I have a feeling that posters are different on different stocks. Mining specs (like SIR) seem to have a lot of amateur prospectors or at least older guys who would have liked to prospect.
BBG seems to have middle ages surfers (some).
Factors in common seem to include time on their hands, thus many retired and semi retired handling their own investments. Many punters.
If you look at the big market caps, they usually have very few posters, suggesting HC posters (who focus on small specs that by definition are subject to big swings in the sp) are mainly gamblers who masquerade as investors. Still, some of us make more money for ourselves than brokers ever did for us.
SIR Price at posting:
$3.38 Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held