A Few More Thoughts On Mackey

So by now you already know the story of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, who,  for many years, post on the Yahoo Finance message boards about his company's stock using a pseudonym.  Regardless of the law, his doing so makes him look like an utter fool.  That's too bad, cause I've generally held John Mackey in high regards.

What really gets me about the whole affair, however, is the tone and style of his postings.  As I've said before, stock message boards are an utter cesspool, completely void of worthwhile content.  You've got raving lunatic bulls that think any drop must be a conspiracy, and short sellers who seem more interested in pissing off the bulls than in making money.  In theory, there's nothing wrong with
a place to hash out ideas with fellow investors, but fighting over stock movements is just plain dumb.

So here's John Mackey, the most knowledgeable Whole Foods investor in the world, with deep insights into its business and that of its competitor, Wild Oats, and what does he do?  He drops right down to everyone else's level, engaging with the baiters and doubters in a childish way, rather than attempting to bring anything civilized or worthwhile to the debate.  It's proof that these message boards for black holes, where knowledge goes to die.

Comments

[David]

I like how his response is that the FTC released this stuff just to embarrass him. No sir, you embarrassed yourself.

[wufnik]

Whoa--it's the medium, not the messager? Is this Gresham's law run amok? Maybe he sounded like a complete jerk because he is a complete jerk.