The large caps sure acted like a bunch of puppets today with some unseen puppet master making them all dance in unison. All but a few began to sag around 10:30 in the morning, a couple picked up a little around 2, and then they all headed for the floor around 2:15, Bernanke time. And rather convincingly I might add.

Barrick

Goldcorp

First Majestic

Newmont

Hecla

I Am Gold

Kinross

Newmont

To make matter worse, most, if not all, also showed a large increase in volume. Hecla and IamGold, for example, both doubled to over 6 million shares vs a daily average of 3 million plus. I wonder what that means. .

Even though a couple majors ended up on the day, the same chart pattern was there.

Looks like some pre-determined signal, take your pick, was flashed, especially this PM, and the puppet master and his algos or whatever swung into action at that 2:15 signal. It sure wasn't Joe Six-Pack pulling the strings.

What bothers me is the noticeable pick up in volume down the line as the prices sank. I wonder what the message is that's being sent.

In the US, the last day you can sell stock and declare a gain or a loss is the last trading day of the year. This means AUMN can still be sold for a tax loss in the US on December 31st., not today.

It is the trade date that matters in the US, not the settlement day.

Apparently this differs from Canada, since gwr posted earlier that today at 1PM was the day, which allows for settlement in 3 days.

However, if you are closing a short sale for a loss in the US, it's the settlement date that counts, not the trade date. But for any gain from closing a short sale it's the trade date, not the settlement. No wonder the tax guys make big bucks sorting all this stuff out.

If AUMN sinks much further before the 31st, I just may take the loss I currently have on my rather small position and apply it against the nice gains I have from other stock sales. It sure would help. Problem is, though, I would have to wait 31 days before I can buy back in, if I want the loss to count, and who knows where AUMN might be by then. Don't laugh. My guess is that I'll still be ahead.

Merry Xmas to all from a very warm southeast Florida. Palm trees and front lawn bushes heavily decorated in colorful Xmas lights and bright ribbons make for a spectacular though unusual night time sight, especially if one has spent most of his life in snowy winters.

In reference to the my post of the other day which highlighted Chimera Energy's effort to stop the naked shorting of its stock, I copied Chimera's release and with a note sent it off to a number of my juniors whose stock has been considered by many to having been naked shorted for many months.

To my pleasant surprise, AUM/AUMN has been the only one to respond, at least so far, and they did it very quickly, which is a credit to their Investor Relations people. Below is their response.

That the AUM stock price has collapsed from roughly 28 bucks to its current 4.44 in the past 2 years or so, must be a major concern for them, and us, but it appears, at least to me, that the naked shorters, if indeed they are there, are smarter and quicker and better connected politically than the rest of us. If so, it appears the practice will continue, at least for the foreseeable future.

-------------------

Dear …………………

Thank you for contacting Golden Minerals. Your frustration with naked short selling is shared by many, and it is a topic that has been discussed at our executive and Board levels, as well as with our legal counsel. I am most interested to learn how, precisely, changing one's CUSIP is expected to thwart naked short-sellers. It seems to me changing a CUSIP could force traders to cover in the short term, but then the same short activity would likely resume under the new CUSIP. I will forward your letter to our management and legal counsel for their review and thoughts. In the mean time, here are the actions we have pursued and the information we have been given, with regards to the short activity in Golden stock:

- Golden senior management has met with securities counsel in Washington, D.C. about what potential path we might take to combat the issue of short positions/naked shorting of our shares.

- We were advised that "factual evidence" of a concerted effort to drive down our share price and manipulate the stock price is needed to even begin to bring a legal case. We were also advised these cases are notoriously difficult to win.

- We were reminded that shorting shares in and of itself is perfectly legal. While naked shorting is illegal, it is exceedingly difficult to pinpoint and prove, as the Chimera press release mentions. (AUM bold type - hobbers)

- Bringing such a case even with factual evidence would be extremely costly. We feel Golden's cash is best put to use at our Velardeña Operations in Mexico, where we are increasing production that will in turn generate revenue for the company. Given we have just raised financing to fund this growth, it would arguably be an unwise use of that cash to pursue a legal case that we're advised we are unlikely to win.

- We read the investor boards regularly, and have seen no libelous material in print with which we might bring a libel case.

- As long as securities legislation stays as it is, short selling and naked shorting is able to carry on unabated. The change must ultimately come in the form of changed legislation and enhanced technical capabilities that will ‘catch’ the naked shorts and prohibit their trades from executing, or will be able to pinpoint their identity.

Lastly, please know that management is personally and significantly invested in this company; therefore, their interests in seeing the company succeed are in line with our shareholders' interests.

Best regards,

Golden Minerals Investor Relations

2012-10-11 08:00 ET - News Release

HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwire) -- 10/11/12

According to Chimera Energy Corp's brass, their stock has been hammered from 2 bucks to a current .30 because of naked shorting. Their solution? Get the cusip number changed. Could it be that simple?

At least we have a company, small as it is, fed up with the naked shorters and willing to stick their neck out publicly to put an end to the practice. Perhaps some of the bigger dogs, especially the miners, will take note and join in.

------------------------

Chimera Energy Corp. (OTCBB: CHMR) announced today that its new Chairman and CEO, Baldemar Rios, has recommended that the Company immediately determine the most expeditious corporate action that would cause a change in the Company's CUSIP number. The Company consulted several OTC market experts who suggested that a change in the CUSIP number was the only way to combat what has been frequently acknowledged to be an unabashed, manipulative "naked shorting" campaign against CHMR.

In addition, the Company filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC this morning. The 8-K includes a shareholder letter from our new CEO laying out the current status of the Company's efforts to commercialize its technology. The shareholder letter also includes a more detailed discussion of recent trading activities and a primer on "naked shorting."

"The most serious challenge facing our Company is not the highly competitive industry in which we operate, nor the inherent uncertainties of cutting-edge technology, but the brazen greed of the individual(s) who are actively working every day to destroy Chimera before our technology has the opportunity to revolutionize the worldwide production of oil and gas," said Baldemar Rios, Chairman and CEO. "Today we go on the offensive. No longer will we sit idle while anonymous posters and bloggers spout egregious lies about the Company and our technology."

While legally the sale of a security must be settled within three trading days, anecdotal evidence indicates that the market makers involved in "naked shorting" just keep moving the position between themselves every few days, negating the obligation to cover or deliver the position. This activity violates SEC Reg SHO as it relates to short sale activities. More information can be found at: http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/keyregshoissues.htm

To demonstrate the size of the "short" we need to look no further than the company's Share Volume Report from OTCBB.com. As of September 30, 2012 there were 66m shares of Chimera issued and outstanding. Charles Grob, the Majority Shareholder, held 46m shares of restricted stock in certificate form and individual investors held an additional 16m shares through brokerage accounts. There were also 4m free trading shares being held in certificate form. Therefore, as of September 30, 2012 there were only 16m shares of free trading stock available in the market.

Considering those numbers, how is it possible that the Share Volume Report shows more than 17m shares traded hands in the month of September? It seems highly unlikely that more than 100% of the company's free trading stock changed hands during the month. Obviously there is no way for the company to know exactly how many shares are represented in the "short," however several expert opinions put the short at more than 10m shares.

http://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item.aspx?bid=U-i0940703-U%3aCHMR-20121011&symbol=CHMR&region=U

Thanks GWR for the details re Sprott funds and their holdings in AUM.

It was interesting to me to see that a fairly good number of institutions and funds were holders of AUM stock. Makes me feel less antsy knowing some rather big guns are also in the stock and that they are not active traders in the shares.

I have a junior or two with no institutional or fund holdings which concerns me somewhat. However, rather large insider holdings keep me in their stock, at least for the time being. Sometimes I'm not sure which turns out to be the better investment in the long run.

If the chart below comes up garbled, check the site below to get the numbers, etc. lined up properly.

Though Sprott, Inc. is ranked at the bottom of the institutional owners with roughly a 2% position, it is the only one with a high turnover rate, whatever effect that might have on price. A little surprising to me.

http://apps.cnbc.com/view.asp?country=US&uid=stocks/ownership&symbol=aum-t&country=CA

------------------------

AUM.TO : TSX

HOLDINGS SUMMARY

Shareholders

Top Shareholders

Large Block Owners

98

Total Number of Shares Held

28.1M

% Change in Ownership

-1%

% Shares Owned

44%

Monthly Rotation

Number

of Shares

Value of

Change (MM)

% of Shrs.

Outstanding

Buyers 7/13/12

10,646,812

$75.77

74.2%

Sellers 7/13/12

6,552,608

$75.97

10.4%

Institutions

68 Holders

Mutual Funds

102 Holders

Other Major Holders

30 Holders

SHAREHOLDERS CONCENTRATION

54.3%

18.6%

1.0%

Top Institutional Holders

Concentration of Current % Held

Top 10 Institutions:

Top 20 Institutions:

Top 50 Institutions:

All:

Low

Avg. Turnover Rating

Name

Shares Held

Position Value

Percentage of

Total Holdings

since 7/13/12

% Owned

of Shares

Outstanding

Turnover

Rating

The Sentient Group

7.1M

$49,476,159

+25%

18.6%

Moderate

SENTIENT ...

3.9M

$27,617,928

+14%

10.4%

Low

SENTIENT GLOBAL ...

3.6M

$25,115,049

+13%

9.5%

Low

SENTIENT ...

3.1M

$21,858,232

+11%

8.2%

--

Vanguard Group, Inc.

1.3M

$10,875,240

+5%

3.4%

Low

Van Eck ...

1.3M

$10,737,375

+5%

3.4%

Low

Gilder Gagnon ...

1.0M

$8,713,307

+4%

2.7%

Moderate

Sprott Asset ...

1.0M

$7,688,496

+4%

2.7%

Low

BlackRock ...

938.6K

$7,912,288

+3%

2.5%

Low

Sprott Inc.

674.5K

$5,686,035

+2%

1.8%

High

Top Mutual Fund Holders

Percentage of Outstanding Shares per Holdings Style (Top 10)

Index 9.7%

Sector Specific 2.7%

GARP 1.4%

Core Growth 0.4%

Specialty 0.3%

Growth 0.2%

Income Value 0.0%

Aggres. Gr. 0.0%

Yield 0.0%

Core Value 0.0%

Low

Avg. Turnover Rating

Name

Shares Held

Position Value

Percentage of

Total Holdings

since 7/13/12

% Owned

of Shares

Outstanding

Investment

Style

Market Vectors ...

1.3M

$10,606,196

+4%

3.3%

Index

Sentry Precious ...

706.4K

$4,103,894

+3%

1.9%

Sector Specific

Vanguard ...

502.4K

$4,234,945

+2%

1.3%

Index

Sprott Canadian ...

411.6K

$2,391,396

+1%

1.1%

GARP

iShares Russell ...

366.4K

$2,736,948

+1%

1.0%

Index

Vanguard Total ...

359.8K

$3,033,342

+1%

1.0%

Index

AGF Precious ...

297.4K

$2,212,656

+1%

0.8%

Sector Specific

Global X Silver ...

258.2K

$898,564

+1%

0.7%

Index

Vanguard ...

180.0K

$1,517,113

+1%

0.5%

Index

iShares Russell ...

164.3K

$1,227,119

+1%

0.4%

Index