re: "GO MOSH, not true, I called a Broker and he was willing to short it. I didn't but it can be done if your that stupid"
The discount brokers that pretty much all retail traders use won't allow it under $5 - scott. etrade, ameritrade etc.
I once made some inquiries in this regard (re: a different stock, i forget which now). I then called schwab ( i think it was shwabb) = basically a "full service" broker. They will technically do it for you, but - he told me that it "would not be worth my while". i.e. the margin requirements and costs would be impractical.
So for all intents and purposes retail investors can't short stocks under $5. Only market makers, which they do on a regular basis as part of their normal legitimate activity to try to keep things flowing. Unfortuneately, some mischeif creeps into the system with certain players - we all have heard the stories and theories.
I've often said that I would be rich by now if I could short stocks under $5 because that is where most of the "pump and dumps" take place. They all have the same pattern, "exciting" story but no real assets or profit, breathless promotion, the classic chart pattern of big momemtum spike up, then the long distribution tail back down. The reason it is so common with penny stocks is becasue the big players know that the hapless retail investors being drawn in can only go long.
Most people (especially nowadays) are unlucky investors and even worse as traders. yet, good traders who sell into strength and buy on weakness produce stability, smooth price movement. With retail participants not being able to short penny stocks means that there will be plenty of buyers on the way up but no competition to cover from retail on the dip down which otherwise would tend to put more of a floor under the price.
Sorry, i just wanted to address your point, this doesn't have much of anything to do with mosh other than we can agree that it would be an unwise choice as short candidate. So, since we can't short anyway on a practical basis, nothing lost really in this case. To end on an upbeat note... <g>
