Short sellers abandon Sirius XM Stock after June 10 release of "Stock Shock"
"Stock Shock" is a documentary film that zeroes in on one of the most shorted stocks on the Nasdaq: Sirius XM. Short sales are used by investors who believe a stock's price will fall. In a short sale, an investor borrows stock and sells it in the hope that its price will drop. When it does, seller profits by buying back the stock at the lower price and returning the borrowed shares. As massive short selling of Sirius XM stock increased, the stock plummeted to a horrifying low of 5 cents/share in February 2009, leaving an estimated one million Sirius XM investors with their dreams shattered and their investment accounts emptied. Sirius XM had traded at a high of 9.00/share.
Disillusioned Sirius XM investors have embraced the movie that tells their story and even mounted a grassroots effort calling on the SEC for protection against naked short selling. Many investors sent their DVD's of "Stock Shock" directly to the Securities Exchange Commission. Antony Richard Petrilla, Division of Enforcement at the SEC confirmed the offices have received copies of "Stock Shock" and the SEC public affairs office has been in communication with the film's director, Sandra Mohr. SEC public affairs had no comment.
Reuters reports the Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to vote Wednesday on rules that would restrict short selling in a company's stock if that stock fell precipitously, a person familiar with the SEC plan said.
In addition to telling the general history of Sirius XM satellite radio, the movie lays out
a compelling case that the stock of the company has been heavily and illegally manipulated, both through naked shorting and also through more standard manipulation tactics. Since its national release Sirius XM stock has rebounded to over $1/share and short selling interest has decreased in 13 of the last 14 reports (see chart).
"Stock Shock" will screen on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood March 28, 2010 at the Women's International Film Festival. The movie is now available at Netflix, Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Nobel, Hollywood Video and other online merchants.
Now that the independent documentary "Stock Shock" has found a distributor, the sky may be the limit for this satellite company and its loyal, newly famous shareholders.
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