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The Stock Chat Room -- What You Need To Know Before Entering One

By Tony Guerra


As noted by a 2007 article in PC Magazine, the Internet-based chat room has been a common part of the cyberspace experience since 1979. In this century, a chat room can probably be found for most any topic that has even a single fan. A stock chat room, to cite an example of the genre, is an extremely common fixture on the World Wide Web, offering chat for users of differing skill and experience levels. Before you decide to become a member of a chat room, though, always ensure you know just what you're getting yourself into.

Technically known as "synchronous conferencing," chat rooms range from those hosting real-time online chat to bulletin board-type versions. A stock chat room, for instance, may allow its users to carry on running conversations in the moment, meaning conversations among users are instantaneous. Real-time chat rooms can be a hectic experience for the uninitiated, however, and chat between users can occur at a dizzying pace.

Bulletin board-type chat rooms, especially in the stocks-and-bonds world, appear to be a more common form of chat for several good reasons. In bulletin board chat, a user makes a post that is then scanned for content and even appropriate language before the room's moderators allow it to appear in front of other users. Stock chat room users can be a somewhat intense breed, with quick tempers in many cases. Generally, online chat among stock investors tends to be filtered, edited or moderated to one degree or another by site administrators.

Before entering any stock chat room, keep in mind that its denizens are there to discuss stocks, bonds and other investment vehicles. While talk in a chat room may wander away from that room's prescribed topic, too much wandering is discouraged by site moderators and even other users. If you're discussing XYZ Company's stock, for example, don't suddenly begin discussing how your favorite NFL team did in last week's big game.

Being set up for a specific purpose, chat rooms require participants to be able to stay on topic or risk earning a bad reputation or even exclusion or banning by other members or room moderators. You might even be required to demonstrate a useful level of skill or experience in trading stocks before being allowed into a site such as a stock chat room. If you're thinking about joining a chat room, first consider your own skills and experience in its particular topic and whether you can be a useful contributor within that room.

The world of stocks and bonds is full of all types of characters, and a stock chat room may even feature excessive touting of a stock, known as "pumping." Unfortunately, there may even be people within a chat room pertaining to a stock paid solely to be in there overly touting the benefits of that stock. If the reputation of a given stock can be pumped up enough its share price may rise well above its rational market level. While most definitely immoral, stock pumping may also be unlawful, so always beware the practice.

Once a stock has been pumped the logical next step is to dump it. Once a stock's share price rises to a predetermined level, holders of that stock will dump their shares on the market, thereby increasing their profits while buyers end up purchasing stocks not really worth the prices at which they were bought. Fortunately, a stock chat room that has a strong moderator or administrator presence tends to discourage stock pumpers from hanging out. Chat rooms dedicated to stocks and investing and that don't also have moderators may see a greater number of pumpers-and-dumpers, though.

There are numerous investor-type websites on the Internet that boast of a comprehensive stock chat room experience. Some websites dedicated to investing in stocks are far better than others. Various subsets of stock market investing, such as in options trading, also exist. Before participating in any chat room, including those dedicated to stocks, it's smart to learn a bit about the topic, if only to avoid a pump-and-dump scheme.




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