I just had a chance to spend some time looking over the threads of recent days and weeks. I sympathize with many on here who have seen a loss in portfolio value in recent weeks. My father in law is one of those people. Always holding and never taking profits.

I am not recommending that people sell. But at the same time it is not a crime to sell when their are profits to be had. Timing is everything in the decision.

If a person had bought 20000 shares of Noront at $3.00 last year and sold half at $6.00, they would effectively have 10000 free shares. If they did the same thing when the share price dropped back to $3, they would have the original 10000 shares and 20000 new ones assuming they still had the money they received from the first sell. Selling 10000 at a new return to $6 would mean that the holder had 20000 free shares in their portfolio and the original $60,000 in the bank that they originally used.

I know what you are thinking... if we had a crystal ball, we would have all done that (myself included..). But it was possible with Noront for some.

The key is that at some point along the way profits need to be taken. Better a person who sells some near the highs and loses out on a continued increase that might or might happen than a person who sells none and has no opportunity to buy the same or another stock at a lower price.

There was a time until November 2006 that Noront was a boring stock. Not much happened to the share price. One flurry in 2004 and nothing much in between. Then the Windfall news hit in late November 2006.

Since that day Noront has been the target of every trick in the book when it comes to share price manipulation. I do not say this lightly. I have witnessed it first hand since that time and have watched the stock rise and then get bashed to know end with the guaranteed fall that comes from naked short selling. I even knew the bashers MOs, their handles, and knew the stock was going to fall, not because of their bashing effectiveness, but what it represented - a downword shorting attack on the stock.

For those unfamililar with the tactics, take a listen to the following:

http://www.netcastdaily.com/broadcas...

Back in December 2006, Noront had 60M shares outstanding but managed to trade its entire float in less than two weeks. In one day alone we saw 20M shares traded. Imagine 1/3 of the entire shares traded hands that day. Why? The results were so big that the likes of Cannaccord, Sprott, and Pinetree wanted in, but not at the price the stock was driving too. After hitting $1.07, it was driven down to .75 cents before a .50 cent PP was issued to them for 30M shares with a warrant to buy 15M more for .75 cents.

The PP was so successful it filled within two days. Sprott owned 10% and Pinetree another 10% according to SEDAR filings.

Then the next six months brought little news and a drop in SP of 50%.

Which is when we started buying like crazy. The second and third weeks of August were like Christmas around here last year for the old time NOT holders. Sub 40 cent shares available as the hedge funds were forced to sell to cover their sub-prime margins. As the whole financial industry were losing their shirts, the little guys picked up the pieces and the pros covered their naked shorts. We even joked about selling our empties to buy more .40 cent shares.

The key to the price swings is that like many other companies, Noront was and likely still is being naked shorted. Not just my opinion, but based on publicly available information. They had exceeded the naked shorting threshold levels (required to be reported by the SEC) and were listed on buyins.net in early 2007.

We also saw end of day price dropping, late Friday selloffs. Anything to drive the price lower. The only thing keeping it from falling too low was the incredible demand for the stock based on the incredible results.

Then Double Eagle just happened. Out of the blue. It was a shorter burn of the biggest kind. The pathetic bashers were out in full force on the blogs to no avail. Like the Windfall property eight months earlier, Noront had found incredible grades at the Double Eagle property.

Then the price went up and up and up. From .40 cents to $3 and $5 in just weeks. Then great news and boom down again. Then up and up and then down earlier this year. It reached a new level a few months ago and today closed at $3.

Why? It is not because of supply and demand. The brokers create the supply to overwhelm demand to shake out shares and trigger margin calls and trip stop losses. Then they buy up again causing those on the sidelines to jump on board while they cover their shorts and sell more when they the SP hits new highs.

Since I first owned the stock at .20 cents, I have seen this cycle take place at least five times. An average of once every four months. And it always looks the same. New highs, subtle and not so subtle bashing, downword selloffs, board disgruntlement, and then the rebound.

You may think the average guy does not stand a chance in this world. I will say that while you are at a disadvantage as compared to the hedge funds, large houses, and even the professional investor with Level 2 and full time access and attention, you can still profit. That is by averaging down in times like these rather than averaging up when times are good. Take advantage of undervalued shares when these times appear.

Believe it or not, the price of Noront will return to a high level one day. Why? They have the goods. They were listed as the top mining sector company on the Venture this year!! And how many mining companies are out there? And how many with a ton of money in the bank, round the clock drilling programs in three provinces (and likely some in Mexico though we never hear about this anymore) and grades every other company dreams of.

The swings we see will likely continue to happen. Use this to your advantage. It is not a matter of being all in or all out. That is how many people think. Buying shares near 52 week highs might be good for some company shares, but not with a swing stock. Buying at $3.50, $3.00, $2.50, or whever this goes before the turnaround provides a much higher chance of profit.

Ask anyone who bought Noront at .40 cents last summer what their goal was, and it was to see a return to .80 cents. The fact it went to multi dollar before the Windfall ramping was complete was unimaginable. This stock may hit $20 or more one day, but until then it will continue to cycle as this is how the stock brokers and hedge funds prosper. On the way up and on the way down again. They make money both ways.

In terms of Richard Nemis, he is the right man at this time though he does need a good set of people behind him to take this to the next level. In terms of the SP, I believe Richard Nemis knows how the game is played. If he could have gotten this share price to $20 he would have done so. But he cannot control what happens in the ruthless world called the Canadian Stock Exchange. His job is to protect us and as such I am sure he is keeping an eye on things as much as he can. But he is more focussed on the integrity of the drill results at the moment than the daily share price. If things get really bad I am sure the new CFO will look into the probabily of manipulation as I do not know too many people or brokers for that matter who would recommend selling. Yet there are shares trading down every day.

Not an indication of company worth or investor confidence. Strictly games as it has always been.

My only advice. Buy on these dips and sell the new shares at a profit. Then reinvest the profits until such time as another deal with NOT comes around. Sell the reinvestment and buy NOT again. Your portfolio will grow this way.

Today there was a good deal to be had. There may be more tomorrow. But at some point the trend will reverse and the graph calls for new highs.

M1.