As he lugged his new computer from the store to his house, Holland Maxwell's back almost gave out . The house was not yet a home: he had only been there a few weeks and it felt no different from living out of a suitcase. Still, he had saved up for a state-of-the-art system, knowing full well that it would be obsolete as soon as the box flaps swung open, and he was so excited he didn't even stop to play with the bubble wrap as he unpacked it.

After a few calls to technical support ("Power cord? What power cord?") his machine was humming. Rather than rip open the included CD-Rom bundle, he clicked on his pre-loaded modem software, in order to do what he'd heard everybody else was doing: surf the Net. In no time at all he was sending e-mail to old friends, opening an online brokerage account and ordering a pizza for dinner. Linkvining away, he stumbled across a live chatroom where investors were discussing stocks.

Characteristically timid, but infused with just enough courage by his online anonymity, he typed, "So, what looks good this week?"

The replies came fast and furious. . .

Smile4U: Buy Twinco [Nasdaq: UTWO]!

DrStcktout: I see great things for Sinisteria [ASE: SIN].

TChurner: You know, Rebounz [Nasdaq: RIMZ] looks like a buy again

User43534: Age/Sex?

PorkBelly8: I say Healthy Pig [Nasdaq: TOWM] is a buy, pardner ;o)

MoMentos: look at the chart on Rollercoaster Toaster [Nasdaq: brnt], zoom city

TalknHead: Last week on Small Street Weak I said I Inc. [NYSE: IME] is a buy

LeWhisper: . . . buy . . . Silent Plumbing [Nasdaq: HUSH]. . . now. . .

User43534: M or F?

ICPete: Well, I would certainly scoop up some Pitty Litter [Nasdaq: MEOWQ]

User43534: Come on people, M or F?

SirMotley: Both User, I am both Motley and Fool!

The chatroom grew quiet as the touts headed for the exits. Before long it was just Sir Motley Fool, User43534 and Holland the neophyte.

"These chatrooms are a great way to generate stock ideas," Motley typed. "But since you can never tell who is on the other end of the line, their intentions, as well as the very credibility of what they write, should always be in question."

Holland heard someone knocking on his door. He raced to answer and came back to his computer with a slice of pizza in hand.

"So, sure, chat with strangers, but then verify what they tell you," Motley continued. "The chance of a lifetime can wait long enough for you to do a little bit of research on your own."

He then went through the eight stock picks that had just been mentioned. Twinco had strong fundamentals but a small amount of shares outstanding. While strong insider ownership was a good thing, it contributed to a thin float, and this made it very easy to manipulate the stock up or down. Sinisteria had negative book value. Rebounz had just omitted their last dividend. Healthy Pig, with the acronym of a popular pork slogan as its ticker symbol, had reported losses over the last few years. Rollercoaster Toaster had indeed doubled over the past few months but had risen to a level where its valuation was far exceeding its growth rate.

Holland wad dumbfounded. While he hadn't planned to place eight buy orders the following morning, he began to realize that he was a naive sponge soaking up tipster hype. He fished around for a nearby napkin, couldn't find one, and wiped his chin with his Windows 95 Registration Card.

Motley went on to explain how TalknHead was actually The Talking Head, and sat on the Board of Directors of I Incorporated. Silent Plumbing was so silent that auditors had refused to sign off on their latest financial statement report. Then came Pitty Litter, of which Motley only had to note the ticker symbol to know the company was in dire financial straits.

How did Motley know this?

1) Pitty Litter had a 5-letter ticker symbol, which is given to Nasdaq companies that trade on the "pink sheets" and do not meet listing requirements.

2) The ticker symbol's fifth letter is Q which is designated to companies in bankruptcy.

3) A company with a name like Pitty Litter could not possibly be making any money.

4) The company had to have been kicked off the NYSE because the letters WQ, standing for Without Qualification, had been added to its former ticker symbol of MEO.

Thank Q! The correct answer is number two. Nasdaq assigns a fifth letter, in some cases, to designate a stock's status. The fifth letter is not necessarily a sign of financial distress. Companies with a fifth ticker symbol letter of "Y" or "F" are foreign companies. However, there is no mistaking that the letter "Q" is added to over-the-counter stocks whose companies are in bankruptcy proceedings.

HMaxwell: Motley you're an account saver!

SirMotley: <blushing> Just doing my Foolish civic duty.

HMaxwell: How can I ever repay you?

SirMotley: Your knowledge is my gain, even though those Motley silver jester pins are might cool.

HMaxwell: You think Healthy Pig might pan out if they start making money?

SirMotley: Who knows? Keep an open mind. Just like one should never fall in love with a stock, one should never fall in hate with one either.

User43534: I think I'm in the wrong chatroom.

HMaxwell: I think I'm in the perfect chatroom. You know, I'm finally home!

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