GrowLife Bounces Back After SEC Pot Halt
NEW YORK (MainStreet) — After a 14 day trading halt under order by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), GrowLife (PHOT) is back on the block.
"Our stock is trading high, because there's been a great deal of anxiety associated with the halt and it's the first opportunity for people to trade in the last two weeks," said Sterling Scott, CEO of GrowLife.
PHOT recorded 90 million transactions on Friday April 25, its first day back on the market.
"The stock is trading at quite a high volume so it looks like the company is past the initial panic," Scott told MainStreet.
The SEC released a statement with the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) informing that it had "temporarily suspended trading in the securities of PHOT because of questions that have been raised about the accuracy and adequacy of information in the marketplace and potentially manipulative transactions in PHOT's common stock."
"As we expected, the halt has not had a positive effect on our share price but our stores remain open," said Scott. "Our share price today averaged a 50% decline from 50 cents a share before the halt. The price has hovered between 20 to 25 cents a share throughout the day."
GrowLife maintains seven stores in Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Maine and New Hampshire where it sells hydroponic equipment to local growers.
The stop on PHOT impacted the entire penny stock universe of cannabis start-ups.
"We've seen some reaction to GrowLife's halting but the company may come out without an issue," said Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech (TRTC). "Overtime, SEC action will weed out the bad actors and that's a good thing, because the medical cannabis industry is going through a maturation process. You want the bad actors sitting in a tiny 5 x 5 office gone."
GrowLife is not currently under SEC investigation, according to Scott who spoke exclusively with MainStreet.
"The SEC suspension was prompted by concerns that some third- party holder of GrowLife stock was planning to engage in some form of manipulative promotional activity," said Scott. "SEC staff reiterated that there was no formal or informal investigation of GrowLife in process. "
As expected, GrowLife's 20,000 plus investors are anxious.
"We have been deluged with emails and phone calls and requests for updated information," Scott said.
Headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, GrowLife has conducted its own internal review of policies and procedures and responded to shareholder inquiries by establishing a hotline (866) 632-3111 and email information address: shareholderssupport@growlifeinc.com.
"The halt not a positive development but we believe we can survive and come out stronger," Scott said. "We've managed to have the highest visibility in the marijuana sector and that leaves us vulnerable to a lot of people being jealous and wanting to knock us off our chair."
--Written by Juliette Fairley for MainStreet
http://www.mainstreet.com/article/money/inves...alt?page=2
NEW YORK (MainStreet) — After a 14 day trading halt under order by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), GrowLife (PHOT) is back on the block.
"Our stock is trading high, because there's been a great deal of anxiety associated with the halt and it's the first opportunity for people to trade in the last two weeks," said Sterling Scott, CEO of GrowLife.
PHOT recorded 90 million transactions on Friday April 25, its first day back on the market.
"The stock is trading at quite a high volume so it looks like the company is past the initial panic," Scott told MainStreet.
The SEC released a statement with the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) informing that it had "temporarily suspended trading in the securities of PHOT because of questions that have been raised about the accuracy and adequacy of information in the marketplace and potentially manipulative transactions in PHOT's common stock."
"As we expected, the halt has not had a positive effect on our share price but our stores remain open," said Scott. "Our share price today averaged a 50% decline from 50 cents a share before the halt. The price has hovered between 20 to 25 cents a share throughout the day."
GrowLife maintains seven stores in Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Maine and New Hampshire where it sells hydroponic equipment to local growers.
The stop on PHOT impacted the entire penny stock universe of cannabis start-ups.
"We've seen some reaction to GrowLife's halting but the company may come out without an issue," said Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech (TRTC). "Overtime, SEC action will weed out the bad actors and that's a good thing, because the medical cannabis industry is going through a maturation process. You want the bad actors sitting in a tiny 5 x 5 office gone."
GrowLife is not currently under SEC investigation, according to Scott who spoke exclusively with MainStreet.
"The SEC suspension was prompted by concerns that some third- party holder of GrowLife stock was planning to engage in some form of manipulative promotional activity," said Scott. "SEC staff reiterated that there was no formal or informal investigation of GrowLife in process. "
As expected, GrowLife's 20,000 plus investors are anxious.
"We have been deluged with emails and phone calls and requests for updated information," Scott said.
Headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, GrowLife has conducted its own internal review of policies and procedures and responded to shareholder inquiries by establishing a hotline (866) 632-3111 and email information address: shareholderssupport@growlifeinc.com.
"The halt not a positive development but we believe we can survive and come out stronger," Scott said. "We've managed to have the highest visibility in the marijuana sector and that leaves us vulnerable to a lot of people being jealous and wanting to knock us off our chair."
--Written by Juliette Fairley for MainStreet
http://www.mainstreet.com/article/money/inves...alt?page=2
