animated or otherwise.
I finally found a convoluted way to access recent messages sequentially over there (Yahoo) but now it is a pain in the neck compared to before.
While threaded format is fine for things like politics, gardening, and programming, it stinks for someone trying to follow discussion on all the day to day developments on a stock as they unfold over time. The time linear format is absolutely preferable, I would say crucial, for someone interested in trading.
Although the type of info and discussion investors and traders
seek often intersect, the tactics diverge sharply reflecting what occasionally seem to resemble religious rivalry. You can see these philosophical frictions in the bantor sometimes.
"Investors" don't seem to mind 50% fluctuations in pps, like to drill down on each seperate point and aspect of a company's fundamentals, sector outlook, research and discuss every individual detail ad infinum with emphasis on the unchanging past, then, one day, discussion is done. They enter a position, sit back and wait. And wait and wait and wait. They tend to go quarter to quarter. "In for the "long haul". The thread format.
"Traders" like to keep tabs on what is happening now and discuss volume, price movement, rumors, day to day developments, bounce impressions of company events and trade possibilities off each other. You miss all that if it's buried in a thread somewhere.
A lot of people keep a portion of their shares as a core position and try to trade the other portion. This suggests that the majority have a trading interest.
You can see almost a religious rivalry betweem "traders" and "investors" in discussion bantor. the fact is, most of us switch "sides" occasionally. I tend to become an "investor" when I get caught in a downdraft and decide to try to ride out a trade underwater. "Investors" will exit a position when they think that something major has changed or realize a fundamental assumption was wrong.
The sort of things you want to break into threads is already done in the company financial data, specifications, and analyst reports. "Unchanging" facts for investors, all laid out. Why put each one in a thread. How much more can be said about a PE ratio? Stock discussion baords are most useful when they serve the changeable aspect of a stock, the unfolding story. It's the difference between a novel and a phone book. Each useful in their own way, but it is a mistake to try to equate one into the other.
Apologies to other members for going so far and wide off topic. But everybody has their "hot" buttons, I guess. <g>
Looks like UCOI is continuing to undergo some accelerated selling pressure sgain today. Oh well.
One thing that I like about UCOI is the frequent updates on their operations. I don't mind a little equity based financing if you can see the money being put to good use like buying equipment. Tangible assets.
