Tweeter trading halted after rags-to-riches ride, investors confused company with Twitter

10/5/2013

NEW YORK — Tweeter Home Entertainment Group Inc., the once-bankrupt home-entertainment retailer, surged 685 percent before trading was halted Friday as traders confused the company with the microblogging service Twitter Inc.

The Canton, Mass., company trades over the counter under the ticker TWTRQ. Twitter, which filed for an initial share sale Thursday, will list under the ticker TWTR. Trading of Tweeter was halted at 12:42 p.m. by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. The stock rallied to as much as 15 cents, before trimming its gain to 5 cents.

More than 14.3 million Tweeter shares changed hands on Friday, the most since 2007 and an amount representing less than $1 million of trading, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.