Ok Matt, Now I've read a bit more of your debate and feel I am a hair more up to speed. And amazingly enough, I have an opinion.
The problem as I see it of having a private board, is that only one side of the story will ever be presented. What if a person is told about a certain stock and mentions that it is discussed on this private board. A newbie may be unaware of other boards, and without the opportunity to visit both sides of an issue, may be unduly influenced. If a board member does not want to be bothered by a Cassandra(Cassandra, I apologize for using you as an example), then they always have the option of hiding that person. In this way, they don't have to see her, but others who may prefer a more open minded discussion has the ability to see both sides.
I disagree with your statement that people will only post as to whether they want to see the stock go up or down. I think there are plenty of posters who will post based on the issues at hand as opposed to their wishes, and it is these people that should not be censored for calling a spade a spade.
In essence, I would say that it is not the job of Ihub to monitor the direction of discussions, but only to make sure that disagreements don't get out of hand.
Free speech for a fee, should be your motto.