04 June ( Lagos): 

There are some stock market stories that are so unbelievable that you need to keep re-checking them to make sure its not fake. Like the story of how a biotech firm kept oscillating between public and non- public, or when an analyst was mocked by a CEO on a public earning wall.

Below are some of the stories ranked from "least crazy" to "most crazy."

10. Biogenics Goes Public Then Un-Public In A Never-Before-Seen IPO Fail

Israeli biotech company Vascular Biogenics debuted on the Nasdaq on August 1 but then went un public on August 8

The oscillation was related to what the company called, "an unexpected situation in which a substantial existing US shareholder did not fund payment for share it previously agreed to purchase in the offering.”

9. CEO Mocks Analyst on Public Webcast because his Stock-Price Target is too low

On Cliffs Natural's October earnings conference call, the CEO Lourenco Goncalves dismissed a question from Wells Fargo analyst Sam Dubinsky because Goncalves did not like the price target on a stock that Dubinsky had. Goncalves responded to Dubinsky's question, by saying "You have a $4 price target and you think we can't sell assets, so I'm going to take the next question, I'm not going to answer you."

8. A Fund With The Ticker 'CUBA' Went Bonkers

In December, the White House made a decision to normalize their relations with Cuba.

Right after this this announcement, the Herzfield Caribbean Basin Fund, which trades under the ticker ‘CUBA’, soared by almost 30%.

The fund's mission is to invest in Caribbean-based opportunities, and although it currently has no holdings directly in Cuba, the fund believes its holdings are positioned to gain from an end to the US embargo against the country.

7. Riots In Ferguson caused a shoot in TASER’s shares

In August, when Michael Brown an African American teenager was shot by an American police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, riots broke out.

Due to this, TASER’s ( the company manufactures wearable body cameras for law enforcement agents) rallied. These developments pressed the municipalities to put cameras on their police officers.TASER shares rally has into the year-end, and in 2014 the stock added almost 70%.

6. This Biotech Stock Quadrupled After Positive Trial Results

Shares of a company called Intercept Pharmaceuticals grew by more than 400% in just a few days in January 2014 owing to them stopping their clinical trial of a liver disease drug claiming that there was evidence that treatment was working.

In August, Intercept shares rose again, gaining 45% in a day after they sent out another round of good news regarding its drug candidates. Intercept shares gained more than 120% in 2014.

5. Oil Services Company Civeo Crashed Twice

In September 2014, Civeo, an oil services company that provides housing accommodations for drilling and mining projects, saw a crash of 45% in its stock after they abandoned their plan to convert to a real estate investment trust, or REIT.

Following that year, the stocks further went down by 50% in a day when it deferred its dividend and slashed its capital investment amidst the plunge in oil prices. Interestingly, Civeo had just become public in June 2014, when it was spun out from Oil States International, and in a span of less than a year it suffered two major blows.

4. A company that fabricated 90% of its revenue collapsed after being called a fraud.

A Spanish tech company Let’s Gowex, which provided free Wifi services filed for voluntary bankruptcy five days after being called a fraud by Gotham City Research.The company’s embarrassed CEO sent an apology email to its employees and quoted Rudyard Kipling to make up for the value of the company slashing from 1.4 Billion euro to, well, nothing.

3. Hazmat Suit Company Went Bananas During The Ebola Scare

This must be the biggest silver lining behind the whole Ebola freak out. Back in fall, when everyone was scared about Ebola, the traders found a golden way to play this - Hazmat Suits- Remember Ebola?

Back in the fall, everyone in the US was freaked out about Ebola, and traders found a big way to play this: hazmat suits.The shares of Lakeland Industries’, a small hazmat suit and protective gear reached the international space station in October 2014, by gaining more than 60% in one day.

Eventually, Lakeland shares, which were trading at around $6-$7 per share that summer, rose as high as $30. By the end of 2014, the stock was just below $10 a share and gained more than 80% that year.

2. When a Shoe Company’s CEO disappeared with the company’s cash.

Shares of s shoe company Ultrasonic's  fell more than 70% after they announced that their CEO and COO disappeared over a weekend in September and that the company's also gone. 

Following week the company fired its CEO but still dint get a tight grip on what really happened.

1 A Hedge Fund’s dizzying explanation of how Olive Garden is wasting money

In September 2014, hedge fund Starboard Value published a presentation a whopping 294 slides listing the problems they had with how Darden Restaurants was operating Olive Garden.

The complaints included serving too many breadsticks, cooking pasta without salting the water and using nice takeout containers.Finally, in October 2014, Darden’s CEO was ousted.