SALT LAKE CITY, July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Overstock.com, Inc.
(Nasdaq: OSTK) announced that on July 3, after 838 total trading days (and 130
consecutive trading days), it dropped off of Nasdaq's Regulation SHO threshold
list. (Source: http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=RegSHOThreshold).
Regulation SHO requires the stock exchanges to publish daily a list of
companies whose stock has failures-to-deliver within the DTCC above a certain
threshold. It also requires mandatory close-outs for open fail-to-deliver
positions in threshold securities persisting for over 13 days, with the aim
that no security would appear on the threshold for any extended period.
Despite that aim, Overstock.com has appeared on the Regulation SHO threshold
list for 838 of the 881 trading days that Regulation SHO has been in effect --
over 95% of the days -- including one stretch that spanned 668 consecutive
trading days.
"While this development is encouraging," said Overstock.com chairman and
ceo Patrick Byrne, "I am suspicious that the blackguards are just shifting
unsettled trades outside of the DTCC using ex-clearing transactions. I have
learned enough about our nation's stock settlement system to understand it is
a black hole within which events follow laws understood by no outsiders, and
into which journalists daren't peek."
While Overstock.com has dropped off of the Regulation SHO threshold list,
as of July 3, 2008, 437 companies remain on the list: 227 for over 13
consecutive trading days, 49 for over 100 consecutive trading days, and one,
Medis Technologies Ltd., for 732 consecutive trading days. (Source:
http://buyins.net/tools/short_list.php?ssd=20080703).
"Overstock.com, members of Congress, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
investors, academics, and other companies have repeatedly called for the SEC
to eliminate the options market maker exception of Regulation SHO and to
require short-sellers to actually locate and borrow shares before selling
them," said Overstock.com senior vice president, corporate affairs and legal
Jonathan Johnson. "Until the SEC makes these real reforms to Regulation SHO,
companies will continue to be victimized by naked short selling."
About Overstock.com
Overstock.com, Inc. is an online retailer offering brand-name merchandise
at discount prices. The company offers its customers an opportunity to shop
for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers an alternative
inventory distribution channel. Overstock.com, headquartered in Salt Lake
City, is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Global 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.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include, but
are not limited to, statements regarding whether unsettled trades are
occurring outside of the DTCC in ex-clearing transactions and companies
continuing to be victimized by naked short selling. Our Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2007, our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, or any
amendments thereto, and our other subsequent filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission identify important factors that could cause our actual
results to differ materially from those contained in our projections,
estimates or forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Overstock.com, Inc.
