Hello, 
 I'm a news.groups regular.  Like most of the regulars here, I usually 
 don't vote on proposals.  However, I've got some comments and questions 
 for you (the proponent) which you might want to consider incorporating 
 your responses to in the next draft of your RFD ("2nd RFD:..."). 
  
 In news.groups Irene  wrote: 
 >                     REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD) 
 >                 unmoderated group misc.invest.bonds 
  
 >Newsgroup line: 
 >misc.invest.bonds Bond Investment. 
  
 >RATIONALE: misc.invest.bonds 
  
 >Bonds are one of several popular investment vehicles. Consumers typically 
 >buy them to reduce the volatility of portfolios. Following the descent of 
 >stock market indices after 2000 and subsequent unprecedented changes in 
 >interest rates, bond discussion has increased in the media and on Usenet. 
 >Yet none of the 10 misc.invest newsgroups currently available is dedicated 
 >to bonds. 
  
 That begs the questions, "do bonds get discussed in those groups?", 
 or, "what's wrong with discussing bonds in those groups?"  What 
 are the main groups this topic gets discussed?  How much of the 
 discussion involves bonds?  Will the new group pull bond discussions 
 out of those groups (and into the new group), or will it just be 
 another group to crosspost to most of the time?  Are there perhaps 
 too many financial groups already? 
  
 >Some related topics which may arise are: the volatility of different bond 
 >vehicles; the effect of interest rate changes on bonds; bond market indices; 
 >where to buy bonds; specific bonds; Federal Reserve policy; 
 >money market funds; and tax advantages of bonds. 
  
 The above really belongs in the CHARTER, and if already there, 
 the above should either be truncated, outright removed, or 
 rewritten to describe bonds rather than topics. 
  
 When you say "may arise", does that mean they haven't already 
 arisen elsewhere? 
  
 >A dedicated bonds newsgroup would assist consumers in making intelligent 
 >investment choices via the diversity of viewpoints, expertise, and extensive 
 >open debate that such a public forum provides. Through the transfer of 
 >legitimate information, it would also assist in keeping financial markets 
 >free. 
  
 But do these people want a new group?  How much support do you 
 have?  New newsgroup proposals do not get many votes from news.group 
 readers (i.e. folks like me).  Rather they get most of their votes 
 from people already interested in the topic covered by the proposal. 
 If you don't have readers lined up by now (or at least by the time 
 of the vote), this proposal significantly risks failure.  Have you 
 advertised your proposal and discussed it in the financial newsgroups? 
 How much awareness is there? 
  
 And as far as the RATIONALE is concerned, it is the readership aspect 
 that should be outlined (e.g. what concerns they have about existing 
 groups, about the proposed group).  As such, your RATIONALE is a 
 bit weak (at least you have some traffic statistics). 
  
 >CHARTER: misc.invest.bonds 
  
 >misc.invest.bonds is a place to post about and discuss bonds. Since 
  
 Should you write "discuss investment bonds"? 
  
 >investment is often a weighing of choices, comparison of bonds to other 
 >investment vehicles is appropriate. 
  
 In one or two sentences describe the topic (e.g. explain what bonds are). 
  
 >A diversity of viewpoints and expertise is encouraged. Such diversity tends 
 >to distill out useful and legitimate information; assist participants in 
 >making intelligent investment choices; and promote free financial markets. 
  
 >misc.invest.bonds topics may include but are not limited to: 
 >Types of bonds and bond vehicles, including government (city, state, and 
 >federal), corporate, short-term (under approx. 3 years), long-term (approx. 
 >10 years and over), bond mutual funds, new issue, highly rated (AAA), and 
 >junk bonds. Volatility of different bond vehicles. The effect of interest 
 >rate changes on bonds. Bond market indices. Investment houses dealing in 
 >bonds. Specific bonds and bond mutual funds on the market or about to be 
 >issued. Federal Reserve policy. Money market funds. Tax advantages of bonds. 
  
 You've got a lot of incomplete sentences up there.  Why not list 
 them in point form instead?  Or break them up into proper sentences 
 or phrases? 
  
 >The proposed unmoderated newsgroup misc.invest.bonds is not intended for 
 >for-sale postings. Advertisements that do appear may be vigorously 
 >critiqued. 
  
 Binaries are probably not going to be a problem, right? 
  
 >END CHARTER. 
  
 ru 
  
 -- 
 My standard proposals rant: 
 Quality, usefulness, merit, or non-newsgroups popularity of a topic 
 is more or less irrelevant in creating a new Big-8 newsgroup. 
 Usenet popularity is the primary consideration. 
  
 --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 
  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)