Subject: Done some homework
Date: Fri, Jun 12, 1998 21:16 EDT
From: StockFelo
Message-id: <1998061301165900.VAA00881@ladder03.news.aol.com>
Here's what I have heard and uncovered:
1) It is strongly felt that Viking stock is being "shorted". Not only by me but others too. Translation: Someone is selling stock that they DO NOT have. First, traders sell stock at higher prices, say $1.50. Then they try to drive the stock down, panic investors, possibly post defamatory, negative and misleading information on the message boards, scare investors into selling, then buy back those shares that they have sold after the stock collapses
to fire sale prices. For illustration purposes lets say they cover their shorts at $.54 cents. (Traders/Market Makers can do this. Individuals like you and I can't.) Doesn't seem legal but it is.
2) A few new market makers have made it on the scene on Viking stock. These are wholesalers/traders/MM's that price our stock, trade for themselves or their own firm's trading account, and also take orders from those of us who buy or sell through our brokers.
3) A few other things have occurred too:
a) unusually large and mysterious quantities of shares have traded over the past few weeks. Some are blocks of 10,000 or more shares at a time.
b) extremely negative posts have hit the boards and internet which the Company denies
c) yet, only good news has come from the company
d) a lot of us have been net buyers and not sellers
e) Large orders have hit the market virtually in minutes. Anyone with a lot of shares would surely try to sell slow to try not to drop the market price of the stock, right? Well, not in this case. Not from what I have seen and heard from others. I have seen large orders purposely hit the market hard and fast dropping the stock as much as 20% in a day! Why? Well it tells me it must be the "shorts". Someone deliberately wants this stock down!
Wait, it gets better.
4) Thursday about 250,000 shares trade within a minute or so (around 3:38pm EST). Why? Possible short covering over a period of the last few days. These short covers would be held in a trading account, then the trading firm figures an average price, say at $.54 cents, and runs through the block trades at this average price over a sequence of one or more trades essentially covering their position. Shorts can also run the trades to pass the "short" to
another friendly firm that they work with until they can cover the rest of the stock that they are still short. They do this until all of their shares that they are short are covered. Are you with me? Wait it gets even better.
5) Friday's activity was very calm. 30,000+ shares. Not the unusual 500,000 +/- trading day.
6) Someone is out there looking for a "block of stock" on the street. Yes! Calling and asking for a large block of stock to sell to them. Why? My guess is to cover the stock that they are short. Right? Makes sense.
7) Lastly, get this. A few firms show up on Viking as new traders. One firm shows up to buy stock by the name of Sierra Securities. Yes, they are on the bid (meaning they are net buyers if you sell). For those of you who don't know who these people are I'll tell you what I've heard of them. They are known shorts on bulliten board stocks like Viking. Are they covering? A reversal in the works? Are the shorts done? Sure looks like it!
Summary: I believe Viking has been shorted down from higher levels and folks now they are trying to cover!
Solution: If you believe in what VIKING is doing and you don't sell, then they can't cover. At least not at $.50 cents. My hope is that they are forced to cover at much higher prices! Next week should be interesting!
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