chart, page-34

Harlee, you asked me "Do you think it is true that they say that stuff when they are looking to buy, then they go quiet when they are selling"

Absolutely. These chat forums are used by unscrupulous people all the time.

Ramping is usually associated with buying or selling. They talk it up because they want you to buy the shares from them.

Sometimes down-rampers want to buy in to a stock so they talk it down to bring the price down. Often they talk it down simply because they have a personal hatred of the stock or a hatred of the successful people who hold it and just want to irritate them.

The more clever rampers know they cannot talk a stock down after they have recently talked it up because they can only pull that trick once. They can't be seen to be talking the stock down after having ramped it up so recently but they also can't be silent for no apparent reason.

Instead they "go on holiday" because "Being on holiday" is a convenient reason for being quiet whilst the stock drifts down.

Some rampers tell you to buy, they talk it up, and then after a huge drop they say "oh I sold before the drop, just before I went on holiday".

This is important to them because they need to maintain a reputation as a "winner," someone who should be followed and listened to. They need to maintain that reputation so that they can keep sucking in new-comers.

It all works better with stocks which have a large base of retail holders, companies with no cornerstone investors. Stocks which are accumulated by other mining companies and have cornerstone investors will not be influenced by online rampers.

EXT is 90% in the hands of about 100 holders, 85% is in the hands of only 20 holders. None of them are going to act on the advice of an anonymous username on a computer screen, they will perform their own research, their own due dilligence. They will make their decisions based on real-world facts. This is one of the reasons why the EXT price is not as influenced by any form of Rampers.

If people prefer to gamble then EXT is a boring stock for them. Those people will be attracted to other companies which jump dramatically and dive just as dramatically.

Unfortunately for those people, those sort of stocks are also where the liars and thieves rule supreme and find their following of willing suckers. Many work in teams, communicating offline through email and telephone, coordinating their efforts to ensnare as many of the unwary as they can. Retail traders, lured by the promise of easy money, are lambs to the slaughter for online liars and thieves.

For those who want to be a multi-millionaire, chances are they won't get there with the "gambling" stocks. They might make it but most don't. Years upon years of trying and most are no better off. However, the liars and thieves do very well by "herding the sheep" just like a farmer would.

If you are not a liar and not a thief, and you want to make enough money to retire, then investing is a surer path for most people. You still may not make it but at least you have a better chance of getting there.