AVON fake buyout, anyone following this?

[impulse]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/15/us-avon-prdcts-m-a-ptg-idUSKBN0O029Q20150515

Gotta wonder where the money trail will lead...

[schondie]

Pump and dump. It doesn't seem too difficult to send out press releases, run a share up or down, and reap the rewards as journalists can't fact check every release.

[Suradit69]

Yes, it was sort of fascinating. Hopefully they'll check to see if someone dumped a significant number of shares or options when it first jumped.

As someone on CNBC commented, when something like this happens the exchange should be able to halt trading, but the rules only allow that if the company requests it. They do have circuit breakers (imposed 3 times in one day for Avon) but those tend to come in after the horse has fled the barn.

The SEC is simply underfunded and pretty much a toothless guard dog. How many years and how many complaints went by before anyone did anything about Bernie Madoff. And Herbalife & Bill Ackman or some of the mezzanine finance companies go on for years without serious investigation.

Got burned a couple of times, but also have played the contrarian on some so-called news events to my profit. LNCO, SDRL and GBX in particular. The US claims to have totally transparent markets and full disclosure, but in some cases it's still a cowboy market.

A large grain of salt and a healthy dose of skepticism are needed, but irrational exuberance can kill you or benefit you.

Seeking Alpha is, or at least was. a Mecca for short sellers spreading rumors. Carl Ichan even uses Twitter to move the price in shares he holds.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Suradit69