Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Microcap & Penny Stocks : PanAmerican BanCorp (PABN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J T who wrote (41646)	10/12/1999 4:04:00 PM
From: Observer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 43774

Off topic but relevant: By: bobkern Reply To: None Tuesday, 12 Oct 1999 at 3:39 PM EDT Post #75622 of 75622 OT: Tired of MM tactics, Please read this! I have grown tired of the manipulations by the market makers and am posting this message on numerous boards in hopes that others will contact the SEC and their state senators, as I have done, and voice their complaints. I am trying to start a grass roots effort and hope that if enough of us send off letters, we might get somebody to change the rules for the MM's. I firmly believe they should be held accountable for their actions and their illegal manipulations must stop. I have contacted Sen. Lugar and the SEC already. To contact your Senator, follow this link, look up your state, then you should be able to get the email address for your senator. Here is the link to the senate web site: senate.gov You can contact the SEC at: enforcement@sec.gov. They will get back to you because I got their standard response. Here is my letter to the SEC. Please excuse the references to IHTL. I am not hyping it here, but used it as an example to the SEC since it is so obviously being manipulated right now and presents a very clear picture of the tactics used by the market makers to manipulate the price down when they are short on shares. Thanks for listening to me and I hope some of you will take a minute to send off your concerns with the MM's. Here's my letter: ******************************************************** To: enforcement@sec.gov Subject: IHTL To whom it may concern: I know you probably receive thousands of these type letters but I truly believe something questionable is going on with IHTL and the market makers. Prior to recent news, many investors bought this stock at .80 on rumors of some very BIG news due out. Company then announced an annual contract for over $51M. Stock traded over 1M shares, as I recall, when the news hit the wires but never went over $1.01. Since this release, we have had to endure a spread between the bid and ask of around .06 every day (sometimes as much as .12), irregardless of the number of shares traded. Company has since released some very positive news, including a share reduction of around 19%, but stock continues to drop in price and the spread remains very wide. Rumors have been very rampant that the market makers had shorted this stock in the neighborhood of 500,000 shares at the .60 price range. This appears to be true in light of the trading these past months. We have seen numerous trades between 100 and 300 shares which has to be MM's since I can't imagine anyone selling that few shares with this spread. Commissions alone would eat up the sell and make this unlikely it was anyone but an MM doing this. Friday was a prime example with well over 100,000 shares traded yet the spread remained .09 at the close with a bid of .54 and an ask of .63. Opened today at the same and had a 3,000 share purchase at .63 and yet no change in the bid and ask. If you check out the last months trade logs, I am sure you will see many "questionable" trades on this company that are a result of the MM's manipulating this stock. I don't know if this is legal but it is certainly criminal in my opinion. I am aware of your efforts to clean up the Bulletin Board/OTC stocks. Requiring them to be fully reporting is a BIG step in protecting investors from the numerous scams out there. But, it is my opinion, that the Market Makers are the biggest reason investors loose money on these BB stocks. Allowing them to "short" these stocks or sell shares they don't own, or allowing them to manipulate the share prices and trading is criminal to say the least. I truly believe that more investors lose money from the Market Makers than from actual scams. No matter how much research or how many phone calls you make before deciding on an investment, with these Bulletin Board stocks, the investors are still at the mercy of these "Market Makers" and something has to be done. Again, I know you are extremely busy but I think it would be worth your time to look into the trading activities of IHTL this past three months. Something very wrong is happening there and if it isn't illegal, it should be. Honest everyday people have invested their good, hard earned money into this company only to have to watch the MM's manipulate this thing to unbelievable low prices for their own gain at the cost of these investors. Having invested in these stocks numerous times in the past, I have become used to their tactics and have seen this before. I just have never seen it go on this long, or this severe, and am becoming quite frustrated that they are able to get away with this. IHTL is, in my opinion, a very strong, sound company with a very bright future. I think it is really criminal that the Market Makers are able to drag this thing down and not only scare off future investors, but scare current investors into selling for losses so that they can cover their positions. If an investor tried to manipulate a stock, you folks would be all over us. So how can they get away with what is obviously manipulation of a stock, at the investors expense? As an investor, there isn't anyplace one can turn with this kind of concern. We really are at their mercy. I hope the SEC will continue to clean up these types of activities and make the bulletin board/OTC stocks much safer for us everyday investors. A good place to start is with the Market Makers and their activities. They MUST be held accountable for their actions. I appreciate your time and consideration in this. I look forward to your response. Sincerely, Bob Kern