Anecdotal only, but to me it's kind of obvious. If it's not...

Anecdotal only, but to me it's kind of obvious. If it's not obvious for you, well people see/interpret things differently. Shareholders have a common hypothesis, that their investment has upside. It takes a change in sentiment for that hypothesis to become broken. Generally boards are made up primarily of current shareholders, which serves as a community of likeminded investors. The general sentiment amongst current shareholders will tend to be bullish, so the group, often led by frequent posters who perpetuate the positive group-think, serve as an influence against pure objective thinking. And when some posters come aboard that present an alternative [bearish] point of view, they get immediately attacked, accused of untoward motivation, and a defensive group posture. I try to never become emotionally attached to an investment hypothesis. I read all point of views, and I am vigilant not to become influenced by cheerleader types and fan boys. My observation reading daily comments on stock boards of the stocks I hold, is a lot of contributors become emotionally attached, a deadly error the way I see it. I look for objective information, which is rare, but can be very useful, and can either reinforce my present thinking, or lead me to re-evaluate.