This thread isnt really a thread at all; although you are welcome to suggest additional rules of engagement. Its aim is to outline what is generally expected of everyone who follows/participates in the main Bio threads, and to inform you where other related specialist threads are lurking. The aim is to avoid the chaos of Twitter; stay on topic and not waste peoples time with irrelevant trivia…..trust me, you won’t be thanked. Try to remember, the main bio threads are primarily about investing REAL money. There are other threads where you are welcome to blather with your pals till the cows come home. I hope you will respect that these threads are not just for your benefit…..its for the many 100’s who read KSS’s genius along with the excellent, selfless research done by many avid contributors.

An Important Message From Your Bio Threads CEO

Hi All. Im sure you will all agree that these threads are a blessing and that we have learned (are still learning) a huge amount from the many contributors to these KSS led threads. We have formed into a fab club of adult ‘friends with benefits’, with hardly a dissenting four letter word to savor. We are growing like topsy and have new members joining every day, which is great. (here come the buts….)

But there are sooo many trivial and off topic posts, it’s becoming increasingly hard to keep focus. I suspect many members are being forced to unsubscribe from threads to avoid the tsunami of notifications in their morning mail. This happened before and many purist Bio investors got pretty miffed. I’m sure the sheer quantity of notifications you each get every day is more an exhausting distraction than an aid at times.
Often KSS is being asked the same questions he answered just last week (in his usual technicolor). If we keep doing this, there is a very real danger that we will exhaust him too and he’ll be forced by his other life pressures, to wave a fond farewell. So please, let’s stop using him as a free alternative to doing our own DD (many are excluded from this rebuke).

So, at the request of ‘significant others’ I propose the following:

Thread Rules and Etiquette

I wont claim that everyone will keep to these rules, but the more that do, the easier it will be for all to gain from these threads especially via the comment search.

1/ Please try to remember, the main Bio threads are fundamentally about investing, NOT as a replacement for Twitter. Better to say nothing than say nothing of general relevance to the thread title. There will be a ‘Club House’ thread where you can banter all day…..disinterested others can avoid subscribing to it.

2/ Before you ask a question, ALWAYS do a comment search (top of each discussion thread page), to see if its already been asked/answered here or elsewhere. That search will check the current thread only, you can also search past threads by going to their pages.
Heart felt ‘Thank You’ posts for special favours (thats how we spell favors in UK) are welcomed……indeed essential. But try to avoid posting non essential, polite responses. Remember your posts to Fred for wishing you Happy Birthday appears in the inbox of 100+ people who dont need to know. Use the Thumb tick instead……it says all that needs to be said, and accumulates against the friends name forever. Give the gift that lasts…..a thumb! Better to say nothing than say nothing of general interest or relevance to the thread title.

4/ Insofar as possible, stay on topic, or at least relevant to the core bio tickers. I have set up a new thread for questions/answers/info about other stocks of interest (which KSS/Travis and doubtless others can mull) here http://www.stockgumshoe.com/2014/11/microblog-kss-club-house-other-interesting-tickers/ Please subscribe/bookmark it and use it.

5/ There is already a Politics, Religion and other Unmentionables thread. In essence this is ‘The Club House’ where anything goes. Use it to natter with your pals till your tongue gets cramp (if you type with your tongue that is). It’s got rather full of late, so I am starting a Volume 5, here http://www.stockgumshoe.com/2016/03/microblog-club-house-for-the-discussion-of-religion-politics-and-other-unmentionables-volume-5/ so I will draw a line under previous volumes…..don’t worry, they’ll still be there to refer back to, but please dont post to them anymore. If he will accept, I would like to nominate ARCH1 as future Thread leader and Referee. Please subscribe/bookmark it and use it.

6/ There’s already a ‘Trading Options etc strategies’ thread here http://www.stockgumshoe.com/2014/04/microblog-options-understandings-and-tactics/ . Since the loss (?) of Margaret, it needs a thread leader and Referee….anyone can volunteer ??

7/ There’s already a Technical’s thread here: http://www.stockgumshoe.com/2014/05/microblog-technical-analysis-classroom/ Please subscribe/bookmark it. Hi Pockets presently seems keen on this angle, so, if he will accept, I would like to nominate him to be Thread Leader and Referee with the aid of Jean-Pierre Ruiz. Please subscribe/bookmark it and use it.

8/ I have set up a new thread for KSS Bio stock rating/grading. Lawrence Mckenna has volunteered to maintain a weekly chart, so I nominate him as Thread Leader and Referee. http://www.stockgumshoe.com/2014/11/microblog-bio-stock-ratinggrading-volume-1/ If you dont think this rating is useful, dont bother to subscribe so that you can ignore it.

9/ If youve had a nasty trading experience (lost money) and want to avoid doing it again, take a look here http://www.stockgumshoe.com/2014/08/microblog-lessons-taken-away-from-the-rgdo-crash/ where member discuss this type of problem from personal experience and offer strategies to avoid it next time (ha ha!). Please subscribe/bookmark it and use it.

10/ Its easy to set up new threads if there’s any other topic you feel needs its own home…..so any suggestions welcomed…… that is IF you’re prepared to be Thread Leader and Referee. No passengers on this site!!

Now some v important extras:

11/ So that people can more easily track past information using comment search; please start ALL main Bio thread posts (at least) with the relevant $xyz ticker (s). No ticker? Then the comment is obviously not about investing, so you have probably posted on the wrong thread…..or a thumb would have done just as well. Better to say nothing than say nothing of general interest and relevance to the thread title.

12/ It would also be v good to know whether you own shares in the aforementioned ticker (I dont really think we need to know how many, at what price or about your whole portfolio; but knowing you own $XYZ may help others to know which side you hang.

13/ Please be prepared to back up your comments with specific DD. Simply saying
‘I dont like this company/bloke/share etc ….Derhh?’ educates no one……..your uninformed gut feeling is best kept to yourself until you have hard facts/learned rumour…..Without DD backup, any such posts should be considered as just pumping, over exuberance in an attempt to get others to join you in buying that dog, hot air, bad breath and fog. Better to say nothing than say nothing that adds intelligence.

14/ When posting a link, please give your short summary take so that others can judge whether its worth spending time to read ( and for heavens sake, not a cut and paste of the whole blinking text, please!)………..Though they are mostly very interesting and educational, reading ALL the links could easily become a full time job ! Give us a summary so we can be selective.

15/ …….And finally (for now) , AND PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANT….Dont abuse KSS’s or any diligent members time/energies asking for info/analysis on random tickers that you happened to stumble on, without, at least, stating why you think its interesting and what YOU have found out for yourself thus far (and, to begin with, make it concise please !). KSS is a tad busy merely saving lives between posting here, to do an hours free DD for you, lazy bones.

For the benefit of all, I hope the above will bring a measure of structure and discipline to these threads. I wont claim that everyone will keep to these rules, but the more that do, the easier it will be for all to gain from these threads. While I have no authority, other than as the CEO, where greatness was unexpectedly thrust upon me by KSS, I will continue to play the role of general shepherd, even though its more like herding cats at times ! (I know zippo about Bio investing, so playing this role is all the value I can return for my education here). So if you stray from the above rules, please expect to hear barking. I’d very much like it if others would join me in this barking so that offenders/newbies will get the idea and learn to post pertinent stuff on the correct threads and observe the etiquette, (and not make it seem like Im the only pain in the ass junk yard dog !)

Regards to all

AlanH

PS If you think Im going too far, well at least its well intentioned and you’re welcome to tell me to FO…..Im not on a salary, there is no board of directors, so I cant be sacked….Im English not French (thats an ‘in’ joke you’ll come to understand). I pay the same $49 as you and I know where the delete button is. But I assure you, people WILL drift away from these threads and they WILL collapse under their own weight if we allow them to become just another Twitter feed. Try to remember this is a club for the benefit of many, not just you…..No one has enough spare time to spend it reading 50 ‘lightweight’ posts every morning…..most especially our esteemed leaders KSS and Travis. Better to say nothing than fill 100+ peoples inbox’s with nothing of relevance to the thread title/topic.

Enjoy!!All the threads are for adults……bad behavior, bad language (within limits) overt personal attacks and the like will NOT be taken kindly by the gang ie you will get multi trashed. If you wanna flame someone, be clever and choose your words subtly. Telling someone that they may be constipated is far better than outright saying they are full of sh1t.
Enjoy and behave.

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