一點忠告：Be Aware of Pump-n'-Dump

The constant pumping of something on this board is deafening, most time on houses, such as this: http://bbs.wenxuecity.com/tzlc/295288.html

Now on a hot stock du jour: http://bbs.wenxuecity.com/inv-stock/295370.html

At the end of that article, the original author clearly owns some of the stocks he\'s pumping: (Disclosure: I am long SD, EXC, BRK.B)

The fact is, Buffett has been selling his stock holdings on bulk recently. This you don\'t hear from those who are touting stocks to uninformed public.
Warren Buffett Sells; You Should Listen

The original article on hot stocks SD and EXC is a classic case of Pump-n\'-Dump, the oldest game on Wall Street. Chasing hot stocks or hot anything is virtually guaranteed to end in tears. The Pump-n\'-Dump of oil up to $147/barrel then down to $35/barrel hurt many people back in 2008, including some Chinese who firmed believed in peak oil theory back then. Now only 3 years later, same scheme comes back again.

Now a few additional words on housing, the principle purpose of houses is for people to have shelters, not as a speculation tool. The burst of housing bubble only a few years ago clearly proves the point. There is nothing special or glorified being a landlord, just a tough and time/labor consuming job of providing services to people who cannot afford buying their own houses. With the poor outlook of housing market far into the future, one would do much better spending the same time and energy learning a skill, say plumbing, and secure a blue-collar second job of a plumber than trying to be a landlord with all the hassles, debts, and taxes piling on. At least you earn money with no strings attached from your labor.

I haven\'t said this much for a long time. Not to offend anyone, just 一點忠告(忠言逆耳). All the best to whoever read this far.