I'm also quite firmly in the red, and to boot I work for one of the big machines that's causing the drops in value on big news, so I also face the moral dilemma of being in the red due to the machine that keeps me in the black :) But the fact is, there are a lot of small time investors who are pumping their money into ECU, but the key is in what you said... "building a significant position"... that's not what moves stocks down like we've seen. Juniors are generally not the most liquid markets, so all it takes is a few well timed movements by the quant machines and you're watching the price drop.

Overall this mechanism does have it's uses as it often helps to break bubbles and keep things in check in more liquid markets. It's just that in a market like this, the longs are in the red during the short... as I have often heard from the most successful investors in mining, "bagholding" is actually the real way to build long term value. Just keep your eye on the number of shares you're building and think ahead a few years to a proper mine being set up and the value of the shares at that time... you'll be a happy man... unless of course you are 95 years old as we now speak, then may I suggest you get out of the stock and buy some shorts on oil or military equipment provides :)