Monday Morning Rules of The Board

Monday Morning Rules of The Board

In the first six months of 2018 our board has exploded with new posters whose very well intentioned excitement has led to a lot of superfluous posts. The number of posts has grown to over 1500 posts a month, many of them Off-Topic because new posters are unaware of the Rules of the Board, and some are Off-Topic because we older board members are careless and post very off-topic posts at times.

But that’s a ridiculous number of posts. No one can read 1500 posts a month, and that kind of dilution will eventually kill the board as serious board members will drift away rather than wade through all that. The reason our board has become so popular is that it has been extremely useful to many people (me included). Let’s not destroy it with a lot of rambling posts.

I will try to post this description of what the board is about each Monday morning. The hope is that new members will read it and profit from it, and that it will remind older board members what is expected. It will only add four posts a month, and hopefully it will help reduce that 1500 posts by several hundreds each month. The idea of posting this is to help us all cooperate to keep our great board great. Here goes:

This board is for the discussion and analyzing of individual growth stocks in a cooperative and courteous manner and, secondarily, the philosophy around investing in them.

That means that there are subjects that are Off-Topic for this board. There’s nothing wrong with them as topics. There are other boards where they are welcome, or even the chief topic of conversation. These include politics, which however quickly spins out of control and ends up with people, who had been amiably working together discussing a stock, suddenly viciously arguing. Political posts will be immediately deleted.

Some examples of investing subjects that are off topic include technical analysis, or option trading subjects, value investing, turn-around investing, dividend or income investing, market-timing, what Investors Business Daily says the market is going to do next week, etc. Repeated posts of what long lists of stocks have done in the past week don’t belong. Basic investing questions like “What does EV/S ratio mean?” should simply be Googled, rather than filling up the board.

Responding to someone with anger because they disagree with you about a stock is simply not done on our board.

Non-investing subjects like how to cultivate apple orchards, or private humorous conversations, can be fun but don’t belong here after one or two posts. That’s just a few, but you get the idea.

This all may sound intimidating, but think of it this way, if you were on a board about French cooking you wouldn’t paste about Mexican tortillas or Chinese spring rolls, and certainly not about politics, or option trading, either. You’d post about French cooking. Well, our board is about rapidly growing growth stocks. It’s as simple as that.

Remember that you can take conversations off-board. It’s easy! Just check the little box on the reply window that says, “Email this Reply to the Author” and un-check the box that says, “Post this Reply to the Boards.”

I’m not sure what to tell you about appreciations. People who make an especially good post deserve rec’s certainly, but post after post that just say “Great post, Joe!” just fill up the board. I guess if you have something special to say about the post or poster, go ahead: “Thanks Joe, your grasp of this field is amazing and I always learn so much from your posts on these stocks, because you clarify issues about xxx that I can’t figure out myself.” That’s different because you are saying something. I know that I do sometimes break this rule, but I feel that, as host of the board, I should try to always recognize and thank someone who makes an especially helpful and valuable post. I’m sure I miss some.

Ask yourself if your post is adding anything of value to the discussion. One-line posts rarely add anything significant to a stock discussion but fill up the board.

Finally, if you are new to the board I strongly urge you to read the Knowledgebase, which is linked to in the right panel on every board post, and also below my signature below. It is divided into three parts and it is crammed full of information about the philosophy of the board and about investing. Many have read it two or three times.

Let’s all try to keep our board focused on analyzing and discussing growth stocks, and useful to us. We have created something great here and let’s not kill it with a lot of extraneous stuff.

Best

Saul

For Knowledgebase for this board,
please go to Post #17774, 17775 and 17776.
We had to post it in three parts this time.

A link to the Knowledgebase is also at the top of the Announcements column that is on the right side of every page on this board

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Thanks Saul
And I would agree and add that (not naming names) it’s not appropriate for board contributors to post options positions either
Nobody here wants to read through that or cares
Thank you

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Good and well. Reminds me of…

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?

:wink:

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I am mostly a silent follower of the Board. I feel intimidated by the knowledge and investing skills of the followers on Saul’s Board. However, since MF went to the General Board for posting, It seems more people have found this site and the quality of the postings have dropped some. It is good that the rules are posted and every one understands this is a place to come for investment ideas and research. I am interested in investment opportunities and that is why most follow Saul’s Board. Most will agree that this board is a lot more informative than most of the MF postings, and hopefully it can stay that way.

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Well, our board is about rapidly growing growth stocks. It’s as simple as that.

These questions are primarily rhetorical, but I think could be good for mulling over and might even help some folks frame their investing decisions for a given company:

  • What is the cut-off for “rapidly growing”?
  • Once a company’s revenue growth has slowed below 30% year-over-year or is projected or suspected to do so, does it then get tossed out (see recent: Arista Networks)?
  • Does a company that had previously been growing like a weed, but then slows revenue growth to 25%, 20%, or even as low as 15%; does it remain “on-limits” for discussion here since it had previously been “rapidly growing”? (I note that Ubiquiti’s last quarter only had 14.7% y-o-y revenue growth.)
  • Would “mere” 10% year-over-year revenue growth knock a company out of the category of being on-topic?
  • Would earnings or cash flow growth rates be more appropriate as a consideration than simple revenue growth for whether a company were on/off-topic for this board? (Using the same example of Ubiquiti Networks, they turned the 14.7% revenue growth into about 26% year-over-year adjusted EPS growth.)

-volfan84
Still long UBNT (shares-only at present)


And I would agree and add that (not naming names) it’s not appropriate for board contributors to post options positions either
Nobody here wants to read through that or cares
Thank you

MusiCali, I’ll admit that I am one who includes that information at times, so I’ll name the poster volfan84 as guilty of this.

I agree with you in regards to any post that mentions only a poster’s options positions, but I disagree that it should never be included or that it is inappropriate. If it is mentioned simply to provide context of a posters’ true/full position size and/or to provide a disclosure of their holdings and thus potential biases that could be behind their thoughts, I don’t think it should be considered a problem. I am a proponent of full disclosure rather than partial disclosure.

Also, I am quite grateful to bulwnkl providing the Foundation Medicine idea to the board here and that he clearly laid out potential binary events associated with the idea (Medicare re-imbursement and Roche buy-out) along with the context of selective use of options. I also recognize that I missed out on a big part of the gains associated with FMI by not simply owning shares and holding them up until the buyout from Roche came to pass.

-volfan84

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Hi volfan, some good questions there. I certainly didn’t mean hurt your feelings or to single you out, or single out your Ubiquiti stock, in any way. Nor am I trying to be rigid or unreasonable. I’m trying to deal with a real problem, a serious problem, that of 1500 posts a month, many of which were way off topic.

Perhaps on next week’s post I’ll change “rapidly growing growth stocks” to just “growth stocks” and see where we get with that. I think we know what a growth stock is.

I think that a company growing at 10% does not qualify as a growth stock.

I think that a company in active discussion on the board (Arista, Ubiquiti) of course stays in discussion until it really, really, doesn’t qualify.

As far as the options, since they are off-topic, you might instead say “I have an 8% stock position in ABC and an additional long position of 2% in options”, instead of going into all the details of strike price, how many months out, etc, which sometimes provokes questions of “Why those options?” or “Wouldn’t these options be better?” That way you’d be giving a full disclosure of your position without getting off-topic discussions going. (There are active boards just for option discussions, after all).

I hope that that was an acceptable explanation about growth, and an acceptable compromise about options.

And please remember that there is a good reason for this. A board that tries to cover all of the investing world doesn’t really cover anything, and is so spread out that it’s very hard for a reader to find posts that interest him or her. We are trying to protect our board here, which is a real gem and which we wouldn’t want to lose. I’m sure you feel the same way.

Best regards,

Saul

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No offense taken at all, Saul, and I concur that this board is best when the posts all present some legitimate value.

I used Ubiquiti simply because it seemed to be a nice example of a company that might be right on the verge of not reasonably being considered to be rapidly growing any longer…which is also a big part of why I lightened my position recently, even if that wasn’t specifically the primary data point I used in my decision-making. Also, I believe you held it previously (similarly to SWKS and BOFI, 2 of my other holdings).
http://discussion.fool.com/why-i-lightened-my-ubnt-position-3311…

I don’t think there should be a rigidly-defined revenue growth rate that makes up the criteria for whether a company’s stock is or remains being on-topic, but there is probably a range in which companies might warrant some consideration for an unofficial “Saul’s board penalty box”. That range might be when growth slows below 25% or 20% or some such, and while the penalty box wouldn’t be an official designation, such a situation could be discerned a bit from board sentiment (in my mind at least).

As far as the options, since they are off-topic, you might instead say “I have an 8% stock position in ABC and an additional long position of 2% in options”, instead of going into all the details of strike price, how many months out, etc, which sometimes provokes questions of “Why those options?” or “Wouldn’t these options be better?” That way you’d be giving a full disclosure of your position without getting off-topic discussions going.

That seems like a good compromise to me. In the future, rather than calculating the exact percentage of an options position, I will likely simply disclose that I hold an options position beyond my holdings of shares.

-volfan84

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I thought it might be useful to provide a list of TMF discussion boards devoted to TA, Value, Options, and general FA type questions.

These are all PUBLIC boards.
This is not an exhaustive list of TMF boards. It focuses on the topics identified as off-topic for Saul’s board. There are likely other free/public TMF boards that are useful for discussing these topics, too.

Folks who are ‘new’ to TMF, or perhaps even long time TMFers may not know of some of the Boards available for specific topics. Below is a list of Boards and a brief description of what one might find there, and the focus of the board.

Please note that there are several Boards that are intentionally focused, and an off-topic post will generate a cease and desist order.

For those who want to discuss Options or TA, you might consider adding these to your ‘Favorite Boards’ list? That way, anytime a post is made to the Options or TA boards, you will be notified, and can respond.

I hope this is useful information.
ralph

DIVIDEND BOARDS:

Board name: Dividend Growth Investing
http://discussion.fool.com/dividend-growth-investing-116719.aspx…
This board is FOR DIVIDEND investing. They SPECIFICALLY restrict discussions to ‘dividend’ related topics. When the topic strays, they will chide the poster.

GENERAL QUESTIONS? BOARDS:

Board name: Manlobbi’s descent
http://discussion.fool.com/manlobbis-descent-121700.aspx
This board has a couple of very ‘gentlemanly’ posters, who will often (usually?) answer any question without ‘judgement’.

Board name: Macro Economic Trends and Risks (aka METaR)
http://discussion.fool.com/macro-economic-trends-and-risks-11490…
Founded years ago as “mish’s board” by Mishedlo/M Shedlock, this board seeks to discuss ‘macro economic conditions that affect or even effect the economy (and stocks/bonds/etc). While the board is ‘politics free’, one should expect some ‘lite’ politics. Mish left for personal reasons, and the name changed to METaR. There is quite a bit of ‘fluff’ on this board. Usually one can get answers to investment questions. Usually.

Board name: Mechanical Investing
http://discussion.fool.com/mechanical-investing-100093.aspx?mid=…
This board is for those who want to run stock screens and let a completely EMOTIONLESS algorythm determine which stock to buy/sell and when to do so – thus the name “Mechanical”. If you like to write code, this board is for you! The board is for mechanical, screen driven investing. The posters will chide ‘offenders’.

Board name: New Paradigm Investing (aka NPI)
http://discussion.fool.com/new-paradigm-investing-114933.aspx?mi…
Founded years ago, by whom? With name? Anyway, the name changed to NPI, and the focus was specifially narrowed to high growth potential tech and biotech stocks. This board has a fair amount of fluff, with some rather intense, often vitriolic political comments. Keep a flame suit handy? The quality of FA is high, there is some mild TA. The posters here will also answer general questions.

Board name: Saul’s Investing Discussions
http://discussion.fool.com/sauls-investing-discussions-120980.as…
Founded by Saul, he describes the board focus “This board is for the discussion and analyzing of individual growth stocks in a cooperative and courteous manner and, secondarily, the philosophy around investing in them. “ This is an FA type discussion.

OPTIONS BOARDS:

Board name: Options – You make the call
http://discussion.fool.com/options-you-make-the-call-113013.aspx…
This is a free/public Options board.
[*There is a TMF - paid subscription service Options board. This aint it.]
At present, this is a low activity board. For those who want options discussions, it might become more ‘interesting’?

Board name: Options Beginners
http://discussion.fool.com/options-beginners-113753.aspx?mid=331…
This is a free/public Options board.
[*There is a TMF - paid subscription service Options board. This aint it.]
At present, this is a low activity board. For those who want options discussions, it might become more ‘interesting’?

POLITICS BOARDS:

Board name: Political Asylum
http://discussion.fool.com/political-asylum-113502.aspx
Abandon all hope ye who enter here. Posts about investing will be chided.

REAL ESTATE BOARDS:

Board name: Owning Rental Property
http://discussion.fool.com/owning-rental-property-114196.aspx?mi…
This board focuses on investing in… rental real estate. Expect to stay on topic.

Board name: Real Estate Investment Trusts – REITs (aka REIT board)
http://discussion.fool.com/real-estate-inv-trusts-reits-100061.a…
This board focuses on ‘trusts/mutual funds’ that are comprised of real estate stocks. Expect to stay on topic.

TA BOARDS:

Board name: It is what it is
http://discussion.fool.com/it-is-what-it-is-113032.aspx
Founded years ago by TrenchRat (who is no longer with us ) specifically for TA, this board is sort of eclectic. There are several TA folks who post here.

Board name: BMW Method
http://discussion.fool.com/the-bmw-method-116681.aspx
Founded by BuildMWell, the ‘method’ is TA based on the ‘a stock’s price always returns to the CAGR/average. The method looks at a chart of stock price to identify stocks whose price has strayed from the CAGR.

Board name: Technical Trader’s Sanctuary
http://discussion.fool.com/technical-traders-sanctuary-115480.as…
The most frequent posters to this board, IMO, are more in the ‘daytrader’ camp? However, they do discuss some TA techniques and TA of stocks.
I suspect they’d answer TA questions – but perhaps from a daytrader POV?

VALUE INVESTING BOARDS:

Board name: Value Hounds
http://discussion.fool.com/value-hounds-118990.aspx?mid=33022707…
Mostly focused on finding stocks that are ‘undervalue’ (or perhaps overvalued), this board can have some ‘macro economic’ discussions, too. In general, the posts are about ‘stock’, with ‘gentlemanly’ posts.

64 Likes

As far as the options, since they are off-topic, you might instead say “I have an 8% stock position in ABC and an additional long position of 2% in options”, instead of going into all the details of strike price, how many months out, etc, which sometimes provokes questions of “Why those options?” or “Wouldn’t these options be better?” That way you’d be giving a full disclosure of your position without getting off-topic discussions going.

That seems like a good compromise to me. In the future, rather than calculating the exact percentage of an options position, I will likely simply disclose that I hold an options position beyond my holdings of shares.

That’s great Volfan, thanks for your help.

Best,

Saul

1 Like

Related question… Month End Summary Posts… What are your expectations there? For example… your posts and Bear’s posts at month end are must reads for everyone on the board. My month end post isn’t going to cause any great learning for others, but I posted it for other reasons. First, it helps me be accountable and document why I am doing what I am doing. Second, getting feedback from others helps me think… Finally, I felt it good to have a “rookie” monthly to give confidence to newcomers. Showing that someone new can learn and get great returns.

Phoolio asked me this off-board. I agree with him that our month-end summaries are valuable to most people on the board, especially if one doesn’t just give a list of names but explains why he is holding the position. I’ll make that clear in the next Monday Morning post.

Saul

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Thanks rainphakir, it is very valuable to have a list of boards which welcome posts which are off topic here, and that we can refer people to. I’l see if I can get it into our side panel. I appreciate your help.

Saul

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Thanks Volfan
As far as options disclosure
That sounds like a good compromise to me and I appreciate your contribution to this board.

1 Like

One rough definition of a growth stock is that its prospects are so good that you will often wait a very long time (or forever) if you are holding out for a better price. I’ve often failed to buy these stocks when I sold puts; the price would climb above the strike price and stay there. Sometimes I’d sell another put at a higher strike price, and sometimes I’d “give up” and just buy some shares.

That just hurt my head
More options talk agh!

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hey guys, mind just sending emails to each other? This has turned into just a conversation between the two of you. If something good comes out of it off the board feel free to bring it back. No need to reply to this thread. Thanks,
Ethan

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What a great idea
Embarrassingly I don’t know how to do that

Ethan,
With all due respect. I would ask the same of you when “policing the board”.
Thanks

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how to do that

When replying, look all the way to the bottom of the yellow box…

See ‘post this reply’ and ‘email this reply’…

Untick the former, tic the latter…

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Hi MusiCali,
I’m choosing to do this publicly on purpose so that we can all learn together what we want on the board and what we don’t. I certainly don’t want to be the only unchecked voice telling people what is appropriate or not. I don’t anticipate having do this for long. I do think the discussion is better had in public so that as a group we can work on keeping the board focus and useful. If people feel differently please let me know. If I misunderstood your post please feel free to correct me.

best,
Ethan

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Ethan
I agree we need to clean up the board
Honestly I was trying to do the same thing as you
Saul has said many times to please stop posting about options
I don’t understand why people keep doing it
That was why I commented
Maybe I should have worded t better?

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