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New York, NY - Verizon Communications­ (NYSE:VZ) hit a new 52 week high of $34.96. It is trading between $34.58 - 34.96 with total traded volume of 3347533 shares. Keep a close eye on VZ, as the stock has been showing unusual moves over the past weeks. At Current Market Price, VZ is in distance of +5.24% from its 50-day Moving Average price of $32.9825 and +13.25% from its 200-day Moving Average..

In the United States of America, a penny stock, also known as a micro cap equity refers to a share in a company which trades for less than $5.00 While this is the official definition, and is used by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, generally every full service or discount broker, and the vast majority of analysts and institutional­ investors, there are informal (but paradoxically­ less inclusive) criteria applied by the general public and most retail investors. In other countries the term may be used differently,­ without reference to US institutions.­

New York, New York - Allied Irish Banks, plc. (ADR) (NYSE:AIB) plunged 7.81% to $1.18 on over 10.18 million shares. The company priced a public offering of 26,700,000 contingent mandatorily exchangeable­ notes due November 15, 2010, in connection with the proposed disposal of its approximately­ 22.4% shareholding­ in M&T Bank Corporation at a price of $77.50 per Note, raising net proceeds of approximately­ $2.0 billion.

In the past six months of trading sessions, the stock went down more than 69%. The 52-week range of the siri stock is $1.16-$9.20.­ The 52-week low of the stock is $1.16, made by the stock today.

Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (NASDAQ:COCO)­ dropped 7.45% to $6.46 on over 6.93 million shares. Over the past one month of trading sessions, the penny stocks went up more than 27% and is down more than 52% year- to-date.

Star Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:CIGX)­ lost 5.29% to $1.97 on over 4.31 million shares. The company said Monday that it received a letter from the Patent Office vacating the Offices's earlier Notice of Intent to Terminate the reexamination­ of the Star Scientific's­ " '649" and " '401" patents.

According to Star Scientific, the re-examination­ proceedings were a tactical attempt by RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company to delay the jury trial of Star's patent infringement­ lawsuit against that company.

Over the past 52-week, the penny stock traded within the range of $0.51-$3.69.­ In the past one month of trading sessions, the stock went up more than 16%.

Many newer investors are interested in micro cap equities because of the possibility of rapid and significant gains. However, there are several risk factors for traders that go beyond simple issues and concerns with the operations of the company.

For example, shares trading for less than $5 are considered by brokers to not be "option­ eligible".­ Such securities are subject to higher trading commissions,­ much stricter levels for margin requirements,­ and usually cannot be used to borrow against. Generally, unless it is option eligible, the equity cannot be sold shorts.

In addition, depending on the liquidity of the underlying shares, and the exchange that the company is listed on, it can be problematic to sell your position. In extreme cases, investors may encounter difficulty liquidating their positions even when the shares are on the rise. This sort of problem is mainly prevalent on the Pink Sheets market, and less common among more legitimate exchanges such as the Nasdag, OTC BULLETIN BOARD, or American Stock Exchange.

In addition, it is generally more difficult to find information of companies trading on the secondary markets. Often, a Pink Sheet company will be listed and traded, yet make no publicly accessible information regarding their financial position, the corporate fundamentals,­ or operational guidance.

Since many sub $5 companies are thinly traded, and especially those that trade for fractions of one cent, they are targets for price manipulation.­ For example, an individual or organization­ buys up hundreds of thousands, or even millions of shares, then uses web sites, faulty press releases, and e-mail blasts to drive interest to the company. Very often, faulty or misleading information is provided, resulting in investors buying shares in the underlying company. The increased demand pushes the price up, while the original individual or organization­ doing the "pumping&qu­ot; sells their holdings.

While such practices are illegal, and significantly­ less common in recent history, they are part of what has given the industry, and micro cap shares, such a bad name.

Another fraudulent scheme is the sale of chop stocks in which shares acquired below market under Regulations S are illegally sold to overseas or domestic retail investors.