I guess that’s what happens when you respond to trolls. Therefore, I address this not to the trolls, but to the people they are so very worried about: the followers of this board.
Maybe you’re fairly new here. Maybe it shocked you that Saul assumed the worst when someone posted doom and gloom the other day. Here’s the history: people have been doing it every couple months or so, for the almost 5 years Saul has been running this board. And every time, it seems to be the same thing. Can you blame him for losing patience with it? It’s a huge distraction! It’s also offensive. These people are calling us stupid. But we’re not here because we’re naive. We’re not here because we’ve heard the pied piper’s song and the tale of riches beyond comprehension, and we haven’t sold our houses and mailed the checks to the televangelists. We’re here to discuss companies. Whether we buy these companies or not, and how much we allocate – that’s on us. We are adults.
Seriously, the doom and gloomers are not even paying attention. Saul has written about the downside of his method – and of investing in general. He’s told of how he lost 60-something percent of his net worth in 2008. We’ve all had to recon with that – it could happen again! Could I handle it? How would I react?
Do you know what the number one question I get about our investing style is? “Have I missed the boat?” Even open-minded people are incredibly cautious (to the point of being fearful) about jumping in at this point, and have been the entire time. Even friends of mine who follow this board and this style have only invested a fraction of their money in these companies. People think they need to come here as the voice of reason. But we can be cautious for ourselves. It’s being brave where we sometimes need a little encouragement.
Lastly, what gives any of us the right to post here? That goes for me as well as you, and I urge us all to consider it. Are you contributing to this community or are you adding noise and distraction? Are you learning, or just trying to sound smart? Have you understood what Saul has done? There’s a lot to learn. My best advice to newbies: just read and listen for a while. You’ve found something good.
Thank you to Saul for starting this board
Thank you to the Fool for hosting it and keeping it free of charge
Thank you to Andy for starting the one useful thread I saw this weekend (on Mongo)
Thank you to college football for distracting me from getting frustrated with this yesterday
Bear