My Letter to Chairwoman of the SEC
Dear SEC/Chairwoman Shapiro-
My name is XXXXXXXXXXXXXX - I am a three-time active duty Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran who also happens to be an investor in some of the companies in our great country. I am contacting you to lodge a formal complaint concerning blatant stock manipulation - namely to the common stock of Sirius/XM Radio (SIRI) although I have noticed it is happening elsewhere in the market. Specific to the SIRI common shares - there appear to be at least two primary manipulators, namely NITE Trading Group and a market maker named ISEG (listed as the International Securities Exchange) that are continually making a near-concerted effort to drive the share price down. In the time I have witnessed the activity - I have not only been amazed with the completely overt nature of their actions, but the complete absence of any agency to date to put a stop to it. I apologize in advance for any tone of anger as I write you - it is my full intent to provide you with a clear picture of the flagrant violation of securities trading policy taking place.
On a daily basis - I both read and reply to investors dealing with the situation - all of whom have been seeing their hard earned investments vanish while the SIRI common shares continue to undergo a subterfuge of manipulation with 100-share blocks and at times enormous sell orders to use a technique called a "bear trap" to artificially drive the price down rapidly by a large percentage in order to cause cascading waves of selling (due primarily to stop-loss orders) so they can buy up the shares immediately after. This intentional act is not a single occurrence - but a common one.
Today - 19 March 2009 - was possibly the most visible means of manipulation I've seen since my first ever purchase of the SIRI shares. If you could respectfully ask one of your staff members to pull up a chart showing the 19 March trading day for SIRI - you will quickly note an enormous dip in the share price around 0940. This is the "bear trap" I mentioned earlier in this message. Once the large order was placed - it artificially lowered the value of the common stock and also "tripped" all the stop-orders anxious investors have placed due to their constant fight with the manipulation.
Following the aforesaid incident - many of us - enraged at what transpired - called directly to ISEG to lodge a complaint directly. Apparently the ISEG representatives feel they do not need to respond to consumer complaints - as many of us were simply disregarded and informed that ISEG did not claim ANY responsibility for the activity although it had come through them. We were also informed that a SINGLE individual had caused the landslide - which is difficult to believe at best.
I must finish with my applause at your continuing efforts to make greatly needed changes at the SEC in the time you've been in office. Again - I implore you as a soldier-citizen of this country to take measures to protect us from this shameful and illegal defrauding of my fellow investors. I would be more than glad to provide any further information I can to help your organization or staff make an impact. I also have an ability to leverage information from a considerable group of SIRI investors who, I'm sure, would gladly assist in the matter.
Respectfully,
XXXXXX, X. XXXXXX
Active Duty Soldier, Investor, & Small Business Owner