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Microcap & Penny Stocks : TPII - Year 2000 (Y2K); Groupware; Client Server Migration -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MB who wrote (7674)	6/16/1998 12:51:00 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10903

I thought a BB stock can't be shorted? Are you saying it happens even though it's not supposed to? How come we aren't allowed to short it, yet others can? Please explain.... BB stocks are shorted by going directly to a MM. Before posting this, I called my broker, a former MM, to ask him some questions. I asked if I, Joe Public, could short a BB stock through him. He said if I had "size" he would help me find the right MM to put it in play, and then help me work the deal. I asked him what percent of people getting Reg S/D shares short against them. He said about 50%. The key is the liquidity of the stock. If the stock has high volume and thus the selling could be absorbed without affecting the price, he said the prudent thing would probably be to go short. However, if his selling might tank the stock, the holder is better to just wait until he can sell and then slowly peel off shares when possible. I then asked whether it best to show your hand to one MM or to parcel it out. He said it might be a good idea to break the block in half, but that it depended on the circumstance. He said the crucial thing is to find the right MM. So, obviously, particular MMs may know well in advance that there is selling pressure and react accordingly. That's why, IMO, all serious traders should have level II machines, like Alan, so they can see what the MMs are doing. - Jeff