Owners of e-mail in-boxes plagued with stock “tips” will be happy to know that the US regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has suspended trading in the securities of 35 companies that were heavily promoted in spam e-mail campaigns.
The trading suspensions, the most ever aimed at spammed companies, were ordered because of questions about the adequacy and accuracy of information about the companies, according to the SEC. The SEC estimates that 100 million such e-mail messages are sent every week, triggering spikes in share prices and trading volume. Investors lose their money when the spam campaign stops, according to the SEC.