Optec International Inc (OPTI)

[HotterMama]

They [MMs] naked short very briefly to make an efficient market.

"The MMs, represented by their law firms, use the argument that naked shorting is necessary in order to maintain liquidity and to make a market, but in actuality this argument is nothing more than a smokescreen which enables them to continue behavior which caters to their own greed and profit motives. At a bare minimum the current rules allow activity which is a conflict of interest. The reason is simple: when someone goes long on a stock, the maximum loss is limited and there is a floor, since the stock can only go to zero value. When someone goes short, the losses are unlimited, as there is no ceiling. Under this circumstance the pressure is increased to do whatever is necessary to protect ones position. And that is exactly what happens to induce activity. The problem is exacerbated by the MMs being in a situation where they can do this without any accountability. They are then empowered to actually set the price of a stock and control its movement.

MM manipulation can be absolutely devastating to a company and it's stock. As a result, most of the risk is not with the companies, but rather with the MM trading patterns. An investor can evaluate the risk of investing in a company, but there is no way to evaluate the risk of MM manipulation. The MMs are in such an uncontested position of unregulated control that they feel invincible. With no checks and balances on their behavior, they have gotten out of hand. MMs sit on, and even lower a stock price, over and over again, and for extended periods, in the face of significant buying, yet lower the price on very little selling. Trades are executed for thousands and tens of thousands of shares with little or no upward price movement, followed by a lowering of the price on sells of a few hundred shares. They trade between the spread and then start walking the price down. They trade between themselves to give the appearance of selling in order to lower the price. The MMs seem to have constant downward pressure on this stock, even in the face of news from the company. These tactics are all designed to play on the emotions of a less experienced investing public, and these are just a few of the tactics that are used by MMs to manipulate a stock price to their benefit.

MMs should make their money on the trading activity and the spread. They should never be allowed to get into a position where their own position and greed takes precedence over the company, the investing public and the normal movements of a free market.

It is easy to see all of this as just movement of numbers and dollars, and forget that it all involves real people and families, who work hard for their money and are trying to find a way to make their money work for them. All investors should have a reasonable expectation of a fair market, instead they are being robbed by an unregulated environment."