It's been a hot button for months, especially with the demise of Bear Stearns and more recently with the volatility in Lehman Brothers shares and other financial firms among others, but the SEC is now talking tough about going after false rumor mongerers. We just don't believe they'll be able to do much to catch the vast majority of the offenders who spread both false negative AND false positive rumors (the latter getting not nearly the publicity). Maybe they'll have some luck with the larger companies that fall prey to rumors, but the SEC just doesn't have the enforcement resources to cover the universe.
SEC to Probe Manipulation Through False Information - Bloomberg
Pressed to Act, SEC to Probe False Rumors About Market - WSJ
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