That old saying is not, to my knowledge, in any investor relations manual.

But it appears to be the plan at ACA Capital, which I wrote about a week ago. Then the company had turned aside a request for comment from the New York Stock Exchange as its stock plunged on heavy volume. In the intervening week, the stock has fallen even farther, and it is now trading at $5.18, down 50 cents for the day and less than half what it was two weeks ago.

Volume has been extraordinary. The company sold 6.9 million shares to the public, at $13, just last November.
Nearly twice that volume traded last week, and another million traded yesterday. All without any statement from the company.

ACA manages C.D.O. pools, and it offers financial insurance to securities issued in C.D.O.’s. Nearly three months ago, when it released quarterly earnings, it cited pro forma numbers to make bad-looking G.A.A.P. figures look better, and analysts bought the story. Since then, the only news from the company has been a failed effort by insiders to sell 3.9 million shares. (The registration statement was withdrawn.)

Shareholders of this company have a choice: They can wait and wonder what is going on as management keeps quiet. Or they can bail out for whatever they can get. A lot of them have chosen the latter course.