Penny stock probe: don't keep market guessing

IN ANY discussion with retail trading representatives (TRs) about the current depressed state of penny stocks, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) is invariably singled out as being somehow responsible because of its sudden and unprecedented handling of the infamous trio of Asiasons, Blumont and LionGold on Oct 7 when it slapped a "designated" status on them and suspended trading in three stocks for two weeks.

The main criticism from TRs is that the shock the market received has depressed the entire penny segment - volume has dried up significantly - thereby badly affecting TR incomes.

One email making its rounds extracted from a chat forum estimates that with daily volume below $1 billion, the industry's average monthly take-home salary per TR is just $1,000 - not at all worthy of a market with international gateway aspirations.