On September 26, mere hours after a foundering JCP swore up and down to CNBC it would not, repeat not, sell shares to raise much needed liquidity, the same company proceed to go ahead... and sell 84 million shares of stock via Goldman Sachs (which two days earlier [7]suggesting JCP may be a bankruptcy candidate in a credit research report). Back then we summarizes JCP's actions as follows [8]: "Guess what. They lied. Is this criminal? Surely the SEC will get involved immediately." Obviously, the last statement was delivered with an unlimited dose of sarcasm. Which is why we were absolutely floored to read in the company's just released 10-Q that the SEC did, in fact, do just that.
From the 10-Q [9]:
On October 7, 2013, the Company received a letter of inquiry from the Securities and Exchange Commission requesting information regarding the Company’s liquidity, cash position, and debt and equity financing, as well as the Company’s underwritten public offering of common stock announced on September 26, 2013. The Company is cooperating with the Securities and Exchange Commission in regards to its inquiry, including providing material requested by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The immediate response of the stock after hours is to do what it has gotten so experienced in doing in the past year: it slides.