Stock Manipulation Nearing Judgement Day
March 17, 2009 (9:25 pm) Brandon Matthews
I spent the better part of my afternoon trying to lock in on a specific reason that Sirius XM stock rose nearly 50% by the time after hours trading had ended. It is easy to get tunnel vision when one owns a specific equity. I looked to the Apple conference but found nothing. I checked for SEC filings and FCC filings. I searched news, blogs, message boards and dozens of websites all to no avail. I then realized that this overall sentiment was being realized by nearly every stock in the known universe. It seems to me that the significant move to the upside that Sirius XM investors enjoyed was the result of a broader market condition. I checked the advance / decline line which reveals the following:
NYSE - up volume 72%
AMEX - up volume 96%
NASDAQ - up volume 92%
SIRI investors will want to thank Senator Ted Kaufman. Specifically of interest to Sirius XM investors is today’s report that the Senator from Delaware has introduced bipartisan legislation to reinstate the uptick rule. There are parts of this specific legislation that are extremely important to investors in stocks that are suspected of high levels of naked short selling and manipulation such as Sirius XM.
The following is from the senator’s website:
“Sen. Kaufman was joined by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) in introducing the legislation, which directs the SEC to write regulations within 60 days that accomplishes five things to end abusive short selling:
(1) reinstate the substance of the uptick rule that prohibited short sales that are not made on an increase in the price of the stock; this prevents short sellers from piling on a declining stock, driving prices down.
(2) require exchanges and other trading venues to execute the trades of long sellers ahead of short sellers, all other things being equal.
(3) with the concurrence of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, prohibit short sales of the securities of any financial institution unless that trade is affected at a price (in minimum lots specified by the Commission) at least 5¢ higher than the immediately preceding transaction in such securities. Our financial sector, and financial stocks, are in a fragile state - and our taxpayers now hold substantial shares of many institutions. If the Treasury and Fed believe they need additional protection in these times, this legislation permits it.
(4) prohibit any person from selling securities short unless that person has at the time of the short sale a demonstrable legally enforceable right to deliver the securities at the required delivery date. Under current law, many short sellers fail to deliver - we must tighten up the rules.
(5) require that all short sales settle on the same time frame employed for long sales of the same securities. There is no reason short sellers should have 13 days to deliver shares when long sellers have only three days.”
With the short sellers and manipulators receiving notice of the wrath that is to come, it is clear that these criminals who have profited off of the hard work of others are scrambling to close out their positions as quickly as possible. With manipulation removed, Sirius XM as well as other equities (note the rise in financials) are free to rise and fall based on their own merits.
Position: Long Sirius XM
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness;
-- Charles Dickens
