SEC Suspends Trading in 6 Stocks
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission suspended until Feb. 11 trading in shares of six small companies, an unusually high number of such trading halts in one day.
In six separate announcements today, the SEC said it took the actions because of questions about the accuracy of the official company statements.
The trading halts are standard 10-day suspensions, and will continue through 11:59 p.m. EST on Feb. 11. At that time the stocks, unless they're subject to a further suspension, can resume trading.
Although the SEC did not elaborate, it is assumed an investigation of each company was under way. SEC spokesmen declined comment.
A recent report by MSNBC columnist Christopher Byron claimed the six companies are secretly linked and have seen their share prices soar,
creating a combined market capitalization of $1.2 billion ''out of nothing but hot air and empty press releases.''
The SEC's announcements did indicate a link between two of the companies, Citron Inc. and Invest Holdings Group Inc.
The companies' shares are traded on the National Association of Securities Dealer OTC Bulletin Board, a trading system for small stocks that have very low volume.
They are:
--USA Talks.com Inc. [OTC BB:USAT - news], based in San Diego, Calif., which describes itself as an Internet-based long-distance telephone
service.
--Citron Inc. [OTC BB:CTRN - news], based in Denver, which describes itself as an Internet marketing company.
--Smartek Inc. [OTC BB:SMEK - news], based in Idaho, which says it is involved in wholesale menswear and federally subsidized housing.
--Electronic Transfer Associates Inc. [OTC BB:ECTS - news], based in Colorado, which describes itself as an Internet-related sales company.
--Polus Inc., based in Colorado, which the SEC says has no apparent business operations.
--Invest Holdings Group Inc., based in Colorado, which says it develops and sells health maintenance products.
The SEC said questions have been raised about the accuracy of Invest Holdings' public statements concerning, among other things, the efficacy of its products and its business relationship with Citron.
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