Hey, Canadians watching Wall St screw retail investors by limiting their trades while claiming it's protecting them; if you're not an 'accredited investor' (read: wealthy) you're not allowed to take part in financings. Which is how the rich get cheap stock they then sell to you.

Before a company lists at $0.50, it'll have had two or three rounds of private placement financings at $0.02, $0.10, $0.20. Those rounds will include warrants - that is, agreements to be able to buy more cheap stock later, when profits are almost certain.

If you're not 'accredited' - that is, you don't have $5m in assets, $1m in liquid capital, or earn $200k a year, or are a 'friend' of management - you're not legally allowed to take part. Brokers don't call you. The company doesn't answer your calls. Back of the line.

And later, when the stock runs to $0.75 and you think it's a good buy, only for it to suddenly launch downwards on no news, as folks sell that early stock to execute their in the money warrants, all the way down to $0.21, you wonder how you got it so wrong.

You didn't get it wrong. You were just being 'protected' by the regulators from losing your money on that $0.02 financing round with the $0.05 warrants.
Because you're a fucking dummy. Because you're poor.
Got an MBA? Fuck you.
Accounting degree? Fuck you.
Self taught? Fuck you.

If your dad was a millionaire and you're a coked out manchild with a penthouse pillow room, pissing away your inheritance on monogrammed Lambos, you're in. Come get the free money.
But if you're a plumber who reads charts all night, you're too unsophisticated to play.

So now that company you invested in is bleeding out, stock is at $0.15, you're deep underwater, and they announce a financing at $0.10 just to make sure it closes, which drives the price down to $0.11, guess what?
YOU CAN'T PLAY, because you're a gross dirty orphan motherfucker.

You want in? Average down. Take the risk again that the big boys won't fuck your deal. Hope against hope that the CEO isn't planning his next IPO. You're so unsophisticated that you must be protected from the ways the rich get richer, and instead get to the back of the line.

PS: Your cheap online brokerage is giving you prices on a 15 minute delay, and selling access to your trades to folks who trade against them before yours land, and who iceberg the bids and asks so you THINK there's more interest than there is, only for them to be cancelled.

This is how you're 'protected' by regulators, poor folks. Buy stonks. Peace out.

Addendum: If the regulators were really concerned about protecting you from scams by keeping you out of financings, they'd run weekend workshops that you could do to become accredited.
I mean, it's not fucking hard. But the point isn't to protect you, it's to protect the wealthy.