There has been considerable space given over to allegations of...

There has been considerable space given over to allegations of ramping on the NAG columns. Looking back over the posts which are alleged to be ramping, they mainly appear to be posts by people speculating about quite realistic possible scenarios.

I believe that HC is supposed to be a forum for the exchange of ideas, and discussing the performance and future prospects of companies. Of course, deliberately making false claims or statements as fact is to be condemned, but stating a personal thought or idea about a company and its potential is quite normal and to be expected, particularly when such personal opinions are based on information which is already in the public domain.

NAG is perhaps in a somewhat unique position in that it could be regarded as having had a rather chequered past with not a great deal of investor interest, but is suddenly in the spotlight because of the possibility of some very high assay results (as flagged by the Company), and also because of potential takeover or merger possibilities; so shareholders who can now see a potentially bright future where maybe there was previously not much interest are probably quite positive about what might lie ahead.

After studying the definitions of ramping in various dictionaries and stock exchange rules, I can't see that speculating about and discussing the possible future of a company in which you are invested comes anywhere to the definition of ramping, provided that no deliberately false claims are made and that the speculation is clearly just the personal opinion of the individual.

When I buy shares in a company, I do so after researching the company and weighing up the positives vs the negatives, and then I only invest in companies which I believe are mainly positive, so when discussing the stock on HC, I have mainly positive things to say about the company. That's certainly the basis on which I have posted on HC. I say what I believe to be true, usually based on information or claims which the company has made publicly available. Unfortunately, on one occasion that information or those claims might not have been entirely accurate, but nevertheless my posts were made in good faith.

Everything which I have posted about NAG is based upon my genuinely held beliefs, and I believe that all the signs point to a potentially great future for the company.

So while I respect other people's points of view, and their right to express their opinions, I don't believe that discussing or speculating about one's hopes and expectations of a company is ramping or somehow not legitimate. Equally, when people make negative statements about a company and its prospects based on personal belief, that also is quite legitimate.