A blank check company is a developmental stage company that has no specific business plan or has the intent to merge or acquire another firm. 

What You Need to Know About SPACs—Updated Investor Bulletin

Exemption for Limited Offerings Not Exceeding $10 Million—Rule 504 of Regulation D

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A blank check company is a publicly-traded, developmental stage company that has no established business plan. During this period, SPACs were able to go public without the SEC’s approval or feedback, thanks to SEC regulations that allow companies to make their own IPO registration effective if they’re willing to establish a set IPO price at least 20 days before going public. After a successful public relations campaign run in 2014 that informed the public that the highly popular snack cakes known as Twinkies would no longer be made, the Gores Group, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, created blank check company Gores Holdings in 2015. A blank check company is a publicly-traded, developmental stage company that has no established business plan. Blank check companies are speculative in nature and are bound by Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 419 to protect investors.

Blank Check Company

The National Quotation Bureau (NQB), now known as the OTC Markets Group (OTCM), was a publisher of price data for over-the-counter (OTC) securities.

OTC Markets Group Announces the 2021 OTCQX Best 50

The National Quotation Bureau (NQB), now known as the OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCM), was a publisher of price information for stocks and bonds traded in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. The National Quotation Bureau (NQB), now known as the OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCM), was a publisher of price information for stocks and bonds traded in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. The NQB is now known as the OTC Markets Group (OTCM), which publishes price information for stocks and bonds traded in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. While it may be hard to appreciate today, given the abundance of financial information we now have access to, the NQB provided a very valuable service in the early 20th century by packaging scarce data and making it available to dealers and investors. At the time, the NQB published their bond data on yellow sheets of paper, while their stock data was published on pink sheets of paper.

National Quotation Bureau (NQB)

OTC Markets Group is the owner and operator of the largest U.S. electronic quotation and trading system for over-the-counter (OTC) securities.

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing of a Proposed Rule Change to Adopt FINRA Rule 6439 (Requirements for Member Inter-Dealer Quotation Systems) and Delete the Rules Related to the OTC Bulletin Board Service

The OTC Markets Group is the owner and operator of the most substantial U.S. inter-dealer electronic quotation and trading system for over-the-counter (OTC) securities. Prior to being called the OTC Markets Group Inc., the National Quotation Bureau renamed itself Pink Sheets LLC in 2000 and then Pink OTC Markets Inc. in 2008. 3.  The Corporate Services division helps companies go public and gain greater visibility through listing in one of OTC Markets Group's three OTC tiers.
The company was preceded by the National Quotation Bureau which was founded in 1904. The most visible aspect of the OTC Markets Group's stewardship is the breakdown of the OTC market into three tiers, based on the quality and quantity of the listed companies’ information and disclosures. The OTC Markets Group is the owner and operator of the most substantial U.S. inter-dealer electronic quotation and trading system for over-the-counter (OTC) securities.

OTC Markets Group Inc.

The penny stock reform act sought to clamp down on fraud in non-exchange-listed stocks priced below $5 that generally trade in the over-the-counter market.

Overview Of NYSE Quantitative Initial Listing Standards

The Penny Stock Reform Act was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1990 as part of securities legislation that sought to clamp down on fraud in non-exchange-listed stocks—called penny stocks. In its report on the 1990 act, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce identified two main factors that had spurred the growth of penny stock fraud:
1.  A lack of public information on these stocks, which facilitated price manipulation
2.  The presence of a large number of promoters and others associated with penny stock issuers and broker-dealers who were repeat offenders under securities laws, convicted felons or had ties to organized crime.
The Penny Stock Reform Act used a two-pronged approach of more regulation and better disclosure to achieve the objective of reducing penny stock fraud. The act also required penny stock dealers and brokers to disclose to potential customers general information about the penny stock market, and specific information about the penny stocks. The Penny Stock Reform Act also promoted establishing a structured electronic marketplace for quoting such securities.
The Penny Stock Reform Act—which was part of the “Securities Enforcement Remedies and Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990”—was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on Oct. 15, 1990. The Penny Stock Reform Act was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1990 as part of securities legislation that sought to clamp down on fraud in non-exchange-listed stocks—called penny stocks.

Penny Stock Reform Act

A penny stock typically refers to a small company's stock that trades for less than $5 per share and trades via over-the-counter (OTC) transactions.

§240.15g-9 Sales Practice Requirements for Certain Low-Priced Securities

§240.15g-2 Penny Stock Disclosure Document Relating To the Penny Stock Market

§240.15g-3 Broker or Dealer Disclosure of Quotations and Other Information Relating To the Penny Stock Market

§240.15g-4 Disclosure of Compensation To Brokers or Dealers

§240.15g-6 Account Statements for Penny Stock Customers

Table of Contents
What Is a Penny Stock?
Penny Stocks Explained
Price Fluctuations of Penny Stock
What Makes Penny Stocks Risky
Signs of Fraud The SEC's Rules for Penny Stock
After-Hours Trading
When Is It Not a Penny Stock?
Example of a Penny Stock
A penny stock typically refers to the stock of a small company that trades for less than $5 per share. Though there is no fool-proof strategy for knowing which penny stocks are fraudulent, the SEC recommends that investors heed the following warning signs in a company's record: SEC trading suspensions, large assets but small revenues, financial statements containing unusual items in the footnotes, odd auditing issues, and large insider ownership. Although some penny stocks trade on large exchanges such as the NYSE, most penny stocks trade over the counter through the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB). Although penny stocks can have explosive gains, it is important to have realistic expectations and understand that penny stocks are high-risk investments with low trading volumes.

Penny Stock

The slang term pip-squeak pop refers to a penny stock that experiences a sharp price increase over a short period of time.

A pip-squeak pop is a big increase in the price of a stock from a very low valuation. Penny stocks have less liquidity than larger stocks, which causes them to have wide bid-ask spreads between the price a buyer is willing to bid and the price a seller is willing to accept. A pip-squeak pop is a big increase in the price of a stock from a very low valuation. A pip-squeak pop is a big price increase in a low-priced stock. That may work to the advantage of a buyer who has the skills and knowledge to uncover the occasional mispriced stock that is poised for a pip-squeak pop.

Pip-Squeak Pop

A single-digit midget is a slang term for a stock that was trading at a high price but comes down to trade at under $10 per share.

Single-digit midget is a slang term for a stock with a price that is below $10 per share after having traded at a much higher level. Since these stocks have largely either stabilized or been flushed out of the market, the term is not used commonly anymore.
Single-digit midget is a slang term for a stock with a price that is below $10 per share after having traded at a much higher level, used commonly to describe stocks after the dotcom bubble burst. The insulting nature of the term is a reflection of the resentment investors and analysts felt at the dotcom bubble and the rush of venture capitalists to pour money into companies they didn’t understand and that they didn’t hold accountable for growth plans. Single-digit midget is a slang term that developed during the mid-2000s when Internet companies that did not have clear business models or even any mechanism to take in money burned through the venture capital they had obtained and began to fail. The insulting nature of the term is a reflection of the resentment investors and analysts felt at the dotcom bubble and the rush of venture capitalists to pour money into companies they didn’t understand and that they didn’t hold accountable for growth plans.

Single-Digit Midget

Wallpaper is the name given to stocks, bonds and other securities that have become worthless. 

Wallpaper is the name given to stocks, bonds, and other securities that have become worthless. Individuals who hold old stock certificates bearing the names of long-gone companies should not assume they are worthless, however.
Decades of mergers, acquisitions, name-changes, and stock splits do not mean a stock is worthless. Those lucky enough to avoid homelessness used the now-worthless stock certificates to paper their walls, an old technique used to plug drafts before insulation was widely available or used. During times of economic downturn, like the Great Depression, useless stock certificates were used as insulation or as actual wallpaper. The name stuck, however, and denotes when a stock or bond certificate (or another exercisable right to securities such as stock options) no longer has value due to a variety of reasons, most commonly, bankruptcy.

Penny Stock Trading

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Terms in Penny Stock Trading