The 25 stages of a Hotcopper Fantasy stock -----------------------------------------------------
1. Dormant explorer quietly acquires exploration tenement in an unheard of part of the world 2. Intention to drill the 'hottest' commodity of the day is announced to the market 3. Investors undertake a quick geography lesson. Tenement located on Google Earth 4. Messianic posters appear on Hotcopper extolling the virtues of this 'sure-fire-thing'. 5. Posters cram on Wikipedia. Regional geology and drilling techniques knowledgeably discussed 6. On location photo of company official appears (in safari suit) 7. Frequent company announcements, such as capital raisings, are greeted enthusiastically 8. Optimistic valuations by Hotcopper geologists/economists abound 9. Each powerpoint presentation adds $1 billion to the market capitalisation 10. Share price climbs precipitously 11. Stockmarket novices delight in referring to options as 'oppies' and ordinary shares as 'heads' 12. Mountains of previously 'scarce' scrip hits the market 13. Director sales are pathetically rationalised 14. Share price drops precipitously 15. Wannabe experts declare 'buy the panic, oversold value play' (as bad a sign as any) 16. Numerous conspiracy theories regarding capping, profiling and price manipulation emerge 17. Share price chart resembles a 'House with pointy roof and chimney' 18. Shareholders reluctantly espouse Long-Term-Buy-and-Hold investment 19. The once prolific 'Messiah' suffers writer's block, and no longer responds to posts 20. Company announcements dry up and become more vague 21. Lots of acrimonious exchanges ensue on Hotcopper 22. The 'Messiah' and his band of faithfuls move camp 23. Seek.com and Metlink web-sites experience a sharp increase in traffic 24. The 'Messiah' attributes his blunder to dishonest reporting by company management 25. Hotcopper thread becomes a group therapy session for bagholders
