Not an investment board

[Jurgis]

@thepupil

The GRIF thread is an example of how discussion died as soon as dissenting opinions were posted.

 

I disagree. dissenting opinions on the true quality of management, on the decision to not sell assets immediately and grow the company, and on the right value of the stock, and on the sustainability of extremely tight cap rates in industrial have been voiced throughout that thread.

 

And that is somewhat crux of the matter: people see the same discussion differently. And what is a great discussion for some, is not great discussion for others. And things considered to be covered by some are either not sufficiently covered by others or dismissed or attacked too much or whatever.

 

This becomes a big deal in the battleground stocks, but it also sometimes becomes an issue in "quiet" stock discussions too.

 

Anyway. I don't have a solution for this.  ::)

[Gregmal]

I thought the GRIF thread was pretty decent and seemed to evolve with the story. Maybe some drift there, or maybe people just had different thesis's.

 

There are different sections here also, something that shouldn't be overlooked. I also think some of the issues are that some folks get their panties in a bunch and if they have disagreements with regard to politics, they arent capable of having productive conversations about investments. Then there are also some who only post in politics and then complain about quality of posting on an investment forum. LC and I, for instance, very rarely agreed on politics and had some fun going back and forth over the years, but can and still do have decent discussion regarding the markets and investments. This cant be said for others.

[writser]

No one publicly discusses the good ideas (As I have found out, it's not that the ideas are ignored or go undiscussed as the threads may lead you to believe - just no one publicly discusses them). The best discussions are often the battleground stocks that don't actually present a great return profile. They are just good for discussion but might actually enhance attrition rates. Outside those, COBF often feels like an echo chamber with few dissenting opinions.

 

At least one other issue is that the best performing stocks do not meet the standards of traditional value investing and traditional value stocks have performed relatively poorly. When I first signed up, 'quality investing' are paying slight premiums for higher quality companies was being debated. If you look at today's best performers, clearly the quality investing side won the debate the conversation has transitioned to how much to pay for what type and duration of quality/growth. I don't think this forum has ever been the best place to discuss business models so I think those conversations naturally moved elsewhere.

 

I think it's fair to say the quality of discussion in general has declined.

 

Very good post. Agree 100%. I would add that there's a 'quid pro quo' element to sharing ideas: when you put in the time and effort to share something that (you think) really adds value you hope to get something back in return. So when the quality of discussion declines here, the incentive to to put in the time and effort to share something declines as well. In that case it might be preferable to share your research with a select group of friends, on Twitter, on a private website or in a newsletter or behind a paywall. That also makes it harder for others to monetize content you share freely, which I think is another risk of a public forum.

 

It is also my personal opinion that the board would be better if it had stricter moderation. Even if that means some good posters leave this forum because they disagree with the policy. That's up to Parsad though.

 

Finally, to end with a positive note: given the incredible divisiveness in the US and the raging bull market the past few years it could have been worse. Just focus on the Investment board and ignore a few controversial stocks (and perhaps forum members). There are still some good discussions to be found. Name a better public forum!

[Guest cherzeca]

most of the benefit I derive from this board is writing posts, not reading posts.  I use the board to clarify my thinking, and the best way for me to do that is to write.  now, there are posts written by others that I derive benefit from, but if I had to read only on this board and couldn't post, I wouldn't spend time here.

[Parsad]

There will be a whole new site here most likely beginning September 1st.  Originally I was aiming for January 1st, but we've moved that timeline up.  I guess now would be a good time to address your issues:

 

https://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/cobf-new-website/msg422404/#msg422404

 

Cheers!

 

Sanjeev