I've held a few OTCs over a year, and I still consider them trades, not investments, even if the IRS treats them as long vs. short. My last potential "investment" was FITX, that I got into originally at .001, then rode it up to .104, then back down and got out at .0135. That was going to be my retirement... riding it up to the Big Boards with a multi-billion dollar company spun off (Cen Biotech) as dividend shares, sold with an IPO price that would qualify it for the Nasdaq. When the handwriting was on the wall, I had to give up my dream, realize I'd drunk the Kool-Aid (along with many others...some of whom tragically sold their homes and invested or took out second mortgages, etc.), and even though much money had supposedly been invested, and Health Canada had done a pre-inspection (and Cen Bio had initially passed), I believe greed and fame got in the way of the CEO, and well...now the company is in the Greys. This serves as a cautionary tale for me, every single time I start thinking about "investing" versus trading.