I believe that I was correcting the impressions that you and others on this board (I hope I'm not misquoting you) that market makers were somehow conspiring with one another to depress the market - I always held to the opinion that there were more sellers than buyer. (I even shorted myself). To me, a seller who is disposing of shares held and a short seller are indistinguishable. Selling is selling - and if there is not enough buying, then the price descends. That was always my point - not enough buyers. This is why buyers who purchased short sales thought they were getting a good price - but not enough of them participated. When the supply outstripped the demand, the price caved in.
Beneath is a chart of short sales for 4 months.
IMNR Immune Response Corporation
Month-----Short----Avg Vol-----Ratio shorts to daily average vol
07/98--4,395,755--1,170,979-----------3.75
06/98--1,773,794----426,202-----------4.16
05/98--1,135,752----426,421-----------2.66
04/98----804,368----166,155-----------4.84
* Ratio = Shares Short / Avg Daily Volume; it may be used as a rough measure of days to cover.
Short selling is not "artificial". It's real selling. When enough investors gain confidence in IMNR the pendulum will swing the other way.
You are certainly correct about incresing volumes. But one interesting fact - look at the days based on average trading that it will take to cover. This should give you and other longs a lot of confidence. |
