RE:short interest updateAs some of you might recall, I was very interested in the shenanigans of the short position movements last year. But, the short play being made for no particular reason stopped as mysteriously as it started with a significant losses to the player(s) involved, as I described in detail at the time. This short term bear raid appeared to have nothing whatsoever to do with TSO3 fundamentals, but it did cause share price instability and worry for some investors as well as marked irritation, to say the least, to management. The bear raid and short play ended when some substantial investors, (I played only a small role - though I did increase my holdings at those artificially depressed prices by what some might consider a substantial amount...), bought all the shares (50,000 - 100,000 at a time) that the short raiders were trying to dump in order to continue to crash the share price intraday and this caused the short players to have to repeated cover intraday at a loss. Given the confidence of some resilient, well informed, and significant investors in TOS, we were not a good target for their game. They just walked on their ill-conceived and obviously losing trade.
The OTC short interest changes were and are a separate issue, I believe. I followed, reported, and discussed the unusual US short interest changes (US short interest appears to go up when Canadian traded short interest goes down, and vice versa) with both Canadian and US regulators, and they did not report any irregularities in trading as far as I am aware. During my discussions, it was also suggested, and appears to me to be the case, that the US short interest is actually a means for US institutional investors (particularly some hedge funds) to take a significant interest in TOS (though only to the tune of a few million shares in total). Apparently, their rules for the institution or fund preventing the fund from holding international or Canadian equities and FINRA regulations do not prevent such shorting. (I.e., the fund can hold a short interest in US OCT, and, using a broker that has both US and a Canadian trading arms, their broker can buy TOS shares in Canada on their behalf that are then shorted in identical amounts in the OCT market.) This explains why the Canadian short interest declines (shares are covered in Canadian market - and thus purchased) when the US OTC market short interest increases. This odd activity is quite common, apparently, and regulators turn a blind eye to it, as far as I could tell, and it is certainly not limited to TOS/TSTIF trading.
This anomaly of an unusual OTC short interest reflecting an inability of some US investors to purchase Canadian equities in Canadian markets only adds to my opinion that TSO3 should just apply for a NASDAQ listing as soon as possible. And, to do this dual listing without any US financing, despite possible pressures from US institutions who would like to take substantial positions in the company, as TSO3 has no need for a US cash raise. I believe management will be faithful to long term mostly Canadian holders and avoid pressures to dilute our interests, even if it is argued a US listing with financing will provide a much greater intitutional and this analyst interest south of the border and strongly support the share price over the mid to longer term. When we are selling +250 units per year, we won't need a financing either for a new US assembly facility in Myrtle Beach, as the company's cash flow and books will easily warrant a short term credit facility should this be needed with a bank and we will easily avoid dilution. A simple US NASDAQ listing will allow US funds and institutions to take a position in TSO3 in the open market, thus supporting and driving up the share price in both US and Canadian markets, and there will be at least the initial US demand of 3.7 Million shares presently shorted, IMHO, to start real US liquidity on a stable footing.