Far be it for me to come to the defense of a stockbroker (pox be...

Far be it for me to come to the defense of a stockbroker (pox be upon them) but underwriting an option conversion is not the same as a cash raise.

A cash raise would be a guaranteed quantity at a fixed price, say, 10,000,000 shares at 7.5c.

Hartleys have just written 68,000,000 puts at 8c. If the market turns bearish over the next 6 weeks, Hartleys will be be buying large quantities in a down market. If the market turns bullish, Hartleys will be converting less options.

If you don't want Hartleys to get anything, then convert your options or sell them into the open market. The current bid is 1c. And those who don't own any options need to have a long cold drink of harden the frak up.