I have never been a big believer in market manipulation. For one thing, very few are big enough to move many stocks. For another, the way you push a stock down is to sell, buying pushes it up. So, if this is being pushed down, it is being sold. Either those in question have to have bought it before (likely selling at a loss), or short it now meaning they must buy it in the future.

So... if for example some SOB shorts a million shares a day, and pushes it from .50 down to .40 in 10 days, to realize his profit, he must then buy those 10 million back. If that much selling moved it .10, wouldn't the same amnt of buying raise it that much, negating his profit? Otherwise, it would assume more price inirtia to stay low. Another way of looking at it, wouldn't it be as easy to do it the other way? Buy a million a day, push it from .50 to .60, then sell, especially if the long term outlook is rosy (less downside, more upside).

As far as the price being pushed down for the PP, if dilution was imminent, wouldn't the prudent investor think about selling and buying back in when the SP has fallen from the dilution? That

My opinion is there is a sizable # of investors who think the story is no better than it was many months ago. I hope they are wrong, but I have seen too many investors/posters kid themselves into thinking there is short term manipulation trying to "steal" stocks away from nervous investors, only to see their SP erode over the long term. Our beloved KXL board is/was full of them.

I think MAA has some great prospects, but don't kid yourself that downside action is some trick to get others to sell. And as one guy said, "stocks aren't like your parents at the mall, they don't always come back."

Cheers, and lets hope this is the bottom.