In the past week, Fool readers have written some especially well-argued, witty and interesting messages on a variety of subjects. Here are some of them.
I think the most useful feature The Fool has added to the website in the past year has been the Article Comments. (If you disagree, you can add your comments at the bottom of the article, although I think that would be dangerously close to being a paradox. If your computer explodes, don't say I didn't warn you.)
We Fool writers must write, on average, less than 800 words if we're not to bore you, but Article Comments allow people who want to read more on a subject to do so. Not only do you get more information but you get to read other perspectives. Every now and again you'll even notice that a reader spots a mistake in the article, so it's useful for all of us.
We also have Q and A now, which I wrote about recently in New Money Tool Better Than Mass Hypnosis, and it appears to be picking up steam.
However, the best comments on the site are mostly driven by the huge number of discussion-board users. These Fools are the life-force of this website. I often enjoy reading the eloquent and well-argued messages of our knowledgeable and experienced readers. This week in particular I feel compelled to write about them, because we've had some extremely entertaining and informative posts. I've included a selection below.
Alas, not all these messages are written in the simple language you've come to expect from us Fool writers. Some of the posts have investing jargon or require some knowledge of economics to appreciate them in full. Many of the messages are long, so if you don't have time to read them all you can skip to what interests you. They're about:
1. Journalists who cause fear and panic
2. The woes of LloydsTSB shareholders
3. Iceland's economy and its banks
4. Taxpayers pay the interest on unemployed people's mortgages
5. A Fool poll about the size of our recent investment losses
6. How to live below your means
7. A quote from an unhappily-married man
(I've tidied up the quotes to make them nicer to read, but not changed the intended meaning. If you want to read the whole thread of messages, click on `Whole thread'.)
1. Journalists who cause fear and panic
`Journalists? Terrorists, more like.'
Ouch. For the record, I prefer to call myself a writer, rather than a journalist, because I don't like them much either. Anyway, that quote was the title of compscidude's post about the hacks who've been scaring savers and investors. You can read his message here. He makes some good points about the fear that journalists cause their readers. Those who responded made some good points too, though; it's not all the journalists' fault.
I have warned readers before about journalists, too. Always check out anything you read elsewhere, if it's important enough to you.
2. The woes of LloydsTSB shareholders
`Nurse, my medicine please. And get me Alistair Darling on the phone. He's obviously got the power to do anything.'
longhoc writes a very entertaining post about the decline of LloydsTSB's shares called Rescue plan for this board. (Lloyds' shares are now very roughly one-third of what they were a year ago.)
By reading this post you get a good feel for the kind of tone that you could sometimes expect on this discussion board, which is dedicated to debating the bank's shares. If you're new to The Fool's discussion boards, you can also get a good sense of the sort of banter you can expect on any board, on a good day.
The single response (so far) is entertaining, too. I wish Lloyds' shareholders better success with their other holdings.
3. Iceland's economy and its banks
`For the sake of essentially peanuts, Nato has just potentially handed a key, strategically-placed ally over to Russia.'
BertEEE writes a strong and well-written view in response to the question `Why is Iceland broke?'. The ensuing discussion, while somewhat heated, is extremely interesting.
4. Taxpayers pay the interest on unemployed people's mortgages
`The USA has gone from the land of the free to a massive Communist council-house estate.'
In Where's my refund?, poster violinista comments about plans for the recently unemployed to have their interest paid on their mortgages by the Government. I must admit that the ensuing discussion is not one of the most useful, unless you're considering buying a canal-boat instead of a house. Entertaining all the same.
5. A Fool poll about the size of our recent investment losses
`Is yours worse than mine?'
This question by tournesolf was about the performance of his share portfolio, which has suffered extraordinary losses. However, he ran a poll that found most Fools have suffered huge losses. The majority have lost over 40%.
Read the whole thread. There were some interesting responses, particularly from a financial advisor, and from one respondent who has lost 90% since the high point. He shares his next two buys with us in order to warn us to stay out!
6. How to live below your means
`Wish I'd done this years ago...'
In Small is beautiful, Sallywell makes those on the Living Below Your Means discussion board think about more important things than money. Incidentally, these important things can save you money!
7. A quote from an unhappily-married man
A stock-market trader said: `This is worse than divorce. I've lost half my net worth and I still have a wife.'
This was posted by Shanklin100, who was quoting someone else, I hasten to add! If you enjoyed it, please visit his post and give him a `Recommendation'. Indeed, `Rec' any of these interesting and/or entertaining posts if you enjoyed them.
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