Re: psychology
>First, I think there exists a need to express anger—anger that (in this view) the person has been fooled or cheated by this company but is completely unable to admit the logical conclusion which is that HE MAY BE THE FOOL. <
I agree that expressing anger and getting it out of their system is part of it, but I think it's also a fear that after they sell, the company will turn around, do well, and the stock will roar higher without them. That would more than double their pain. So they hang around and switch from rooting for success to rooting for failure.
I think a more significant psychological observation to be made has been related to covid, vaccines, masks, spacing, lockdowns, therapeutics, natural immunity etc...
Once people take a position, they seem almost incapable of processing any new information that calls for a shift in that initial position. I include scientists, doctors, statisticians, and all sorts of brilliant people in that.
In this case, it's probably partly related to political tribes and the divisive environment, but these cognitive biases are so monumentally strong now, they have given me a much greater appreciation for how hard it has been for me to change directions as an investor and gambler at times in the past. Who knows how many times I've had a completely delusional perspective because my first position was wrong and I was incapable of processing the new information that made that apparent.