mjmj, ...who is the audience of these repeat YES45 posters?...
A good question. When some dude who professes to be a sophisticated instos spending way too much time writing lengthy responses to Matty (a delusional retail muppet) where every sentence reads like the instruction of how hedge funds should behave, I can only guess I am not the intended audience.
Matter of fact is everyone is reading Hotcopper. Media, traders, hedge funds (pretty sure), Sundance board and retailers. While there is a lot of not so serious exchanges happening here (for that matter any other thread), Hotcopper is a good forum for information & I fear MIS-information. I wouldn't rule out HC as an effective propaganda tool by Merrill or any other interests in the case of SDL.
As an example of the kind of damage that can result, read this: