I was completely sceptical about the Murphy bias towards ECU/AUM...but I too have come to believe it fully.

A $20 stock at the merge and now $3.60...producing company with a large resource...yes they need to become cah-flow positive and prove that this resource can be mined profitably, but I watch this stock closely and the trading is very suspect (to put it mildly). The short position is very large and the stock is often knocked back on positive news. It trades somewhat with the rise and fall of the PM's but sinks lower on any weakness in the buys. Any day therre is a rise in SP is usually followed with an attempt to trade it back down to the opening price.

My hope and expectation is for the PM's to rise and AUM will follow to some extent. If this corresponds to the increase in production and profitability of the company in the coming months then we will see some SP appreciation. I'm going to try and follow the pattern of a rise in SP on PM strength, and a sell-off before we can get our hopes up and see if it can be traded.

One other thing regarding the trading of the stock and the company's inability to do something about it...I used to talk to ECU's IR (Mark) several times a week and there were many attempts by ECU management (and I've been told by current management as well) to seek some sort of intervention by the regulators to no avail. They have checked with council and spoken to the regulators and basically have been told to bring them some proof of wrong-doings, which has been explained to me as being almost impossible. Many other companies are in the same boat and unless the powers that be WANT to help and try to crack down, it will continue.