SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Overstock.com, Inc. announced that today, after 669 consecutive trading days (and 709 total trading days), it has dropped off of Nasdaq's Regulation SHO threshold list. (Source: http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/aspx/regsho.aspx).
Regulation SHO requires the stock exchanges to publish daily a list of companies whose stock has failures-to-deliver 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, since April 22, 2005, Overstock has continuously appeared on the Regulation SHO threshold list -- until today.
"I'm pleased that we're off the list and hope that our efforts to reform the Regulation SHO are a contributing factor. However, we're eyeing this news with caution," said Overstock senior vice president, corporate affairs and legal Jonathan Johnson. "After 40 consecutive trading days on the list, we briefly dropped off the list in the spring of 2005 before starting our 668 day run, so we'll have to wait to see if this is a more permanent development."
Along with business groups, members of Congress, investors, academics, and other companies, Overstock has repeatedly called for the SEC to reform Regulation SHO. Specifically, Overstock has urged the SEC to adopt the "G.O.L.D." standard in Regulation SHO reform: "G": eliminate Regulation SHO's "G"randfather clause; "O": eliminate Regulation SHO's "O"ptions market maker exception; "L": require short-sellers to "L"ocate and borrow shares before selling them; and "D": require the exchanges to "D"isclose fully and promptly the aggregate failure-to-deliver positions for every threshold list company. To its credit, the SEC has eliminated the grandfather clause. However, the SEC has been slow to consider the remaining necessary reforms.
While Overstock has dropped off of the Regulation SHO threshold list, 377 companies remain on the list: 160 for over 13 consecutive trading days, 32 for over 100 consecutive trading days, and one, Medis Technologies Ltd., for 596 consecutive trading days. (Source: http://buyins.net/tools/short_list.php?ssd=20071217).
"This development is encouraging," said Overstock chairman and chief executive officer Patrick Byrne. "However, I remain open to the possibility that the miscreants have figured out a way to shift illegal unsettled trades outside of the DTCC using ex-clearing transactions which the SEC (displaying its customary deference to criminal elites) has said that Regulation SHO does not apply."
About Overstock.com
Overstock.com, Inc. is an online "closeout" retailer offering discount, brand-name merchandise for sale over the Internet. The company offers its customers an opportunity to shop for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers an alternative inventory liquidation 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 the company will reappear on the Regulation SHO threshold list and whether unsettled trades are occurring outside of the DTCC in ex-clearing transactions. Our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, 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.
