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Bulls and Bears don't exist
Cleaver
Posts: 6,989 Forumite
Stop me if I'm way off course here as I'm happy to be corrected.
Harry Powell posted very eloquently on this subject the other day but I note that there is another bull vs bear nonsense thread on here again today, so probably worth bringing back up.
Can we please cease with all the "I'm a bull", "The problem with bears...", "The bulls have..." rubbish. Surely these words are best used as an adjective, in that someone is bullish or bearish about a particular thing or, often, a market. As facts, circumstances and opinions change on situations it's surely not possible to be a bear or a bull. In the same way that it's possible to be happy or sad, but not really correct to describe yourself as a happy or a sad.
For example, if the government announced tomorrow that they were offering lifetime 0% mortgages and a nice £20,000 gift deposit to FTBers throughout the first 6 months of 2010 I would be pretty bullish about the housing market. Who wouldn't be? If the government then announced that they were raising stamp duty to 8% for the remainder of 2010, I would suddenly become quite bearish about the housing market.
When people use bull and bear on this website to describe themselves or someone else what they are actually using the term to mean is 'someone who cannot, or is unwilling, to change their ideology, opinions and view based on the changing world and facts around them'. Over the past 12 months a load of people who joined a 'team' of either bull and bear and then stuck to defending their positive or negative viewpoint no matter what. I'm not saying everyone is this way, but it's pretty much coming up in every thread so it's at a pretty annoying level. Is there any chance we can stop this?
And as for all this 'since the bears / bulls got banned...' rubbish. From what I can see people seem to get banned for people unpleasant to other people, posting stuff they shouldn't, insulting the website owner or creating multiple accounts. I sincerely doubt that someone who has a full time job and then volunteers to work as a mod on here in their spare time is sitting there thinking: "you know what, I'm quite bullish about the housing market. I think I'll slowly start picking off people who have a more negative view than mine, so I can make the forum seem slightly more positive overall." If you think along these lines you're a couple of cans short of a six-pack.
Rant over. For now.
Harry Powell posted very eloquently on this subject the other day but I note that there is another bull vs bear nonsense thread on here again today, so probably worth bringing back up.
Can we please cease with all the "I'm a bull", "The problem with bears...", "The bulls have..." rubbish. Surely these words are best used as an adjective, in that someone is bullish or bearish about a particular thing or, often, a market. As facts, circumstances and opinions change on situations it's surely not possible to be a bear or a bull. In the same way that it's possible to be happy or sad, but not really correct to describe yourself as a happy or a sad.
For example, if the government announced tomorrow that they were offering lifetime 0% mortgages and a nice £20,000 gift deposit to FTBers throughout the first 6 months of 2010 I would be pretty bullish about the housing market. Who wouldn't be? If the government then announced that they were raising stamp duty to 8% for the remainder of 2010, I would suddenly become quite bearish about the housing market.
When people use bull and bear on this website to describe themselves or someone else what they are actually using the term to mean is 'someone who cannot, or is unwilling, to change their ideology, opinions and view based on the changing world and facts around them'. Over the past 12 months a load of people who joined a 'team' of either bull and bear and then stuck to defending their positive or negative viewpoint no matter what. I'm not saying everyone is this way, but it's pretty much coming up in every thread so it's at a pretty annoying level. Is there any chance we can stop this?
And as for all this 'since the bears / bulls got banned...' rubbish. From what I can see people seem to get banned for people unpleasant to other people, posting stuff they shouldn't, insulting the website owner or creating multiple accounts. I sincerely doubt that someone who has a full time job and then volunteers to work as a mod on here in their spare time is sitting there thinking: "you know what, I'm quite bullish about the housing market. I think I'll slowly start picking off people who have a more negative view than mine, so I can make the forum seem slightly more positive overall." If you think along these lines you're a couple of cans short of a six-pack.
Rant over. For now.
0
Comments
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Stop me if I'm way off course here as I'm happy to be corrected.
Harry Powell posted very eloquently on this subject the other day but I note that there is another bull vs bear nonsense thread on here again today, so probably worth bringing back up.
Can we please cease with all the "I'm a bull", "The problem with bears...", "The bulls have..." rubbish. Surely these words are best used as an adjective, in that someone is bullish or bearish about a particular thing or, often, a market. As facts, circumstances and opinions change on situations it's surely not possible to be a bear or a bull. In the same way that it's possible to be happy or sad, but not really correct to describe yourself as a happy or a sad.
For example, if the government announced tomorrow that they were offering lifetime 0% mortgages and a nice £20,000 gift deposit to FTBers throughout the first 6 months of 2010 I would be pretty bearish about the housing market. Who wouldn't be? If the government then announced that they were raising stamp duty to 8% for the remainder of 2010, I would suddenly become quite bearish about the housing market.
When people use bull and bear on this website to describe themselves or someone else what they are actually using the term to mean is 'someone who cannot, or is unwilling, to change their ideology, opinions and view based on the changing world and facts around them'. Over the past 12 months a load of people who joined a 'team' of either bull and bear and then stuck to defending their positive or negative viewpoint no matter what. I'm not saying everyone is this way, but it's pretty much coming up in every thread so it's at a pretty annoying level. Is there any chance we can stop this?
And as for all this 'since the bears / bulls got banned...' rubbish. From what I can see people seem to get banned for people unpleasant to other people, posting stuff they shouldn't, insulting the website owner or creating multiple accounts. I sincerely doubt that someone who has a full time job and then volunteers to work as a mod on here in their spare time is sitting there thinking: "you know what, I'm quite bullish about the housing market. I think I'll slowly start picking off people who have a more negative view than mine, so I can make the forum seem slightly more positive overall." If you think along these lines you're a couple of cans short of a six-pack.
Rant over. For now.
Forget this Cleaves Afriend and Mewbie not been on here for 48 hours, I would have reported this earlier but I too have been AWOL.0 -
For example, if the government announced tomorrow that they were offering lifetime 0% mortgages and a nice £20,000 gift deposit to FTBers throughout the first 6 months of 2010 I would be pretty bearish about the housing market
QUICK !!!!
Edit Required :eek:'In nature, there are neither rewards nor punishments - there are Consequences.'0 -
Not a bad thing per se that this sort of tribalism occurs (v like a football forum) - main strength of MSE is a sentiment-gauge rather than anything elso imo. Its interesting when emotive peaks occur and is as valid enough in its own way as rational analysis.
But would be better if it wasn't log-in only imoPrefer girls to money0 -
I bagsy the title ''a happy''.0
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lostinrates wrote: »I bagsy the title ''a happy''.
I prefer to be thought of as a tin-foil hat nutter rather than "bear".
And I prefer the term "HPI cheerleader" rather than "bull""The problem with quotes on the internet is that you never know whether they are genuine or not" -
Albert Einstein0 -
I prefer to be thought of as a tin-foil hat nutter rather than "bear".
And I prefer the term "HPI cheerleader" rather than "bull"
In all seriousness, they are much better terms. They are closer to almost a religious identity in that I doubt a 'tin foil hat nutter' or a 'HPI cheerleader' could ever be shaken from their views, no matter what evidence you put in front of them. Like a strict Christian, you could stick a load of scientific evidence under their nose and they'd still believe in a bloke in the sky with a beard.
Take Macaque and Hamish, who I would consider at either end of the spectrum we seem to have on here. Whether either of them is right or wrong is irrelevant. Both have such a religious devotion to their message and cause that they both seem quite incapable of ever changing their thinking in light of the facts and changing world in front of their eyes. Just like a religious person in many ways.0 -
In all seriousness, they are much better terms. They are closer to almost a religious identity in that I doubt a 'tin foil hat nutter' or a 'HPI cheerleader' could ever be shaken from their views, no matter what evidence you put in front of them. Like a strict Christian, you could stick a load of scientific evidence under their nose and they'd still believe in a bloke in the sky with a beard.
Take Macaque and Hamish, who I would consider at either end of the spectrum we seem to have on here. Whether either of them is right or wrong is irrelevant. Both have such a religious devotion to their message and cause that they both seem quite incapable of ever changing their thinking in light of the facts and changing world in front of their eyes. Just like a religious person in many ways.
I'm struggling to re read Liberal Fascism (which is meant to be not hard). Was in hospital again today and kept sniggering over the first chapter. I understood it better from time here.0 -
Just like a religious person in many ways
Zealot
Votary
Fanatic 'In nature, there are neither rewards nor punishments - there are Consequences.'0 -
i think you miss the point in many ways - they both come on here to take the michael and for no other reason.Take Macaque and Hamish, who I would consider at either end of the spectrum we seem to have on here. Whether either of them is right or wrong is irrelevant. Both have such a religious devotion to their message and cause that they both seem quite incapable of ever changing their thinking in light of the facts and changing world in front of their eyes. Just like a religious person in many ways.
they come on the forum for a bit of fun - forget what they you think they or their views stand for. i bet you their internet persona will be very different to them in real life.0
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