Gibber - I seriously doubt, as you suggest, that "management knew this was going on". What should be obvious to all is that this stock got hit by Naked Shorters. I don't like it but it seems evident. It has been on the SHO list twice and it is on the Pink Sheets so it was vulnerable to say the least.
There is no doubt in my mind that IM knew what was going on and continued to hype the stock. Management was, and still is quite powerless in the situation, but I believe they have qualified resources evaluating the situation.
After speaking to the company about my suspicions regarding Naked shorting - months ago - it was apparent that this particular management team has limited experience dealing with this type of problem. It is also apparent that this management sincerely believes that the strength of this company will bring in the buyers necessary to push the valuation of the company back to realistic levels. My personal opinion is that we will not see that upward movement until we have the uplift and the ATOLL numbers reported for the year. Until then we are sitting in a quagmire of low volume, subject to price manipulations by the MMs who have a vested interest in keeping the price low to get the shorters out quickly when the stock starts to turn.
Management has every incentive to keep their stock as high as possible in order to facilitate financing and keeping their shareholders happy. The last thing good management wants is for a stock to skyrocket in price, pushed up by speculators and day traders, because THEIR shareholders are the ones that get hurt when the stock falls. Well run company's want to grow and hope that their stock shares are held by reasonable investors that stay with the company while its growth is reflected in increased sales and profits that drive the stock upward to reflect an appropriate PE response. This ensures the company does not have issues with the SEC, with its financial partners, its shareholders,its suppliers or potential joint venture partners. Falling stock prices, especially those that do not reflect a company's potential are a threat to a company. (This is the reason Warren Buffet refuses to have his company go thru stock splits - he doesn't want to lower the price of the shares so that it invites in day traders and shorters. He keeps control of the stock price by keeping it very high with a solid justifiable PE. And he eliminates all the headaches and risks associated with share price volatility.)
Do not think the management of this company knew the shorters were coming, or even that they would have the impact on this stock that they have had. It is one of the reasons I feel that there may be manipulations on the stock by potential competitors who are deliberately trying to harm the company's growth velocity - or, at least, they try to create concerns or doubts with potential joint ventures or acquisition targets.
The 144 sellers were early investors. Some, like Connors, got free stock. Others have a basis of .75 or lower. So they are selling shares and locking in profits. But, none of the management, officers, board members, etc have sold any shares. Those are the insiders - not the 144 registered sellers you have seen. And, we are better off without them. They don't have insider information and they are not part of the operations of the company - even though they were underwriters or had some role in the early financing for the company.
As hard as it is to do - be patient - turn your computer off for a few months. Let this management do what we KNOW it can do. It will drive this company into the vision that was created. And I do believe it will get rid of the rift-raft that participated in bringing down this stock price.
The management has nothing to do with the share price falling. And it is doing everything it legally can to reach its vision and protect its shareholders. And the only way they can do that is to continue executing the strategy it has in place to grow the company.
Outside of that, the only thing we "investors" can do is get the names and addresses of the naked shorters and have them "whacked". LOL
