within months of the direct mail promotion), LEXG was a lithium company without assets. Its revenues and assets at that time were zero. Subsequently, the company did acquire lithium production/exploration properties, and addressed concerns raised in the press. The "pump and dump" tactic is also known as a supernova and, unlike regular stocks, penny stocks usually move on momentum of the price action. One of the biggest penny stock operators in the 1950s was Tellier & Co. In the 1980s, major penny stock brokerages included Blinder Robinson (nicknamed "Blind'em and Rob'em"), First Jersey Securities, Rooney Pace, and Stuart-James. Major penny stock brokerages operating in the 1990s included Stratton Oakmont, Sterling Foster, A.S. Goldmen, and Hanover Sterling. Regulation In the United States, regulators have defined a penny stock as a security that meets a number of specific standards. The criteria include price, market capitalization, and minimum shareholder equity. Securities traded on a national stock exchange, regardless of price, are exempt from regulatory designation as a penny stock, since it is thought that exchange-traded securities are less vulnerable to manipulation. Therefore, Citigroup (NYSE:C) and other NYSE-listed securities which traded below $1.00 during the market downturn of 2008–09, while properly regarded as "low-priced" securities, were not technically "penny stocks". Although penny stock trading in the United States is now primarily controlled through rules and regulations enforced by the SEC and FINRA, the genesis of this control is found in State securities law. The State of Georgia was the first state to codify a comprehensive penny stock securities law. Secretary of State Max Cleland, whose office enforced State securities laws, was a principal proponent of the legislation. Representative Chesley V. Morton, the only stockbroker in the Georgia General Assembly at the time, was principal sponsor of the bill in the House of Representatives. Georgia's penny stock law was subsequently challenged in court. However, the law was eventually upheld in U.S. District Court, and the statute became the template for laws enacted in other states. Shortly thereafter, both FINRA and the SEC enacted comprehensive revisions of their penny stock regulations. These regulations proved effective in closing or greatly restricting broker/dealers, such as Blinder, Robinson & Company, which specialized in the penny stocks sector. Meyer Blinder was jailed for securities fraud in 1992, after the collapse of his firm. References External links Nasdaq: What are Penny Stocks? Nasdaq: The Perils of Penny Stocks Stock market