The Case for Anonymity

What would be better for a community of smart stock people to talk about than the very stocks that interest them the most? That's why I am thrilled that TheStreet.com has just added ticker symbol boards for the stocks that get hit up the most.

Join the discussion on Cramer's Latest

And what a bizarre list it is! The first most-requested symbol is none other than (NGTIX Quote)Nicholas-Applegate Global Technology fund, showing me that our crowd still loves a good mutual fund.

But after that, it is business-to-business writ large, as we all scramble to learn about the VerticalNets (VERT Quote) and the Aribas (ARBA Quote) and the Reteks (RETK Quote), which round out the top-five "look ups" along with Amazon (AMZN Quote).

Lately I have been getting a lot of email from people saying they can't enter our boards and tell what is going on in their industry for fear that they will get in trouble. They can't tell the truth without anonymity.

Here's the rub. How can we trust people to tell the truth if they don't have to give their names? It's a tough issue, one of the many tough issues when it comes to the boards. I have to confess that I didn't like the cloak of anonymity on the boards. Now I'm not so certain.

Some people insist they can't go into the boards without the protection of anonymity. Of course, that may just be the clarion call of the touters, seeking to loosen the restrictions on the boards. I'm not sure myself. If you've got a view on that, or anything else related to the boards, post your thoughts on the Cramer's Latest board.

Be sure to check out the latest standings in Cramer's business-to-business rotisserie contest against his colleague Matt Jacobs.