Ann: Eclipse Commences Trading on Frankfurt Stock Exchange, page-31

The 25 stages of Hotcopper Fantasy stock EPM​

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1. Dormant explorer quietly acquires exploration tenement in an unheard of part of the world​

2. Intention to drill the 'hottest' commodity of the day is announced to the market​

3. Investors undertake a quick geography lesson. Tenement located on Google Earth​

4. Messianic posters appear on Hotcopper extolling the virtues of this 'sure-fire-thing'.​

5. Posters cram on Wikipedia. Regional geology and drilling techniques knowledgeably discussed​

6. On location photo of company official appears (in safari suit)​

7. Frequent company announcements, such as capital raisings, are greeted enthusiastically​

8. Optimistic valuations by Hotcopper geologists/economists abound​

9. Each powerpoint presentation adds $1 billion to the market capitalisation​

10. Share price climbs precipitously​

11. Stockmarket novices delight in referring to options as 'oppies' and ordinary shares as 'heads'​

12. Mountains of previously 'scarce' scrip hits the market​

13. Director sales are pathetically rationalised​

14. Share price drops precipitously​

15. Wannabe experts declare 'buy the panic, oversold value play' (as bad a sign as any)​

16. Numerous conspiracy theories regarding capping, profiling and price manipulation emerge​

17. Share price chart resembles a 'House with pointy roof and chimney'​

18. Shareholders reluctantly espouse Long-Term-Buy-and-Hold investment​

19. The once prolific 'Messiah' (PokeMomsGob) suffers writer's block, and no longer responds to posts​

20. Company announcements dry up and become more vague​

21. Lots of acrimonious exchanges ensue on Hotcopper​

22. The 'Messiah' and his band of faithfuls move camp​

23. Seek.com and Metlink web-sites experience a sharp increase in traffic​

24. The 'Messiah' attributes his blunder to dishonest reporting by company management​

25. Hotcopper thread becomes a group therapy session for bagholders​