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by Mike Caswell

The Alberta Securities Commission has found David De Gouveia, a Calgary oil rig worker and active Stockhouse poster, guilty of market manipulation. The ASC says that Mr. De Gouveia carried out dozens of trades in Vancouver's Magellan Minerals Ltd., with the purpose being to create an artificially high price for the company. Among other things, he executed high-closing trades on the last day of several consecutive months.

The findings come four months after the ASC held a five-day hearing against Mr. De Gouveia. The regulator contended that he traded Magellan "very energetically" in late 2008 and early 2009, during his one-week breaks from oil rig work. He executed large numbers of small trades, with most of the trades resulting in upticks and many in high closes.

During the hearing Mr. De Gouveia attempted to portray himself as an amateur trader and "naive bumbler," but a three-member ASC panel found that he was "simply too good at what he did for that to make sense." The evidence showed that of his trades, 72 per cent were upticks and many were executed at the high price for the day. Moreover, his trading made no economic sense, and he in fact lost money.

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