 Where will the madness stop? Is no one innocent?
The U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn today arrested two top executives at SpongeTech Delivery Systems (SPNG) for conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
The company makes soap-filled SpongeBob SquarePants bath sponges for children.
The defendants, Michael Metter, CEO, and Steven Moskowitz, CFO, are charged with executing a scheme to defraud investors by overstating SpongeTech’s sales figures. The Securities & Exchange Commission has also charged the two men with obstruction of justice.
The stock fell today, May 5, by 83% to trade at a penny a share. The 52-wek high is 29 cents a share.
Who’s next?
 The Man in the Yellow Hat for monkey abduction? Eugene H. Krabs for violations of minimum wage laws? The Last Airbender for bending without preparing an environmental impact statement?
The only price minimums are for NASDAQ and NYSE listings, the stock must stay above $5 for a certain period of time. Hence, AIG, etc doing reverse splits. As was mentioned, this is an OTC stock, so they can trade forever at fractions of a penny as they have no minimum trading value.
See what happens when you pick up the soapy sponge? I always preferred Sesame Street.
Size doesn’t matter…. a hosing is a hosing.
Sorry Jim, but I expect everyone to be honest.
No, Jim. Next it will be Milton Bradley getting taken down for having an illegal monopoly.
This is OTC. The stocks can trade for a fraction of a cent forever.
Great, round ’em up & throw away the key.
Actually I should have said and still be listed (not in business). I was just curious if there is any rule about being less then a cent a share. I know that transactions are calculated to less then a cent, but that is different. I suppose they could reverse split the shares to keep them over a cent if they had to. 🙂
Christopher… I know on some transactions I have had prices go more than 2 decimal places, but am not sure. I guess one way to look at this is if it goes up to a dime, you’ve got a 10-bagger! Then again, they could be bankrupt just as quick.
Can a companies stock go lower then .01 and still be in business?
$0.29/sh to $0.01/sh?…
This must be Jim’s contribution to the ‘Price Action in Low-Priced Stocks’ thread from earlier today!
Sponges filled with soap? The execs should be “squeaky clean” by now. 1st the SEC gives them a bath, then their stock takes a bath…maybe GS uses their product..don’t know. Don’t get into the same tub with them and everything will be OK.
By the way, Eugene Krabs is my favorite character of the show…or maybe Sandy the Squirrel (she represents the SEC)!
I don’t care if it’s Goldman Sachs or some no-name company that most of us haven’t heard of. If you commit securities fraud you should go to jail.
It’s just too bad that the Supreme Court keeps restricting private remedies in securities fraud cases. Then individuals could sue their square pants right off their criminal backsides.
And from the “where there’s a will there’s a way” department…
“China Developers Turn to Hong Kong as Beijing Reins in Lending ”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=al6fOwAGS_Bg&pos=7
Damb, I knew I was gonna eventually get screwed by SpongeBob square pants..
Really took a bath on this one…..
From now on he stays in the sink…
And I hate to go there, but isnt this like throwing out the sponge with the bath water??
Guilty pleasure confession time: I like SpongeBob. It’s the only show my kids watch that I enjoy too. Heck, I’ll even watch it without the kids.
I can’t speak for Jim, but I feel better now. I can’t say the same for those SpongeTech execs…
Another off topic-
We have the British parliamentary elections on Thursday, as well as German regional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia (the most populous state) over the weekend, which may be viewed as a referendum on Merkel’s party and support for a Greek bailout.
Jim,
I sense that you needed to vent. Feel better? 🙂