How To Lose $40M in 40 Minutes (LPHI)

Life Partners Holdings LPHI lost over 17% of its value yesterday at one point, on volume of over 550,000 shares (in comparison to its normal volume of 86,000 shares/day). Most of that loss occurred during a 40-minute period during which time Life Partners lost about $40M in value. There appears to have been no news on the company that would have explained this dumbfounding drop. One the world's oldest U.S. companies in the secondary market for life insurance, Life Partners is not without its critics. CitronResearch.com, a famous short-biased blog, has pointed out potential flaws in Life Partners' business practices on July 28, 2010, September 22, 2009, and February 11, 2009. Shares of Life Partners recovered some of its losses from yesterday's lows, but even at the current market ask price of $18.47, Life Partners is set to trade lower than yesterday's open by at least 7%.