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OTC Markets Group, Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), is a private company that provides services to the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) securities market including electronic quotations, trading, messaging, and information platforms. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), OTC Markets Group, Inc. is not a stock exchange. The company facilitates the exchange of securities between qualified independent brokers.

History[link]

The company was first established in 1913 as The National Quotation Bureau (NQB). For decades, the NQB reported quotations for both stocks and bonds, publishing the quotations in the paper-based Pink Sheets and Yellow Sheets respectively. The publications got their names from the color of paper they were printed on.

Regulatory status[link]

Pink Sheets is not a stock exchange. To be quoted via Pink Sheets, companies do not need to fulfill any requirements (e.g. filing financial statements with the SEC). With the exception of foreign issuers, mostly represented by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), the companies quoted in the Pink Sheets tend to be closely held, extremely small, thinly traded, or bankrupt. Most do not meet the minimum U.S. listing requirements for trading on a stock exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange. Many of these companies do not file periodic reports or audited financial statements with the SEC, making it very difficult for investors to find reliable, unbiased information about those companies.

For these reasons the SEC views companies listed on Pink Sheets as "among the most risky investments"^[1] and advises potential investors to heavily research the companies in which they plan to invest.

Market tiers[link]

Pink Sheets established a categorization system to indicate the level of financial and corporate disclosure provided by the companies using its quotation system. The disclosure categories do not signify issuer quality or merit of any security. Categorization is based on the level and timeliness of a company's disclosure and any category can include speculative, distressed, or questionable companies. Investors are encouraged to use caution when considering these companies for investment.^[2]

OTCQX[link]

This tier is for companies that meet financial standards and undergo a qualitative review by OTC Markets Group. Companies are not required to be registered with or reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

OTCQB[link]

OTCQB companies must be registered with and reporting to the SEC or a U.S. banking regulator. There are no financial or qualitative standards to be in this tier.

OTC Pink[link]

OTC Pink is a speculative trading marketplace that has no financial standards or reporting requirements. The stock of companies in the OTC Pink tier is not required to be registered with the SEC. Companies in this category are further categorized by the level and timeliness of information they provide to investors and may have current, limited or no public disclosure.

OTC Pink Current Information[link]

Companies that have submitted information no older than six months to the Pink Sheets News Service or have made a filing on the SEC's EDGAR system in the previous six months are rated as having current information. This category includes shell companies or development stage companies with little or no operations as well as companies without audited financial statements.

OTC Pink Limited Information[link]

Companies that are unwilling or unable to meet Pink Sheets' Guidelines for Providing Adequate Current Information but have have submitted some but not all of current information required are rated as having limited information. These are often companies with financial reporting problems, economic distress, or in bankruptcy.

OTC Pink No Information[link]

This tier indicates companies that are unwilling or unable to provide disclosure to the public markets. Companies in this category do not make current information available via Pink Sheets News Service, or if they do, the available information is older than six months. This category includes defunct companies that have ceased operations as well as 'dark' companies with questionable management and market disclosure practices. Securities of publicly traded companies that are not willing to provide information to investors are considered highly risky.

Caveat emptor - buyer beware[link]

There is a public interest concern associated with the company. This may include a spam campaign, stock promotion or known investigation of fraudulent activity committed by the company or insiders. During a spam campaign, any stock that is not in the Current Information category will also have its quotes blocked on pinksheets.com.

Other OTC markets[link]

OTCBB[link]

The OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) is a listing of securities that are also traded "over the counter" similar to the Pink Sheets, but unlike Pink Sheet companies, OTCBB companies are required to file timely reports with the SEC. Many OTCBB companies are also quoted via Pink Sheets' electronic quotation system.

Grey Market[link]

Securities that are not listed on any stock exchange nor formally quoted via the OTCBB or Pink Sheets are considered to be in the Grey Market. Unsolicited transactions are processed independently and not centrally listed or quoted. Trades are reported to a self-regulatory organization (SRO), which then passes the data on to market data companies.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• SEC information about the Pink Sheets
• SEC Listing and Delisting Requirements

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Stuart Ross is a Canadian fiction writer, poet, editor, and creative-writing instructor.

Ross was born in Toronto's north end in 1959 and grew up in the Borough of North York. He began writing at a very young age and was first published at age 16 by Books by Kids (now Annick Press). This book, The Thing in Exile, also contained work by teen writers Steven Feldman and Mark Laba. Ross attended Alternative Independent Study Program for high school. He went on to self-publish dozens of books and chapbooks through his Proper Tales Press imprint. As his books began to emerge from larger literary publishing houses, he has continued his Proper Tales Press project.

Ross has been active in the Toronto literary scene since the mid-1970s. He is co-founder, with Nicholas Power, of the Toronto Small Press Book Fair, which has been operating since 1987 under various directorships. This fair, the first of its kind in Canada, inspired similar events in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Hamilton. Ross is a founding member of the Meet the Presses collective, which formed in 2006 to promote small-press publishing in the Toronto area.

He was the 2002 "Writer in Residence" for the Writers’ Circle of Durham Region, the 2003 "Poet in Residence" for the Ottawa International Writers Festival, and the 2005 Electronic Writer in Residence for the Toronto Public Library's RAMP website for teens. He is currently Queen's University (Kingston)'s writer in residence.^[1] Stuart has been the fiction and poetry editor for This Magazine since 2004 and Editor since 2007 for Mansfield Press, where he has his own imprint: "a stuart ross book."^[2]

His own magazines have included Mondo Hunkamooga: A Journal of Small Press Reviews (later subtitled A Journal of Small Press Stuff), Peter O'Toole (a magazine of one-line poems), Dwarf Puppets on Parade (a magazine of writing with restrictions), Who Torched Rancho Diablo? (poetry and fiction), Syd & Shirley, a magazine of Canadian and American poetry, and "HARDSCRABBLE", a poetry magazine.

Although primarily known as a poet, Ross has also published fiction and personal essays. His column "Hunkamooga" appeared in Word: Toronto's Literary Calendar from 2001 to 2005, and moved to the Vancouver-based literary magazine sub-Terrain in 2006.

As an editor, Ross' was responsible for 2004 anthology Surreal Estate: 13 Canadian Poets Under the Influence. In 2003, he issued the chapbook anthology My Lump in the Bed: Love Poems for George W. Bush. In 2007, Ross was the editor for the Insomniac Press book Why Are You So Sad? Selected Poems of David W. McFadden, and in 2010 for the Insomniac Press book Why Are You So Long and Sweet? Collected Long Poems of David McFadden. With Stephen Brockwell, he is the editor of the Mansfield Press poetry anthology Rogue Stimulus: The Stephen Harper Holiday Anthology for a Prorogued Parliament.

His 2009 short-story collection, Buying Cigarettes for the Dog, was shortlisted for the Alberta Readers' Choice Award and the Alberta Book Awards, and won the 2010 ReLit Award for Short Fiction.

In 2010, Ross was the Writer-in-Residence at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

Selected bibliography[link]

• The Pig Sleeps. Contra Mundo Books, 1991. (with Mark Laba)
• The Mud Game. The Mercury Press, 1995. (with Gary Barwin)
• The Inspiration Cha-Cha. ECW Press, 1996.
• Henry Kafka and Other Stories. The Mercury Press, 1997.
• Farmer Gloomy’s New Hybrid. ECW Press, 1999.
• Razovsky at Peace. ECW Press, 2001.
• Hey, Crumbling Balcony! Poems New & Selected. ECW Press, 2003.
• Surreal Estate: 13 Canadian Poets Under the Influence. The Mercury Press, 2004. (editor)
• Confessions of a Small Press Racketeer. Anvil Press, 2005.
• Robots at Night. Proper Tales Press, 2005.
• I Cut My Finger. Anvil Press, 2007.
• Dead Cars in Managua. DC Books, 2008.
• Rogue Stimulus: The Stephen Harper Holiday Anthology for a Prorogued Parliament. Mansfield Press, 2010. (editor, with Stephen Brockwell)
• Buying Cigarettes for the Dog. Freehand Books, 2009.
• Snowball, Dragonfly, Jew. ECW Press, 2011.

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.queensu.ca/english/writer.html
2. ^ http://mansfieldpress.net/about/

External links[link]

• Quill & Quire - Author Profile
• Complete bibliography

Will Gray
Born	(1976-05-28) May 28, 1976 (age 36) Leicestershire / England
Occupation	Magician / Entertainer
Website
http://www.willgray.co.uk/

Will Gray is an award winning English magician and entertainer born in the Midlands (Leicestershire) in 1976.

He is known as being one of the UK's top close-up corporate magicians and has received great reviews in The Linking Ring p. 69,^[1] and The Magic Circular p. 371,^[2] for his Lecture 'Magic with a Capital E', which he's currently lecturing to magicians all over the country.

In 2008 Will was promoted to Associate Member of the Inner Magic Circle (AIMC) with Silver Star for performing excellence by The Magic Circle, London.

In 2009, 2010 & 2011 he was invited to the 4F's Fechter's Finger Flinging Frolic,^[3] a special invitation-only magic convention in New York for the top 200 close - up magicians in the world.

Awards[link]

• Five trophys at the Northern Magic Circle Convention^[4] in 2007: two for stage magic, two for Close-up magic and one for comedy.
• Two times winner of the Leicester Magic Circle^[5] Roy Johnson Shield for best Close-up Magician 2004 & 2006
• Two times winner of the Leicester Magic Circle^[6] Sir Julien Cahn Cup for best Stage Magician 2005 & 2007
• Three times award Winner at the International Brotherhood of Magicians^[7] Convention 2007, 2008 & 2010
• Winner of the Northern Magic Circle Vice-President's trophy for best Close-up magician (representing Leicester Magic Circle)

2005

Publications[link]

• Lecture Notes - Magic with a Capital E - 2008

References[link]

1. ^ Linking Ring Magazine
2. ^ The Magic Circular,
3. ^ Fechter's Finger-Flicking Frolic website. Accessed 2010-01-24.
4. ^ Northern Magic Circle Convention
5. ^ Leicester Magic Circle
6. ^ Leicester Magic Circle
7. ^ International Brotherhood of Magicians

External links[link]

• Will Gray's official website