Worst kept secret in the world was, Citron was the 'inventor' of Soes bandits, and Wall St. was going to punish him. So, when he brought VG public,............... This is an extremely important development, and it tells you the heat is really on. Third Point is in the crosshairs; the implosion of a fund that size is a catastophic development, and you know it has to happen. If not him, someone as big or bigger, which kills all the counterparties anyway. As my ex CNBC buddy Herb would say, 'cheers'!!!!! NYSE eyes short-selling of Vonage By Steve Gelsi, MarketWatch Last update: 12:24 p.m. EDT June 9, 2006 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The New York Stock Exchange's regulatory unit has sent a letter to brokerage firms asking about short-selling in shares of Vonage, according to a person familiar with the situation. The letter inquired as to how Wall Street firms may have carried out short sales, which allow investors to benefit when stock prices fall. Regulators are investigating whether short sellers played a role in the decline of Vonage (VG: vonage hldgs corp com News, chart, profile, more Last: 1.24+0.01+0.81% 4:01pm 08/25/2008 Delayed quote data Add to portfolio Analyst Create alertInsider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: VG 1.24, +0.01, +0.8%) , which turned in a drop of 13% in its opening day on May 24. Vonage debuted at $17 a share and has fallen to below $12 since then. Shares rose 21 cents to $12 Friday. It's legal to short IPOs. However, stocks must be shorted on an uptick, the short position must be declared and the broker must be able to borrow the stock to make delivery. In the case of a so-called naked shorts, some of those steps may be eliminated at the time of the transaction. "A naked short is when you bang it out and worry about it later," said analyst John Fitzgibbon, who runs IPOScoop.com. The NYSE's move comes after the National Association of Securities Dealers launched a probe into other aspects of the Vonage IPO, according to a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal. On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission wrapped up an investigation into the Internet telephony company's 911 disclosures and compliance without taking any formal action. The agency opened an informal probe into Vonage's 911 and telemarketing compliance efforts in January 2005. Vonage said it's continuing to provide additional information to the FTC in connection with its telemarketing review. Vonage is also contending with a series of shareholder lawsuits, some of which are related to the company's directed share program to allocate IPO stock to its customers. See full story. VeraSun boosts IPO again VeraSun Energy Corp. on Friday boosted the payoff of its initial public offering for the second time in a sign of strong investor interest in the maker of ethanol. VeraSun said it'll now offer 18.25 million shares, up from 17.25 million. It also increased the price of its IPO to an estimated range of $21-$22 a share from $18-$20 a share. At the midpoint of the new range, VeraSun will raise about $392 million. VeraSun plans to float its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange next week under the symbol "VSE". When it first filed to go public on March 30, VeraSun listed maximum IPO proceeds of $150 million, before lifting the figure to $328 million on May 23. Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and A.G. Edwards are underwriting the IPO. Steve Gelsi is a reporter for MarketWatch in New York
A point lost on the general public. Unless authorities come out and say, 'we found nothing', the investigation is on going. After the SEC, or whatever civil authority has done the work, they turn the findings over to criminal, if it warrants such action. That will be important to know over the next 8 weeks. A little reported on, actually it wasn't reported on, factoid is, the SEC Inspector general, in its report to congress, reopened its investigation vs. John Mack and Pequot Capital. Nary a word in the Press.