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.

A chat room is more properly known as asynchronous conferencing, and it may range from real-time online usage to one that's more bulletin board-like in character. For example, a stock chat room might allow participants to discuss stocks in real-time, meaning instantaneously and in-the-moment. For the uninitiated, a real-time chat room can be hectic, at least at first, with chat occurring at a frenetic and 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.

Generally, stock chat room members are members precisely because they love to discuss stocks and other investments. When participating in any chat room, keep in mind its intended topic or subject matter and try not to wander too far off that topic. For example, if you're in a chat room set up to discuss Widget Company's stock, try not to overly discuss the new car you just bought last week.

In the chat room world, refusing to stay on topic can earn you a poor reputation among other users. A chat room user with a reputation for aimless talk or chatter may end up socially ostracized within the room or possibly even banned by site administrators. Additionally, a place like a stock chat room may require users to have a certain level of experience before entering. When looking at a chat room, consider whether you have the experience needed to engage other users in useful or informative chat.

The stock chat room environment tends to attract all sorts of people, including those engaging in pumping or intense touting of a given stock. Sometimes, participants within a room set up to discuss this-or-that stock might even be paid to hang out and expound on the greatness of that stock, usually to irrational or illogical levels. A stock that's being pumped up typically exceeds the price-per-share the markets have rationally set for it. In addition to being an immoral practice, stock pumping is also illegal under certain circumstances.

Stock dumping normally follows stock pumping. Once a stock's share price has reached a desired level, owners of that stock will dump their shares on the markets, making themselves sometimes-significant money while leaving buyers holding the bag, so to speak. A moderated or administered stock chat room tends to see fewer stock pumpers, fortunately. Stock pumpers-and-dumpers, though, may constitute a depressing majority in some unmoderated or non-overseen chat rooms dedicated to investing and stocks.

Many, many investment and finance sites on the Internet offer some type of stock chat room or another. As with anything on the Web, though, some investment-type sites are far better than others. Additionally, you may find several subsets of investing, including options trading, offered by one or another chat room. However, before you even enter an online chat room dealing with stocks and investing, ensure you've learned a little about the subject matter, if only to avoid falling prey to a stock pump.




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