Lurker no more.  Glad to see your posting here, Greenie.  Looks like 3 members have already greeted your arrival with 5/5 ranking points!  I encourage all the other members to do likewise and welcome you with 5/5.  Glad you are here!

There is no difference in this message board from other message boards in so far as it encompasses a wide range of viewpoints about a particular subject. It is not composed of all "Pumpers" any more than it is composed of all "Bashers".  Most of us have the greatest of expectations for a positive future for our LAC investment.

The difference between Agoracom and other message boards is primarily in the 6 Rules that keep us from wasting valuable time in attempting to undermine the character of another member because they have a divergent view from our own, but instead allowing for the fact that not everyone thinks exactly alike on any particular issue, least of all when it comes to investments.  Mutual respect for the right of each other to hold an opinion other than our own is essential, even though we may individually dispise the other person's viewpoint.  

Why is tolerance of another's viewpoint in opposition to our own essential?  I think that question should be asked by all members here and it is an important question.  My answer may not satisfy everyone, in fact it most likely will not satisfy everyone, so it boils down to a viewpoint. 

I find that if I am surrounded by only those who agree with me nearly 100% of the time on any issue that, first of all, conversation tends to be quite dull and uninspiring.  That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate confirmation of my own viewpoint on a subject, just that commensurate thought doesn't really stimulate the same sort of response as does the situation where someone challenges one of my beliefs. 

When someone pokes holes in your own position the easiest and simplest response is to fight back with some sort of remark about their family background or some other reprehensible remark about their character.  The more difficult thing to do it to go back to the drawing board and examine their particular positions on different things in order to validate your own viewpoint.  It takes a lot more work to do that than it does to write them off as a nut job or to label them with a quickly designed negative epithet of choice at the moment.  

To not at least listen to someone whose opinion is at variance with your own, whether in regard to investing or anything else, is akin to a Captain of the ship navigating through waters and not paying attention when the first mate hollers:  "Iceberg ahead!"  Now, there may or may not be an iceberg ahead, but the Captain's wiser choice is to at least look ahead to see if he can confirm or reject the claim of the First Mate so as to not suffer the consequence of an undesired and unhealthy collison on the high seas.  

I'm sure that all who operate a motor vehicle have a much better example of this sort of caution in their daily operation of a motor vehicle.  How many times do you come to an intersection and see a pedestrian oblivious to the traffic and with their head squarely in line only with the iPhone that they carry in their hands while they amble across a busy intersection and never look to the left or the right?  Thankfully, because of the caution of those driving cars and trucks who do look for potential hazards, the pedestrian, blind to the dangers of his or her action, usually makes it safely across to the other side.  But not always.  Being alert to possible danger just makes good sense, even though the majority of the time those possible dangers never materialize into real untoward events.

Yes, of course, JMO.  

Thanks for joining us, Greenie!    Okiedo