Investors confuse Tweeter with Twitter and stock soars 1,000%

A case of mistaken identity between the bankrupt electronics retailer Tweeter and the social network Twitter sent the former's shares soaring more than 1,000% in a single trading session. The company closed at less than a penny and at one point hit 15 cents.

The mix-up is almost funny until you look at the trading volume. **Tweeter Home Entertainment Group** filed for bankruptcy in **2007** and was liquidated a year later, but a few shares kept trading over the counter. Some investors bought them believing they were acquiring Twitter stock, which that same week was filing the paperwork for its stock market debut.

## The mistake that moved 11.7 million shares

Tweeter shares closed on Thursday at less than a penny each. On Friday they peaked at **15 cents**. The gain topped **1,000%**. Around **11.7 million shares** changed hands, a volume the company had not seen since May 2007, when 13.05 million shares traded after it announced its intention to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company has been inactive for more than a decade. There is no business behind it, no revenue, no plan. Just a similar ticker and a coincidence in the calendar.

## Twitter seeks to raise $1 billion

That same Thursday, Twitter publicly filed the documents for its stock market debut. The offering will be completed in about two weeks. The social network is seeking to raise **$1 billion**.

The difference between the two companies is not just the name. One has revenue, the other does not. One has users, the other has a closed court file. That the market took so long to tell them apart says something about the haste of certain investors.

Buying shares in a bankrupt company because its name sounds like another is an expensive way to learn to read twice before clicking the button. Consult an advisor before investing.