China Stocks

[Rames]

What exactly would you consider "acceptable behaviour" when it comes to publishing long or short opinions?

If "front-running" your own opinion were not allowed, then some 90% of all published opinions, research reports, iHub postings or Seeking Alpha articles would probably be illegal. Most investors don't take bla bla seriously, what they consider more actionable usually is a long or short opinion where the author has a stake in the game, aka his own money.

Everything can be considered a manipulation attempt. I have yet to see a paid-for newsletter that does not front-run its recommendations. Most analyst reports get distributed to clients before they are made available to the public. Companies using paid-for promotion is very common, disclosures usually hidden in the small print on the last page. Many message board contributors will have a position in the stock they are talking about, whether they disclose it or not.

So what would be "okay" in your opinion? The whole of Wall Street is based on manipulation of sorts. Analysts, hedge funds, journalists, traders, all - directly or indirectly - contribute to this. There is no "fair value" for any stock, the whole game is about buying (or selling) what is going higher (or lower) before everybody else does. Those moves are usually driven by opinion leaders - being it Goldman Sachs or Moody's, Navallier or Al Little... depends on the type of stock.