RE: Insider SellingHoly Cow! I'm agreeing with L4! (Let's hope this doesn't happen too frequently.) I, also, was perturbed by the share dump on news release day. Man, if I wanted to drive a stock down, that sure was a good way to do it. I have examined, in detail, the Level II open book orders and trades for that day and the following days. In all honesty, I have a gut feeling that there may have been (still is?) an intentional downward push on share price. On a scale of 1-10, I'd say about 4. The reasons are manifold and involve participating broker/dealers, jitney orders, anonymous trade size and and the way orders were placed, insane rapid-fire market sell orders in a stock which really needs limit orders, and so forth. Specifics would be too lengthy to discuss here. Just let me say that 4 on a 1-10 scale is appreciable. Which brings me to wonder why one would want to drive the price down? Blue-skying some possibilities, the following thoughts come to mind... 1. A deteriorating political situation in Peru. (Probably not.) 2. Shorts (individuals and/or broker/dealers) were afraid of getting skinned-alive when that release was issued and desperately needed price suppression. 3. Collusion between.....(let your imagination run wild). 4. Criminal fraud by one or more insiders? (I doubt it.) 5. A potential buyer of the company needed to keep the price down. 6. Reasons I haven't thought of. 7. ...and there's always random chance. (I have been known to be wrong.) I did say these were blue-sky possibilities. Some may be likely (#2), others highly unlikely (#4), but one has to consider all possibilities. If I sound disgruntled, you're right — I wasn't a happy camper a few days ago. Here's something else that's curious, and could point toward price suppression. When ASD was much higher and indicated/inferred resources were much lower, Brien Lundin (Gold Newsletter) made numerous buy recommendations ...
Gold Newsletter Buy Recommendations. Yet, in this month's newsletter
Sept 2007 Gold Newsletter, he suggested that we should
"...put off any further buying until...". Why, with ASD's price way low and indicated/inferred resources so much better and with less time remaining until smelting, would Brien Lundin make such a suggestion? Is he embarrassed because of his previous recommendations at higher prices? Is he trying to save face? Or...is he trying to make certain unknown parties happy? Don't get me wrong — I have no problem with negative reports; truth is always preferred over fantasy. But I just can't get a good grasp on Mr. Lundin's rationale. Yes, Lundin did say
"...ASD is cheap, and should sell for significantly higher prices down the road.", but if that's the case, why shouldn't I buy it
now? Should I wait for a one-week run-up to $.40 ... and
then buy? Has Brien lost his marbles, his perspective, his objectivity, or...possibly, some credibility? Oh, BTW, I was surprised to see that ASD published the Sept 2007 Gold Newsletter on their website. Frankly, if it was me, I would have left it off. OK, it would have been a crime of omission, but... Bottom line — There are a lot of unanswered questions. And, as in most markets, there are often things going on behind the scenes that we can only imagine, and sometimes can't even imagine. At the very least, news release day trading certainly shook up the troops. There are plenty of dollars to be made in this penny stock, if things go right for the right people. However, since I can't compete with those "right people", I'm content to be buying and holding value and paying for it with patience. In the long run, the playing field will level.
"The most common cause of low prices is pessimism - sometimes pervasive, sometimes specific to a company or industry. We want to do business in such an environment, not because we like pessimism, but because we like the prices it produces. It’s optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer." — Warren Buffett, 1990 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letter —Staylorpi
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