RE:Pat OliverAnd here I thought I was all alone in buying; but he and I are almost all alone; trying to hover up the meagre offerings of those who continue to churn the stock to support an impossible short position. Very little on offer (bids for considerably more; at lower prices though); and the little trading that does happen seems to be only the market maker and the short sellers trying to keep their churning going.
Those who own Bonterra are waiting (with some impatience) for the day when the debt targets are reached and the dividends start to flow again. Not that many shareholders ever sell this one. The company is executing its 2023 plan with precision and the happy day is coming soon. My read of the company’s prospects to return to its roots as a cash spinner is that even when the price moves up, it will still be a buy, not a sell. The larger market has, for a myriad of reasons, no appetite for Western Canadian Energy right now; but someday soon it will. Then, in addition to the promise of a return of the cash flow that has always been Bonterra's hallmark, our share price will command the value it deserves.
The dividend will put new pressure on the short position; as should the corresponding strengthen of the stock price. An open question is how, with such low liquidity, can the short position ever be covered?
Indeed, where is the stock to support the shorts now coming from? I don’t know, but suspect that much of this is the Tar Sands Campaign crowd playing the market to achieve the goal it claims. The investment brains behind this have been making it work by buying stock for their own accounts to provide collateral shares for their loss-leading play. They sell the prospect of discouraging investments to the Hollywood money; but neglect to tell them that their stock brokers are covered internally, and will quietly make even more money when the scheme collapses.