Why You May Have to Sell Some of Your Stocks before Sept. 28

by Fred Fuld III

Some brokerage firms, such as E*TRADE, have sent out notices that they will no longer handle the trading of certain pot stocks and other companies which trade on the Pink Sheets, that are considered “Pink No Information”. This would go into effect on September 28, 2021.

Last year, the SEC came out with a ruling that would prohibit broker-dealers from publishing quotations for an issuer’s security when issuer information is not current and publicly available.

Pink No Information means that the company is unwilling or unable to provide current financial disclosure information. Fortunately, most pink sheet stocks do not fall into this category. As a matter of fact, I could find only one marijuana stock that falls into this category. This could be because the SEC has already suspended over 70 of these stocks in various industries back in February and March of this year. Many of these stocks were involved in “pump and dumps”.

There may be other cannabis stocks that are Pink No Information, but it is hard to tell just from the name of the company, and there are over 250 stocks that I would have to go through. Also, you may want to check your Pink stocks on September 27 to see if they have fallen into this category.

The other two types of Pink Sheet stocks are Pink Current Information and Pink Limited Information. Current means all financial information is up to date. Limited means that the company may be behind in its reporting due to bankruptcy or financial reporting issues. This SEC ruling does not affect stocks in these two categories, at least yet.

Some brokers, such as Firstrade, have said that it also affects Grey Market and Expert Market stocks.

On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, new amendments to Rule 15c2-11 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 go into effect that will impact the market for certain over-the-counter (OTC) securities classified as Pink No Information, Grey Market, and Expert Market OTC securities (collectively, “Impacted OTC Securities”).

The Grey Market is for stocks that have been suspended from trading or can be for pre-IPO stocks. The Expert Market is for private transactions between broker dealers and professional investors.

To find out what category your Pink Sheet stocks fall into, or any other OTC stock for that matter, you can enter the stock ticker symbol at OTCMarkets. This site provides information on all over-the-counter and Pink Sheet stocks.

You can also look up all the No Information stocks by going to the Stock Screener at OTCMarket, go to the Markets section at the top and choose Pink No Information.

At the time this is being written, there are 2,391 stocks in the Pink No Information category. There are also 825 Expert Market and 3,270 Grey Market stocks.

You should be aware that you aren’t required to sell these stocks. It’s just that if you ever wanted to sell the stocks, who are you going to sell them to, if all brokers will prohibit the buying of any of these securities. In addition, there won’t be any price quotes for the stocks.

So remember, check your portfolio on September 27 since this goes into effect on September 28. Also, keep in mind that any of the companies on the list may get their filings with the SEC updated by the deadline.

Dirty Words on Wall Street

by Fred Fuld III

It may be hard to believe, but some of the filings that public companies make to the Securities and Exchange Commission actually contain some dirty words. Occasionally, you may find an “F bomb” or an “S bomb” in one of these documents.

Sometimes the word is a typo, sometimes it is quoting from a conversation, and some times the company really means to say it.

The “F” Bomb

EX-10.8 of 10-Q for Grand Canyon Education Inc. (LOPE) has a list of derogatory domain names that it “purchased as a protective measure.”

This one for City National Bancshares looks like it may be the job of a hacker or maybe an attorney who thought he was sending a text to someone at the time.

Dirty quote in SEC filing

Here is an example of a filing with a quote of “such blasphemy” that someone  said that appears in the Chapman Capital Schedule 13 D from several years ago.

Dirty word SEC filing

The “S” Bomb

A more recent example is Shopify (SHOP). On its Exhibit 1.1 for the Form 40-F [2016 Annual InformationForm], the “S” word is shown in the Culture & Employees section.

Shopify

LendingClub (LC) has what appears to be a typo for an occupation on its Form 424B3. Doesn’t sound like a job anyone would want.

LendingClub

These are just a few examples. If you have a lot of free time on your hands, I’m sure you can find more.

Dirty Words in SEC Stock Filings

When I have free time on my hands and have nothing better to do, I look for dirty words on Securities and Exchange filings. Just kidding!

Surprisingly, several stocks have filed forms with the SEC that has the “S” word and the “F” word hidden away. And these aren’t just obscure companies. Some of these are famous names.

Sometimes the word is a typo, sometimes it is quoting from a conversation, and some times the company really means to say it.

The “S” Word

One example is Shopify (SHOP). On its Exhibit 1.1 for the Form 40-F [2016 Annual InformationForm], the “S” word is shown in the Culture & Employees section.

Shopify

LendingClub (LC) has what appears to be a typo for an occupation on its Form 424B3.

LendingClub

The “F” Word

Time Warner Cable (TWX) had an interesting quote in its Form 425 filing.

Time Warner Cable

These are just a few examples from the large companies. There are a few other filings with interesting words from companies that are not as well known.

Shit, I realized I got through writing this whole article without using one dirty four letter word.

Beware of Fake Stock Brokerage Firms

Would you believe that crooks are actually creating fake broker-dealers in order to swindle you out of your money? In the old days, con men would set up real brokerage firms, then either churn your account, push penny stock pump-and-dump stocks on you, or on rare occasions, sell you totally fraudulent tax shelters.

But now, fictitious brokers and investment adviser companies are being created and many have names that sound like legitimate firms.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has a listing of a whole bunch of these scams. One interesting thing to note is that 28 of these firms are from New York, whereas only three are from California.

In the “old days,” most of the scams worked out of Newport Beach and Century City in California. I guess these days, New York adds more legitimacy to an investment company.

In addition to these fake companies, the SEC also provides a list of Unregistered Soliciting Entities Impersonating Genuine and Former US Registered Securities Firms.

Plus, some companies claim to be registered with an “official” United States agencies, that are either fake or pretend to be part of the U. S. Government. This is a list of fictitious governmental agencies.

If you have any doubt about a firm that you are planning on doing business with, check them out.

You can check out brokers and brokerage firms at:

FINRA BrokerCheck

You can check out investment advisors at:

Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website