dot com, page-11

pcockley...

The "shorts" I am talking about never appear on any offical list.

Like a cancer, they infect all stocks via a small, elite group who can sell almost any stock short due to the capacity to "borrow" stock from others.

Sometimes legit, other times not...Opes Prime were an example of a "platform" where connected people could literally sell any stock and either correct the position prior to settlement...or, simply borrow secretly from one account to cover another to cover shorfalls.

It is very possible.

I have even sold stock short...accidently...via Etrade.

I remember selling 100k SRK?...long time back...but the order went through twice, effectively shorting 100k shares in a stock that was not even listed for shorting!!!

How can that happen...I did not own them...in effect, a share that did not exist was sold?

How can this be?

Turns out the Etrade platform simply stuffed up...which is no big deal...but it highlights how the process can take place...how shares that do no exist can be sold?

Anyway, it was rectified within two days...before settlement...with a buy eventually put through on day 2 to "balance the books".

So...with contract notes all tallied up back office at the end of the day...what difference if the time (or date) on the sell order took place before the buy rder...as long as, at the end of the day they are all cancelled out!

Intra-day trades can be handled this way by those with platform access to such.

And this is just one aspect...there are so many more.

How about this for a deal...

You seem like a good bloke, I know a guy who wants to borrow your stock for a couple of weeks...he'll pay you 5% on the total value.

That's 5% in just two weeks!

He wll not tell you that meanwhile, he'll sell it down heavily, set-off all sorts of turmoil in the stock...stop losses, etc...upset trading, even manipulate the natural trading patterns, all with the view to knocking the stock from $1.50 to say 50c...at which point he will buy it all back, give you your stock (and your 5%)..and pocket the difference.

Your 5% profit (fee) just resulted in you losing 60% or more of the value of your position.

But it gets worse...via hedge funds and even our managed super (and no managed super funds), your stock can be borrowed in this way without even asking you!

Cheers!