Crackdown On Stock Spam

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has promised trading halts, lawsuits and other probes in its efforts to curb manipulation in the penny stock market--and halt a tsunami of e-mails touting these questionable securities.

On Thursday, the agency announced "Operation Spamalot," a months-long investigation into the more than 100 million stock spam e-mails widely circulated each week in the U.S. and elsewhere. The SEC suspended shares of 35 penny stock companies, citing questions about the adequacy and accuracy of information available on them, and promised more as the investigation unfolds.

Next up are the promoters and others who are sending the spam, said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox in a press conference Thursday. Canadian regulators are assisting in the investigation. "There will be more to come," Cox said.

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