Bad News Makes Taser Stock Price Even More Volatile
When a Montgomery County man who'd been shocked by police with an electric Taser gun died last week, investors recoiled in fear.</br></br>Within 24 hours after the incident, stockholders of the company that makes the Taser lost almost $100 million as the stock of Taser International Inc. plunged more than $9.50 a share.</br></br>The death of Eric Wolle, 45, put Montgomery County in the crosshairs of a controversy that has riled police departments and investors nationwide.</br></br>Cops everywhere have been rushing to buy Tasers, a weapon that shoots out a pair of darts linked by long wires to a powerful battery that jolts suspects into submission.</br></br>And investors everywhere have been rushing to buy Taser International stock. By some rankings, TASR, traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market, has been the nation's No. 1 stock -- up more than 2,000 percent in the past 12 months. Taser stock jumped from around $1.50 a share to $120 before being knocked down by media reports about people who died after being shot by Tasers.