Subject: Short selling of OTC BB securities Author: "Dan Ortbal" at Internet Date: 12/07/1999 8:36 AM Dear Sirs: I would like to express my opinion that about unregulated short selling of OTC BB stocks. Short selling in thinly traded securities is highly detrimental to the average investor. Many people such as myself look to these smaller companies who have encouraging prospects to significantly increase shareholder equity through their innovative products or services. I am aware as well as the average investor that OTC BB stocks are a speculative play. My concern is that there seems to be an increasing presence of short traders who make it their full time occupation to manipulate any OTC stock they peg as a target and to drive it down beyond normal market fluctuations. These individual short sellers typically use forums such as Raging Bull, Silicon Investor, Yahoo chat sites, etc., to spread unwarranted panic and fear about a security. I know I am not alone or in the minority when I say that I would like to have short selling suspended or at the very least highly regulated for OTC BB stocks. The second issue I would like to address is that of Market Makers and their ability to do what is referred to as "naked shorting" . My understanding is this allows a Market Maker to borrow shares they do not own in order to trade among other Market Makers to drive the price down if that is the position they have taken. I was also concerned when someone mentioned to me that some of these Market Makers use off shore accounts because they don't come under the same scrutiny or regulating bodies that would normally be in place within the United States. Please understand that I agree that short positions have their place with securities that have had a chance to mature in the open market. On the other hand fledgling OTC BB companies need time to prove themselves and it would be much more conducive to allow them to either prosper or fail without having to traverse the shark infested waters of professional short traders and Market Makers. Sincerely, Dan Ortbal Individual Investor