"You are wrong. The bashers make their money by their postings, not by trading stock. They are not even on the same wavelength as traders. They just do their job. They are the ONLY ones making money with NSAV right now."
I believe I've read that, or similar, from you before and, well, it's crap afaic. Indeed, do you have PROOF of it? If so, I'd be happy to read it. TIA
Anyhow, for starters, please tell me who you believe might be paying the bashers. As for me, I can assure you, I'm not getting paid a cent for being negative and conveying my thoughts on some matters here. It's just that, oftentimes, I feel the need to refute something I feel is incorrect, such as your comment and, well, the TRUTH matters to me (yes I can be wrong myself at times).
Consider the following:
First, this from a "bashers" default signature I once saw:
1) Do I own stock? Answer: No. I don’t invest in penny stocks. 2) Why am I here? Answer: I like debating things that I have a 95% chance of being right about. 3) Am I a paid basher? Answer: Wait…what? You can get paid for this?
And the following. Article courtesy of "Google U":
“I respect you as a person too much to respect your ridiculous beliefs.” -Johann Hari
In his quote above, Hari suggests that challenging beliefs is an act of respect designed to straighten out the principles of the misguided. However, what we are addressing here is not so serious or benevolent. It’s about people challenging beliefs for entertainment – for fun.
What? ARGUING can be FUN (and educational at the same time)? Who would have thunk it?
And here's more reasons of why some people might "bash" a ticker and/or those associated with it (scroll past the board postings):
Altruistic Basher: An individual that has a true concern for the welfare of others and attempts to keep an unknowledgeable investor away from a security by posting negative information that sheds light on the scam or the pump.
Frolic Basher: An individual that has a negative sentiment for a security and posts on a message board to play with the longs and the scammers for pure entertainment purposes only.
Defrauded Basher: An individual who realized that "their" stock was a fraud, and partly feels the need to vent, and in addition, wants to warn others not to make the same mistake.
Dualistic Basher: An individual which was long in a security but then decides to sell the stock. At this point the individual will switch his or her sentiment on a message board in an attempt to devalue the same stock with the intentions of buying back at a lower price.
(Note: many believe this is a myth.) Paid Basher: An individual, acting on the behalf of someone else, who attempts to devalue a stock by spreading false or exaggerated claims against a public company on a message board. After the stock's price has dropped, the basher's employer will then purchase the stock at a lower price than what he or she believes it is intrinsically worth. The basher is generally paid on the basis of how many lies and negative rumors are spread, which can dramatically affect a stock's value.
Cybersleuth: is an individual who uses the resources available on the World Wide Web for research. Generally applied to someone who ferrets out information about organizations, policies and procedures from the abundance of material available on-line.
...~POSSIBLE REASONS TO BASH~
(numbers based on the survey using 'much' and 'sometimes')
39% • Post because they feel the particular security is being pumped or that they are diluting and want to save the newbie investor. 34% • Just because it is fun to mess with the scammers. (Entertainment purposes) 19% • To prove to the scammers that “I'm” smarter.
Other miscellaneous reasons:
• Short seller. • Long that sells a security then attempts to use bashing techniques to try to get in lower. • Were defrauded - see "Defrauded Basher" above. • Learning experience.
Playing the "Devil's Advocate" might be in there somewhere also.
I'd also add "Revenge (Stalker) Basher" to that list. That is, someone who might "stalk" another trader to other boards which the offending trader might be invested in and bash there as a form of "payback" for something the offending trader did to piss the "Revenge (Stalker) Basher" off about.
There, hope that helps.
Oh, and while I'm here, let me ask you, do you (or any of the "pumpers") think that ANY of the negative "bashing" information here is true? Again, TIA
GLTA
P.S. I'l always remember this admission by someone who fought so hard trying to prove bashers wrong on another ticker. It must have been quite traumatic to finally come to this realization:
Gotta be a man of my word and admit that the Bashers were right all along.