SEC Halts Trading of "Pump and Dump" Spam Stocks

The SEC has suspended trading of 35 different stocks in response to ongoing attempts to manipulate their value by senders of spam email.

This PDF file would seem to suggest that a "pump and dump" campaign did have the desired effect of boosting Apparel Manufacturing Associate's's (APPM.PK) stock price from $.06 up to $0.19 in a few days.

Perhaps more impressive - trading volume went up from only 3,500 shares on 12/15/06 up to 484,500 shares on 12/18/06.

Many of these companies are well known to SpamButcher. Some of their stocks have been so ruthlessly promoted for so long, their ticker symbols were added directly to the spam blocker's source code to intercept messages containing them.

Almost all spam contains one or more URLs that are usually "suspicious looking." These URLs can help detection software recognize the message as being unwanted. Stock spam is potentially extra-difficult for email spam blockers to intercept due to them only needing to mention the stock's trading symbol and its virtues. Often the promotional language is embedded within an image, further complicating reliable detection.

Companies that had their trading suspended on 3/8/07:

Advanced Powerline Technologies Inc. (APWL)
America Asia Petroleum Corp. (AAPM)
Amerossi Int'l Group, Inc. (AMSN)
Apparel Manufacturing Associates, Inc. (APPM)
Asgard Holdings Inc. (AGHG)
Biogenerics Ltd. (BIGN)
China Gold Corp. (CGDC)
CTR Investments & Consulting, Inc. (CIVX)
DC Brands International, Inc. (DCBI)
Equal Trading, Inc. (EQTD)
Equitable Mining Corp. (EQBM)
Espion International, Inc. (EPLJ)
Goldmark Industries, Inc. (GDKI)
GroFeed Inc. (GFDI)
Healtheuniverse, Inc. (HLUN)
Interlink Global Corp. (ILKG)
Investigative Services Agencies, Inc. (IVAY)
iPackets International, Inc. (IPKL)
Koko Petroleum Inc. (KKPT)
Leatt Corporation (LEAT)
LOM Logistics, Inc. (LOMJ)
Modern Energy Corp. (MODR)
National Healthcare Logistics, Inc. (NHLG)
Presidents Financial Corp. (PZFC)
Red Truck Entertainment Inc. (RTRK)
Relay Capital Corp. (RLYC)
Rodedawg International Industries, Inc. (RWGI)
Rouchon Industries, Inc. (RCHN)
Software Effective Solutions Corp. (SFWJ)
Solucorp Industries Ltd. (SLUP)
Sports-stuff.com Inc. (SSUF)
UBA Technology, Inc. (UBTG)
Wataire Industries Inc. (WTAF)
WayPoint Biomedical Holdings, Inc. (WYPH)
Wineco Productions Inc. (WNCP)

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