PXP, ENEX deny undisclosed knowledge of reason for price pumps

Philex Petroleum [PXP 4.15, down 7.8%; 2136% avgVol] saw its stock price jump up 50% from P3.00 on Wednesday to P4.50 on Thursday, and ENEX Energy [ENEX 5.93, down 12.7%; 1466% avgVol] saw its stock price jump 47% from P4.63 to P6.79 on the same day, prompting the Capital Markets Integrity Corp. (CMIC) to check in with PXP and ENEX. Both PXP and ENEX denied any knowledge of undisclosed information that might have caused the “unusual price movement” of their respective stocks. It seems the actual cause of the panic buying was a story by VERA Files that Malacañang had “unofficially lifted” the moratorium on oil and natural gas exploration in the Recto Bank area.

MB bottom-line: It’s important to remember that when the CMIC reaches out to get a sworn statement from a company that pumps with no disclosures, they’re basically trying to give the company a chance to make anything official that might have leaked to try and level the information playing field as quickly as possible for other investors. But the question to PXP and ENEX wasn’t just a gossipy “so, do you know anything that might have caused this?” kind of thing: they’re asking if PXP or ENEX has any previously undisclosed material information that needs to be disclosed. From that perspective, the “we know nothing about nothing” responses from PXP and ENEX should be read as “we don’t have any first-hand knowledge of material facts that could have caused the buying interest”. They’re not denying the rumor, just denying knowledge of what the rumor claims to say. Tread carefully, though. The pullbacks in the absence of confirmation could be severe.

---

Merkado Barkada is a free daily newsletter on the PSE, investing and business in the Philippines. You can subscribe to the newsletter or follow on Twitter to receive the full daily updates.

Merkado Barkada's opinions are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any particular stock. These daily articles are not updated with new information, so each investor must do his or her own due diligence before trading, as the facts and figures in each particular article may have changed.