Arch Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB:ARTH) – a Pump by the Numbers

Yesterday was another devastating day for shareholders of Arch Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB:ARTH). The stock crashed another 18% to arrive well below its pre-pump values and stopped at $0.45 at the bell.

We have covered the massive pump campaign for ARTH extensively, in a series of articles that presented a very detailed blow-by-blow account of the pump as it unfolded. The promotional push for ARTH was massive, with just about every pump avenue used to tout the stock, including email pumps, landing pages and a hard paper mailer. Despite the millions of dollars dished out to pump the stock, the climb was very short-lived, even if it did manage to generate volume and a decent percentile move.

The setup was a classical one – a stock that is just being launched into active volume trading gets a wide-spread pump campaign and unrealistically high price targets set for it in paid advertising materials, with promises of incredible riches for early buyers at what was supposedly ‘bargain’ prices. The inflated hype bubble happened to burst and a whole lot of people who rode the hype volume spikes of nearly 10 million shares are now looking at an ugly loss of over 50%.

We first alerted about the possible future pump of ARTH on June 21 and things played our largely as we expected. Those who chose to ride the hype learned a lesson about paid pumps the hard way. Hopefully, a few listened and avoided a nasty burn.

ARTH is currently trading 5% up at $0.455, still far from its pre-pump levels.

Other stocks that took a heavy dip yesterday include Premier Brands, Inc. (OTCMKTS:BRND), who closed 26% down after a hype spike of their own. Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:LQMT) who ran a little too hot on Wednesday had a corrective session that sent them 30% down.