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- Go to-: Agri-biz, Soft Commodities threads // AgriProds stories

The stocks we like to invest in may be listed in two or more stock markets at opposite ends of the world. They are affected by global issues and by the workings of 7 x 24 hour markets. Recognising this we have tried to create a community for users from all over the world.

The board is hosted by our partners and will be the discussion board for all of our websites including www.poweralternatives.com and www.agriprods.com

There will be moderation on the boards but we hope that this will not be required.  Those who persistently abuse other users and/or the rules of the Board will simply be banned to ensure the forums are clear for discussion.

You will find the forums extend far and wide and discuss mining, commodities, green energy, general trading strategies and much more! 

How Investor Bulletin Boards Can Help Enhance Your Investment Returns
=========================

By "TheBoardBull", who suggests taking a look at the new
Mining and Alt-Energy bulletin boards on GreenEnergyInvestors.com

Sitting in front a computer can be a lonely business, even when you are making money doing it. Creative thoughts tend to get refined and improved, when they get tested in the maelstrom of public debate.

Some may find the the title of this article perplexing. Indeed, I know many mining investors who like to slag off chatboards, thinking they are only for small investors who like to spread rumours in the hope that they can push up prices of the stocks they hold. Others are aware of an odd phenomenon, that the internet can draw out the worst aspects of certain personalities. No doubt, many can tell stories about certain obsessive and attention-seeking individuals who make life miserable for those who enter a BB seeking genuine analysis and commentary. Fortunately, these types of postings are a tiny minority of what you will find on a well-run chatboard. I suggest that it is time for many who are not using them, to take a closer look at the new bulletin boards on GreenenergyInvestors.com. Despite the name, they are not only about renewable energy. You will also find sections on: Mining and precious metals, energy, and an entire gamut of interesting subjects.

Investor Bulletin Boards have become an increasingly important tool for the serious investor. They provide a way of leveraging your own work, and ganing access to the ideas and opinions of others. I speak as a private investor, who makes a decent living from trading stocks, with a particular focus on junior resource equities. I work mostly independently, and bulletinboards give me access to a crowd of people who are also seeking returns from the same type of investing activities. Like any crowd, the internet has its share of good apples and bad apples. Amongst the good apples are plenty of people with valuable insights, different investing approaches, and a willingness to share their opinions and research. And there are the odd bad apples who provide distracting chatter, and even some who like playing the court jester, spraying boards with the web equivalent of graffiti. But a good BB community can keep this noise to a minimum, through enlightened self-moderation, with those with a stake in the community restraining the occasional jester. After a period of use, and with a little patience, anyone can see through the clutter, and find some new and valuable colleagues.

Let's step back, and examine some of the ways that chatboards can be utilised:

+ Researching historical news and opinions, and receiving updates and gossip which may be unavailable elsewhere,

+ Reviewing charts and financial data,

+ Recording your own research and opinions for later retrieval anywhere and everywhere you have acccess to an internet connection,

+ Debating the merits of an investment opportunities with others whose opinions you may value (assuming you know them from past experience),

+ Promoting a stock, to get the price up

I want to start with the final point, since I would like to dismiss it quickly, as one of the least effective uses of one's time online. Sure, some people are impressionable, and may buy based upon a tip or opinion they pick up casually on the web. But those who blindly follow tips, often lose money, and they soon learn the error of their ways. Then, they become more careful as they become more substantial investors. It doesn't take long to separate the wheat from the schaff. Amongst the experienced, the purely promotional posts are recognised for what they are, cheap promotional stunts. The minor buying volume that they trigger, is rarely worth the effort of a serious investor. But longer and more thoughtful pieces are different. Good analysis anywhere, from conventional analysts, or unpaid chatboard participants, can build long term support for a stock.

Moving on, I would like to look at the other functions of a BB: discovery, sharing, and storing information. How does an experience chatboard reader recognise value? I suppose the problem is the same for anyone seeking value in an open economy. Value gets attached to reputation. The frequent users of BB's soon learn whose opinions, analysis and chart-commentary warrants value. Every chatboard has its active posters, and some relish sharing their opinions, helping others, and building a reputation.

Personally, when I post online, I use a "web-name", rather than my own name. Some would say that it is better to use your own name, if you are looking to build a reputation. My answer to this is two-fold:

+ The bad apples out there may misuse this information. I know of mischevious posters who, once they have personal information, will put the actual confidential addresses of other web posters on the public boards, and in one case, police were phoned and informed of a private meeting, as a way of disrupting that meeting. This is bad behaviour of the lowest form, but it can happen.

+ The second reason I use a web-name is that it is easy enough to have it both ways. You can use a pseudonym for the "crowd" and stay protected, but then once you are more comfortable with certain posters, you can use a Private Message to reveal your real name and/or email, when you choose to do so,

Behind the surface of most bulletinboards, there is a degree of more conventional communications: emails, phone conversations, and even face-to-face meetings. Many people who are in the same city, or same country, and have become friendly online, choose to meet. Some chatboards have regular meetings, organised formally, or informally. I have seen people meeting each other at Minesite forum meetings, for example, and they greet each other using their bb names. The bulletinboard can provide a degree of day-to-day "glue" for those who have occasional meetings at networking events. And I see boards growing in size and complexity to accomodate this networking function.

= = =

In the next part in this series, we intend to look at an example of how a thread evolved from a casual look at a company's prospects into an active debate about a company's investment merits.