Petro Rio S.A. HRTPF

Is this where the 64M GDS shares came from Pt 1

[Ogopogo007]

The Destruction of the Canadian Investor

Dear Readers,

There are many great things about being Canadian. Sadly, being an investor isn't one of them. Not anymore.

Last week, we revealed the shocking truths of high frequency trading (HFT). I saw some great comments and discussions from you guys and very thankful for your contributions.

This week, I am going shed some light on why the TSX Venture is failing.

Most of you probably invested in a company listed on the commodities-focused TSX Venture within the last year, which means most of you probably lost some money.

On a year-over-year basis, the TSX Venture is down 30%, trading volume down around 25%, and transactions are down more than 45%.

While the commodities and precious metals market have slumped due to falling prices and rising costs, many of the companies that have fallen have not dropped because of core fundamentals.

The TSX Venture as a whole has succumbed to more than just a down-dip in metal prices or the rises in costs of production and exploration. This letter is intended to address some of the issues that have led to the crash of the TSX Venture.

These issues include how the big banks are forcing juniors out of the market, just like they have in the US, and also how one regulation has turned into a death spiral event leading to other regulations that collectively are crushing our Canadian market.

[Ogopogo007]

It's important that Canadians know what is really going on.   Transparency in Trades   The biggest and most important aspect of any stock-trading platform is transparency.   Investors should be able to see exactly how many bids and sell orders are available for a stock at any given time - especially for an exchange that has minimal liquidity and therefore much easier to

[Ogopogo007]

Fair CompetitionCanadian regulators often do too much in order to solve problems where none exists. Their job is to protect investors but sometimes their actions have repercussions that actually end up doing the opposite. Regulators believed they were doing the right thing in the spirit of fair competition by forcing the TMX to accept alternative trading platforms. However, not only did this cause

[Ogopogo007]

That means we can now short a stock anytime we want. That's great news for shorters, but for companies trying to raise money at higher prices to hire more staff or move their projects forward, that rule can cripple them - especially under the liquidity constraints of the Canadian market. It doesn't take a lot of money to control a stock via short selling on the TSX Venture. As a matter of

[Ogopogo007]

The End Game   Pointing the finger is a pointless act. However, we do need to address the issues of what new rules are doing to our investments in this market.   Is the mood that somber in the commodities market, or are the new regulations adding too much fuel to a fire that should have been much smaller?   As I always say, I am not here to accuse or point fingers, but rather show