April 20, 2007
Annette Nazareth we come a long way 500 days on the Reg sho threshold list Whoooo Whoo I guess this is one of the CEO's who is crying wolf that you made your comments on? Any comments before you make your retirement move?
Christopher Cox this was before your time so youre off the hook at least for this press release. But were still watching you. You have failed miserably but dont worry your next on the upcoming Senate Inquiry
Overstock.com Marks 500th Consecutive Trading Day on the SEC's '13-Day' Regulation SHO Threshold List
2007-04-20 13:12 ET - News Release
SALT LAKE CITY, April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Overstock.com, Inc. (www.overstock.com) yesterday appeared on the Regulation SHO threshold list for the 500th consecutive trading day.
The Regulation SHO threshold list, mandated by the SEC in January 2005, was an attempt to curb abuses associated with naked short selling. Published daily by the exchanges (e.g., NYSE and NASDAQ), the list contains the names of companies whose stock broker dealers have failed to deliver stock sold in quantities above a calculated threshold.
In adopting Regulation SHO and in establishing the list, the SEC stated: "Naked short selling can have a number of negative effects on the market, particularly when the fails to deliver persist for an extended period of time and result in a significantly large unfulfilled delivery obligation at the clearing agency where trades are settled."
Overstock, the company now longest on the threshold list, believes that by any standard other than geological, 500 days is an "extended period of time."
"It took seven days to create the cosmos, it takes nine months to make a baby, but after 500 trading days Wall Street and the prime brokers still can't deliver stock they are selling to Main Street America," said Patrick Byrne, Overstock chairman and chief executive officer. "For 500 trading days, brokers have taken investors' money yet refused to deliver what they sold -- in this case, shares of our stock. Anywhere else but Wall Street the perpetrators would be behind bars. Instead, apparently, they are at bars, discussing stuffed shark art collections while scoffing at regulators and Americans who trusted their savings to their brokers."
Over nine months ago, the SEC proposed two reforms to Regulation SHO: elimination of the "grandfather provision," and a tightening of the close-out requirement under the market maker exception. The SEC has yet to take action on this proposal, but instead rather recently re-opened comment period on these proposed amendments at the request of three people who wished to have more time to examine data that has been in the public record for over six months.
Overstock has submitted a second comment letter to the SEC on the proposed amendments to Regulation SHO (see http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-12-06/s71206.shtml for a list of all public comment letters submitted to the SEC on the proposed amendments). In its letter, Overstock continues to support immediate adoption of the SEC's proposed changes and to urge the SEC to adopt quickly two additional measures to close known loopholes: (1) require prompt disclosure of the current volume of failures to deliver, and (2) require a firm pre-borrow prior to all short sales. Both of these additional measures were also supported by members of Congress, state legislators, executives, academics, business organizations, and public companies.
"Perhaps we should have a list of companies that the rule of law does not protect," said Byrne. "Oh wait -- we already do It's called, 'the SEC's Regulation SHO threshold list'."
About Overstock.com
Overstock.com, Inc. is an online "closeout" retailer offering discount, brand-name merchandise for sale over the Internet. The company offers its customers an opportunity to shop for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers an alternative inventory liquidation distribution channel. Overstock.com, headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ National Market System and can be found online at http://www.overstock.com.
Overstock.com(R) is a registered trademark of Overstock.com, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Overstock.com, Inc.
CONTACT: Media, Jared Matkin, +1-801-947-3880, jmatkin@overstock.com, or
Investors, Kevin Moon, +1-801-947-3282, kmoon@overstock.com, both of
Overstock.com, Inc.
Web site: http://www.overstock.com/