A public company's share price relies on perception, not fundamentals. Investors buy sizzle and not steak. It's reason stock promotion works. Perception can be manipulated.

Investors are lemmings. In 16th Century, they invested in tulips. In 1970's, it was gold mines. Until recently, it's been Internet. The cliff lemmings rush over is fundamentals. Most investors don't believe axiom that a business that isn't making money can't survive.

Tulip Mania, Mining Mania or Dot Com Mania follows same road to investor loss. There's an event that catches media's interest. In case of Mining Mania, it was collapse of Bretton Woods Agreement in 1972. France forced United States to float gold price against dollar. This created a platoon of "gold bug" gurus. The profit wasn't in telling lemmings that gold price was going up. The gurus made their money telling investors to buy gold mining stocks. The gurus got their stock free for promoting mining company and sold into buying they created. Mining stock centers like Vancouver, Denver and Salt Lake City boomed.

It doesn't benefit U. S. economy, nor any Western Government, to allow gold to appear safer than U. S. Dollar. After 1980, Western Governments moved to undermine gold [http://www.metropolecafe.com] as an alternative to paper currencies. The declining gold price ended Mining Mania.

The gold bug gurus mining argument was illogical. They argued that investors should not trust U. S. Dollar because it was a worthless paper (fiat) currency. However, investors should trust worthless paper stock certificates because they represented potential to produce gold.

Gold mining sank on three realities. The gold price never moved high enough to offset post World War II inflation. The Environmental Movement imposed massive additional costs on mining, especially in United States. Most profitable gold deposits had been mined before 1972. Without prospect of profit, potential of gold in ground was worthless. Mining Mania ended with loss of billions of investor dollars.

The creation of Internet is one of major technological events of 20th Century. It's empowered individual and contributed to fall of Soviet Union. In next Century, computer literacy will determine social class and widen gulf between between wealthy and developing countries. Keep in mind that expanding world population means increased demand for finite resources. The Net doesn't produce food, shelter or clothing. But, media focus on Net is justified.

There are dozens of ways to sell short a stock.

1. Traditional Short Sale: Borrow stock against a fifty percent margin. This is only type of short sale that can be squeezed when share price moves up because short seller must add money to their margin account.

2. A Market Maker Short Sale: U. S. Market Makers are not required to make physical delivery of stock certificates when they sell it. They are assumed to be a repository of company's shares.

3. A Brokerage House Short Sale: This is a decision not to execute a buy order from a client, but show stock as owned by client on their monthly brokerage firm account statement.

4. A Clearing House Short Sale: The Clearing House doesn't execute buy order, but credits it to brokerage firm client's account.

5. A Naked Short Sale: This is where two brokerage firms agree to trade stock in a company with neither brokerage firm requesting physical delivery of share certificates.

6. An Insider Short Sale: This is when insiders with restricted stock use it to sell short their company. It's illegal. It was a common practice when Regulation S Hold Period was 40 days.

7. A Ferrari Short Sale: This is where a bloc of stock is purchased. The stock is converted to derivatives, thus factoring stock one hundred fold or more. The short sale doesn't occur in Stock Market, but derivative owners are holding a short position.

8. The DTC Short Sale: This is when Depository Trust Companies use stock they hold to sell short that stock.

9. The International Short Sale: Stock's created offshore. The company is listed to trade outside United States (usually Canada). However company is trading in States. The shares are sold into States. The Short Sale is moved to Primary Country, where local brokers can ensure that short position will be covered by listed company, if there is ever a successful short squeeze.

10. The Arbitrage Short Sale: LTV - Scattered Securities is an example of this short play. The Court in LTV reorganization determined exchange rate for new shares for old shares at three cents. The Market didn't read Court decision. The old shares traded far higher than Court Ordered exchange rate. The short sale was done by selling old shares and buying new shares before Court mandated exchange of share certificates.

11. The Street Stock Short Sale: Sellers who are insiders or who allege to be insiders sell counterfeit stock to buyers outside regular market channels.

12. The MIDI Short Sale: Brokers sell stock at prices well above actual trading price of stock. This has been popular with German OTC stocks sold into Middle East. The gap between sale price and trading price is an effective short sale.