So what do you think.....?
I am not sufficiently familiar with IKAR to comment on its prospects. However, I have followed a number of other stocks that have undergone SEC trading suspensions. Long holders of these stocks normally fare very badly after the suspension. I cannot tell you whether IKAR will do better or worse than the average suspended stock, however, it may be useful to know the range of possible outcomes. With this in mind, let me make some observations about the range of possibilities based on other stocks whose trading was suspended by the SEC:
1. The stock may, for all practical purposes, never trade again (IOW, trading takes place either with extremely low frequency or never). This still happens occasionally, but more commonly the stock trades occasionally or even daily on the pink sheets (or via other channels).
2. Post suspension trading, if it occurs, will probably be extremely volatile - particularly on the first day after the suspension ends. This probably results from a number of factors such as uncertainty concerning the company's prospects and the large bid/ask spreads inherent in Pink Sheet trading as opposed to the often more liquid market of the OTCBB.
3. Post suspension prices will usually be less than those prior to the halt - often much less. I am aware of only one suspended stock that traded higher after a suspension - and that one did so only temporarily after the suspension. As you might guess, special circumstances played a key role in that instance. Specifically, the stock was the subject of several USA Today stories, at least one of which occurred during the halt. While the stories (IMO) conveyed nothing that the average investor would consider as a basis for buying the stock, the widespread publicity did bring the stock enough new buyers to see a very transient rise in price.
4. The stock rarely returns to the OTCBB. I can recall only one stock that was suspended in the last two years that made it back, namely shopping.com (IBUY). One factor that may have played a role in IBUY's return to the OTCBB was that the primary focus of SEC's attention (IMO) was IBUY's underwriter and primary MM, rather than the company itself. IBUY was a reporting company and promptly updated its EDGAR filings after the halt. There may have been other companies with recent trading suspensions that returned to the OTCBB - if so, I would appreciate hearing about them.
5. While not every trading suspension results in a corresponding SEC enforcement action, I am unaware of any recent instance where a company has provided independently verifiable information that the SEC's concerns (that prompted the suspension) were incorrect. As with the previous paragraph, I would be very interested in hearing about any companies that I've missed.
For more information about SEC trading suspensions, see #reply-4304442 and #reply-4305156. Unfortunately, the information in those posts is now somewhat dated. Some of the links no longer work and, as noted above, most of what was called 'grey market' trading at the time should (based on information from other SI posters) be more precisely identified as Pink Sheet trading. For those wishing to research what happened to other recently suspended stocks, a partial list of such stocks can be found at sec.gov
In closing, let me reiterate that the above observations are based on past suspended stocks rather than any special knowledge or insight concerning IKAR. What happens to IKAR could differ, for better or for worse, from what happened to these other stocks.
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