....as suspected!
(Don, Gilder was one of AUMN's largest holders and per SEC filings they've been liquidating). They still had like 1MM + shares at the end of March.
Gilder admits on their website that they buy everything on margin and this can force liquidation:
Our firm was founded to help small investors build significant capital over time.
Since we believe in owning as many promising stocks as possible, we generally buy on margin.* Borrowing to invest can force liquidations if the market collapses, so we try to balance this exposure by selling short.
http://www.gghc.com/AboutUs/what.aspx
This is EXACTLY what has happened. These guys buy on behalf of small investors. With the stock markets globally getting slammed, I bet they've been dumping a lot of positions because small investors do not pony up cash when they get margin calls.
Silverbull50
