Yes, but I can't prove it even to myself.

The situation which I saw in the past of the ask price being taken out only to be instantly replaced by another large (or larger) ask price the same as the one which was bought out has stopped. While that can happen naturally on occasion, when it happens unendingly it raises questions. I'm reasonably certain that action was deliberate. We have seen the result as the mining sector (as a whole) has been abused beyond all common sense.

But other oddities continue to appear. The price is often up one or two cents early in the day, (is it unsophisticated buyers who tend to buy at the open rather than the close) but at some point during the day when there is very little action (buy interest) someone will sell off 400, 500, or maybe 2000 shares and knock the price down to its prior day's closing. Is that a manipulative sale or just an idiot trading at an inopportune time? After that the stock is often unable to build any momentum again. Other times someone will sell a somewhat larger position during the lunch break when no one is buying; why would someone choose to sell then? Is the lunchtime sale done by an employeee of a company who is only free during lunch and sells from his laptop or is it someone with a good knowledge of the depth of the market and an agenda?

Every positive step is met with a sell returning the price to its starting point whether the volume is 20,000 shares or 150,000 shares. I have other juniors which got clobbered in the downturn but they have done nicely in the recent run. Why have the two that I consider my best holdings done so little? What do they have in common since their business plans are entirely different? Why do the two stocks that have the biggest deposits and best potential for much more exploration perform less well than properties I hold that have (relatively speaking) limited potential?

Why does Barron's run a "hit piece" on Jim Sinclair and his company?

So do I feel that the prices of the stocks are manipulated? Yes I do. Can I prove it? No. Have I watched trading action for stocks in fields unrelated to mining such as oil stocks and tech stocks? Yes I have. Do I "sense" something wrong there? No. Do I sense something wrong here? Yes, but I can't put my finger on it or prove it. It just smells somehow. And I have learned to trust my instincts because they are triggered by many tiny details that I am not always conscious of.

P.