American First Stock Trading Halted in Unexplained Action

Stock in American First Corp., the Oklahoma City-based parent company of San Diego-based First Affiliated Securities, stopped trading Friday shortly after the stock’s volume had reached 238,000 shares traded. Normal daily volume is about 1,000 shares, American First officials said.

American First failed to make a promised announcement Friday that was to have explained why trading was stopped. Traded over the counter, American First stock last sold Friday at $3.75 per share, up from the Thursday close of $3.125.

“We’re not sure what it means,” said Tom Berghage, director of research at First Affiliated Securities. “There have been all kinds of rumors, but we haven’t heard anything concrete.”

American First, which owns three insurance companies, two brokerage firms, a municipal bond firm and other financial-services companies, acquired First Affiliated Securities in 1983.

Several companies have made recent bids to acquire American First, Berghage said, adding that the company has been trading below its $4.50 to $5 book value.