I was offered 54% per annum to lend shares on two occasions, about a month apart. Seemed hard to believe, and it remains hard to believe, but it is a fact. I did not do it, as there was much paper work to fill out, it was in my wife's IRA, and just too much to do, and I figured, correctly, I believe, that the loan was to be for a very short time, so even though the rate is beyond belief, the rate times the time loaned wouldn't be that big a deal.

When I talked to the broker about it a bit, he just said they were turning around and loaning the shares for over 60%, so that someone was in dire need of shares.

When I first heard of this offer, about 2 months ago, I figured someone knew something very negative about to occur and wanted to collect a bunch of shares for shorting. But nothing bad happened, so the reason for the need for shares was not to short heck out of the stock. FJ's post that naked shorting is okay on the Venture, confirms that view.

So apparently, people needed those shares badly to deliver, to avoid the buy-in premium, which is pretty stiff, and is a per share charge, rather than an interest charge.

All very interesting.