Between your post and Willy Nilly's post this morning, I put a whole lot more "stock" in Willy's contribution.

That's not to say manipulation doesn't play some minor role in what we see day to day, but the incredibly ugly and very long-lasting depressed environment we're in for metals is having a much greater role in people not investing in junior miners.

(Also, isn't if funny how cries of manipulation don't happen when CUU's share price jumped by more than 100% in a short period??? And, again, we've been "manipulated" all the way from $2.70 to 19 cents. Those have to be among the world's most successful manipulators!!!)

When Teck is taking a rather drastic measure like slashing its dividend by two-thirds, well, that's a surefire signal that it's been a harsh ride and isn't likely to turn around real soon.

So while we watch CUU's share price struggle under 20 cents, a few people here can point out individual trades and scream manipulation when the macro picture is the real culprit for our lack of substantial gains.

It's like being stuck in rush-hour traffic and being fixated on what the "jerk" ahead of you is doing. Meanwhile, even if you removed him from the equation, you'd still be making no headway because you're gridlocked by the bumper to bumper situation.

All we can do is wait (and try not to go crazy), as we've been doing for the past four years of this slump.