Stock market forums
Investing in stocks can be a risky business, so it is important before any purchasing decision is made to carefully research the company you wish to invest in.
Stock market forums (stock message boards) provide a useful source of information to carry out due diligence on a particular company and are a good way to keep up to date with developments.
This hub takes a look at some of the best stock market forums on the web.
Yahoo finance
http://finance.yahoo.com/lookup
Yahoo finance has probably the largest stock forums anywhere on the Internet. In terms of quantity of information the yahoo finance forums are unmatched. This is both the best and worst thing about Yahoo finance stock forums. It is good because you will find a lot of information posted on the message boards, including information posted about small penny stocks. It is bad because a lot of the information posted is unreliable and at times abusive.
Stockhouse forum
Stockhouse is one of the better stock forums on the web. For the most part the users are knowledgeable and courteous and more than willing to share information about a company with new members. Stockhouse is very much focused on mining stocks and is an excellent place to start doing due diligence on Canadian stocks listed on the TSX and TSX venture exchange. Stockhouse also has daily columns from experts on such topics as gold and silver, commodities, market trends and politics. Stockhouse also covers all of the major US indices and has forums for the largest fortune 500 companies right down to small penny stocks. Overall and excellent resource for researching companies.
HotStockmarket
http://www.hotstockmarket.com/f/
Hotstockmarket is similar to Stockhouse in that it covers all of the US and Canadian indices. Hotstockmarket is smaller than both Stockhouse and Yahoo forums, however generally the posters and information provided is good quality.
Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha is not so much a stock market forum but it does provide excellent articles, comment and analysis on the markets in general, market sectors, commodities and individual stocks. The focus of Seeking Alpha is primarily the US stock market. Seeking Alpha has over 4000 contributors and host hundreds of new articles daily covering everything from renewables to Rhodium.
Stock Gumshoe
http://stockgumshoe.com/
Stock Gumshoe is not a forum, however it is a very original and interesting website. Have you ever read a finance newsletter or stumbled across an internet site which teases you about a once in a lifetime investment opportunity, but then won’t tell you the name of the company?? Stock Gumshoe reveals the names of the stocks which these investment newsletters tease us with. Stock gumshoe does a great job in de-coding the spin that investment newsletter writers like to tease the public with.
iii forum
iii forum is short for interactive investor. III is a UK site and its coverage is limited to stocks listed on the London stock exchange and London AIM. III is an excellent site and a great place to search for information on UK stocks. In addition to the extensive stock forums the site hosts video and exclusive articles on companies listed on the AIM. The site also has some interesting tools like stock filters and heat maps which show what stocks other users have been buying.
LSE forum
As the name suggests, LSE is a UK based stock market website. The site contains stock forums for all UK stocks listed on the London stock exchange and AIM.
Hotcopper forum
http://hotcopper.com.au/
Hotcopper is one of the leading stock market forums for Australian stocks. The forums are very extensive and provide a great resource for researching Australian stocks. In addition there is some good information posted to sub forums concerning the Australian markets in general and commodities. Registration is required to view this forum.
Aussie Stock forums
http://www.aussiestockforums.com/
Like Hotcopper, Aussie stock forums is an excellent website to research Australian stocks. Registration is required to view the forum.
Stockrants Stock Market Forum
http://www.stockrants.com/forum/
Stockrants is one of the more diverse stock forums on the web, forums include US, Canadian, Asian, Australian stocks as well as discussion on trends and technical analysis. This stock forum also includes some handy trading videos to help beginners.
Marketthoughts Stock Market Forum
http://www.marketthoughts.com/forum/
Markethoughts is another diverse stock forum. Markethoughts has excellent market commentary discussion and is a great place to go to find discussion on breaking trends and hot sectors.
Stock Market Cats
http://www.stockmarketcats.com/index.php
Stock Market Cats is a close knit stock market forum. The primary focus of Stock Market Cats is US stocks ranging from penny stocks through to blue chips. Also inludes member stock picks, commodities and forex discussion.
A word of caution
As with any forum it is important to consider the accuracy of information posted and keep in mind that much of the information posted on stock forums is user opinion. It is also important to keep a healthy scepticism when reading forum comments as some posters will have an ulterior motive in posting information on stock forums. The two worse types of forum posters who appear on stock forums can be summarised as follows:
- Rampers or Pumpers – Posters who create rumour or exaggerate claims in the hope of pumping the share price higher
- De-rampers or Dumpers – The opposite of rampers, users who will post negatively about a particular stock, sometimes creating false rumours with the aim of driving down the stock price.
In summary, stock forums can be a good source of information for researching stocks and the stock market in general. Be vigilant to double check any information posted before relying on it to make investment decisions.