Stock Spams: Another Kind Of Stock Prices Manipulation

Abstract

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This research investigates the market reaction to an information-based manipulation called stock spams. The impact is focused on the liquidity variable which is measured by </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Amivest ratio. Using the event study methodology on a sample of penny stocks for the period February 2006 through October 2008, our findings suggest <span style="color: black;">positive and significant abnormal liquidities for stocks targeted by manipulators during the event window. Robustness checks were performed using a non-parametric test. These results support the thesis that this kind of manipulation is a very flourishing business that manipulators exploit by simply purchasing stocks at low prices and selling them at higher prices. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span>