Thursday October 29, 10:45 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Hemispherx Biopharma
Hemispherx: CNN Exposes Asensio Failed Short Selling Scheme 'Research' Scam Similar to Targets of SEC Internet Fraud Sweep
NEW YORK, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Hemispherx Biopharma (Amex: HEB - news) said that the Asensio & Co. financial firm, which has widely misrepresented medical and Centers for Disease Control data in its research reports, acknowledged in an interview broadcast on CNN last night that its views were driven by its short selling interests.
Hemispherx Biopharma said that Asensio's deceptive ''research report'' scam is similar to that perpetrated by the 44 companies that were the subject of the SEC's Internet securities fraud sweep yesterday. According to the SEC, these Internet frauds engaged in ''lying about the companies'' in false and misleading research reports and newsletters and ''failing to disclose adequately the nature, source and amount of compensation'' they stood to make from their deceptive research reports.
According to the CNN interview, Asensio & Co. estimates that, through its short position, it stands to make $1 million profit for every dollar drop in the price of Hemispherx stock. The CNN story caught on tape Asensio & Co.'s scheme to take a short position in Hemispherx prior to issuing its research report. The tape documents how Asensio & Co., having taken a major financial interest in the decline of Hemispherx stock, then issued an Internet research report, which has since been shown to contain extensive false and misleading information. Asensio's ''research'' reports did not disclose to investors the financial interest it had in manipulating the Hemispherx share price.
The CNN story showed, however, that Asensio & Co. and its clients who followed its advice have failed to generate the millions of dollars that they targeted for the scheme because the stock market has rejected the research reports as biased. In the interview, Asensio & Co. stated that its objective was to drive Hemispherx' share price to essentially zero. CNN showed that Asensio & Co. has not only failed to sustain any decrease in the Hemispherx share price, but that the company's share price has increased by 66% since the low reached in the week of Asensio's original research report.
Information contained in this news release other than historical information, should be considered forward-looking and is subject to various risk factors and uncertainties. For instance, the strategies and operations of Hemispherx involve risks of competition, changing market conditions, changes in laws and regulations affecting these industries and numerous other factors discussed in this release and in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements.
SOURCE: Hemispherx Biopharma
|
