Thanks Ripnrob. In fact in that SEC document I cited, they warn about exactly that. They also remind people that market manipulation through short selling is illegal and that they have stepped up enforcement of that behavior. Of course I think you'd also have to be pretty crazy to short a microcap stock with relatively low volume of trades, at least at the current price of DKAM. Either crazy, or you'd have to be nearly positive that it was headed down significantly.
Here's the excerpt:
"Is naked short selling the reason my stock has lost value?
Investors should always use caution before investing in high-risk, speculative stocks, especially with regard to their retirement portfolios, because all stocks may decline in value. There are many reasons why a stock may decline in value. The value of a stock is determined by the basic relationship between supply and demand. If many people want a stock (demand is high), then the price will rise. If a few people want a stock (demand is low), then the price will fall. The main factor determining the demand for a stock is the quality of the company itself. If the company is fundamentally strong, that is, if it is generating positive income, its stock is less likely to lose value.
Speculative stocks, such as microcap stocks, often have a high probability of declining in value and a low probability of experiencing above average gains.
For example, investors should take extra care to thoroughly research any company quoted exclusively in the Pink Sheets. With the exception of a few foreign issuers, the companies quoted in the Pink Sheets tend to be closely held, extremely small or thinly traded. Most do not meet the minimum listing requirements for trading on a national securities exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market. Many of these companies do not file periodic reports or audited financial statements with the SEC, making it very difficult for investors to find reliable, unbiased information about those companies.
There also may be instances where a company insider or paid promoter provides false and misleading excuses for why a company's stock price has recently decreased. For instance, these individuals may claim that the price decrease is a temporary condition resulting from the activities of naked short sellers. The insiders or promoters may hope to use this misinformation to move the price back up so they can dump their own stock at higher prices. Often, the price decrease is a result of the company's poor financial situation rather than the reasons provided by the insiders or promoters.
Naked short selling, however, can have negative effects on the market. Fraudsters may use naked short selling as a tool to manipulate the market. Market manipulation is illegal.
The SEC has toughened its rules and is vigilant about taking actions against wrongdoers.
Fails to deliver that persist for an extended period of time may result in a significantly large unfulfilled delivery obligation at the clearing agency where trades are settled. Regulation SHO is intended to address these effects by reducing the number of potential failures to deliver, and by limiting the time in which a broker can permit a fail to deliver to persist. For instance, as explained above, Regulation SHO requires brokers and dealers to close-out the open fail-to-deliver positions in "threshold securities" (i.e., securities that have experienced a substantial number of extended delivery failures) that have persisted for 13 consecutive settlement days."
AI
