Not long (13 days) after I blogged about the hard mailer promoting Environmental Packaging Technologies Holdings (EPTI) and uploaded a scan of the mailer, during premarket trading on June 28th the SEC suspended trading in the stock. It will resume trading on the grey market (no market makers) at the market open on July 13th, likely gapping down 90% or so.
SEC trading suspension release (PDF)
SEC trading suspension order (PDF)
The reason given for the trading suspension:
concerns regarding: (i) the accuracy and adequacy of publicly available information in the marketplace
since at least June 9, 2017 regarding statements in third party stock promotion materials pertaining to Environmental Packaging’s 2016 revenues, projected 2017 revenues, and the company’s buyout potential; and (ii) recent trading activity in the security that potentially reflects manipulative or deceptive activities.
While I would love to take credit for the SEC suspension of EPTI, that “The Commission acknowledges FINRA’s assistance in this matter” means that some broker(s) likely submitted SARs (suspicious activity reports) about potentially manipulative trading and that was the prime reason for the suspension.
Disclaimer. No position in any stocks mentioned and I have no relationship with anyone mentioned in this post. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.