'We're Still Batting .950!' Celebrates CEO Byrne



    SALT LAKE CITY, July 24 /EMWNews/ -- Overstock.com, Inc.

(Nasdaq: OSTK) announced that today, after a 14 trading day reprieve, it

has reappeared on Nasdaq's Regulation SHO threshold list. (Source:

http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/aspx/regsho.aspx).



    Regulation SHO requires the stock exchanges to publish daily a list of

companies whose stock has failures-to-deliver above a certain threshold. It

also requires mandatory close-outs for open fail-to-deliver positions in

threshold securities persisting for over 13 days, with the aim that no

security would appear on the threshold for any extended period. Despite

that aim, Overstock.com has now appeared on the Regulation SHO threshold

list for 839 trading days -- about 95% of the nearly 900 days the list has

been in existence.



    "We're back on the list," said Overstock.com chairman and CEO Patrick

Byrne, "but I'm not surprised. Data provided by a financial news

organization suggests that of our approximate 6,000 owners, the top 50 own

106% of our stock. And yet last Friday, it appears that 20% of our issued

and outstanding stock traded, as the price of it fell 40% when we announced

earnings that largely beat the Wall Street consensus expectations."



    Last Friday, nearly 4.5 million Overstock.com shares traded -- nearly

ten times the average volume. In addition, there was an abnormally large

volume of trades in the options market on Friday -- even for an options

expiration day.



    Ironically, this happened while the SEC put in place an emergency

apartheid order that provides special protections against naked short

selling for a select 19 companies, those being Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and

17 Wall Street firms, only seven of which have ever been on the Reg SHO

list to date, and nine of whom have been enabling naked short selling

against Overstock.com (according to a lawsuit filed by Overstock). Byrne

said, "This apartheid protection of the elite of Wall Street is Orwellian:

why should a select group of brokerage firms receive special protection

from illegal trading practices, when many of these firms have enabled

others to engage in these very same practices, targeting public companies

that now receive no protection under the SEC's emergency order?"



    The American Bankers Association has asked that the apartheid system be

expanded to include more banks. However, Overstock.com, the Financial

Services Roundtable, and former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt, have called on

the SEC to expand and extend the rule of law to the entire market.



    Byrne continued: "When someone sells something that they neither own,

nor borrow, nor deliver, a reasonable person may ask, 'What is being sold?'

The answer is, 'Nothing.' The SEC has realized that liquidity born of

'nothing' may be unhealthy for the market."



    Overstock.com believes that in order for naked shorting to stop the SEC

must:






    1. Eliminate the option market maker exception of Regulation SHO.

    2. Extend the pre-borrow requirement of the emergency order to the entire

       market, not just the 19 select companies.

    3. Cause to be disclosed the volume of failures to deliver on a timely

       basis -- at least as often as the exchanges disclose legitimate short

       interests (twice a month).

    4. Expand the purview of Regulation SHO to include transactions that occur

       outside the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation.



    "The SEC must do more to stop chronic failures-to-deliver," said

Overstock.com senior vice president of corporate affairs and legal,

Jonathan Johnson. "If it continues to take mere half measures, abusive

manipulators will continue to have their way in the markets."



    As of today, 568 companies are on the Regulation SHO threshold list:

245 for over 13 consecutive trading days, 52 for over 100 consecutive

trading days, and one, Medis Technologies Ltd., for 746 consecutive trading

days. (Source: http://buyins.net/tools/short_list.php?ssd=20080724).

    About Overstock.com



    Overstock.com, Inc. is an online retailer offering brand-name

merchandise at discount prices. The company offers its customers an

opportunity to shop for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers

an alternative inventory distribution channel. Overstock.com, headquartered

in Salt Lake City, is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Global

Market System and can be found online at http://www.overstock.com.



    Overstock.com(R) is a registered trademark of Overstock.com, Inc. All

other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.



    This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within

the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements

include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the future effect of

recommended remedies for naked short selling and the SEC's ability to ever

stop manipulative naked short selling. Our Form 10-K for the year ended

December 31, 2007, our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, or any

amendments thereto, and our other subsequent filings with the Securities

and Exchange Commission identify important factors that could cause our

actual results to differ materially from those contained in our

projections, estimates or forward-looking statements.