Whether it is the "old shares" or the recently authorized shares doesn't really matter. They simply don't have an approved registration statement under which to issue shares to the general public.

The second topic you mention is very valid. "Paulson investors" could very well be selling stock that they have been holding in order to generate funds to buy shares in the new private placement.

The idea with that was that you sort of exchange the old shares for new shares, and get a warrant kicker as a bonus. No risk, in theory. That was the Paulson model and it worked well for a long time (a couple years ago).

The market conditions are not good for it right now, as the price keeps dropping so fast that the "deal terms" are attractive when all the paperwork is drawn up (e.g. the private placement memorandum). But, before the ink is dry, the price has dropped, and the terms are no longer attractive (particularly the lock up).

The high volume lately is really just do to the all the excitement and activity and the low price. The price volatility is creating fear (sellers) and opportunity (buyers). At these low price levels, 10 million shares isn't really a lot of money trading hands each day (e.g. $6 million). That is no more than when we were trading average volume of 2 million shares with a stock price at $3.