Adult2121, the OP of this thread..sorry but you really deserve the loss on this one and there is nobody to blame but yourself. There were lots of warning signs, but when anyone ever posted anything negative about BWX you were the first to come out swinging "Downramper!". The report stacking was such a minor thing in the scheme of things. A far bigger warning sign was that the commentary didn't match the reports. Things like reports of doing well in the USA and Canada, but the financials told a different story. So few people earlier on actually bothered to go through the reports, compared it to the previous period, take out the new acquisitions and sell-in of stock to new stockists, to arrive at what "growth" actually was.
All the signs that the purchases of the various companies were way too inflated were there. When things were buoyant it was probably worth a lot more than it is now. But sooner or later the house of cards was going to fall. The small cap part of the stock market isn't a zero sum game. I would bet most amateur traders lose most of their money over a total cycle, and that money is siphoned off to the directors of these smaller companies who often cycle around playing the same game. Swinging from mining start ups (rare earth the flavor of today) to tech start ups and back again. BWX...if it doesnt fold, if it can raise capital, it might be good after that.
The thing is when the rising tides lift all boats again, there will be a whole new tribe of experts who say things like "set and forget" and whatever else they picked up from youtube. And for a while they will do well. They will believe the so called "analysts", like the ones covering BWX and who never seem to get it right. It is as sure as the sun rises tomorrow.