Knickerbocker Shares Fall $8.75 to $28

L.L. Knickerbocker stock lost nearly 24% of its value Friday in heavy trading, continuing a weeklong slide.

The stock fell $8.75 a share to close at $28, with 429,100 shares changing hands on Nasdaq. In the last week, Knickerbocker stock has tumbled nearly 38% from its Aug. 18 close of $45.

“The stock has been up a lot lately, but now people want to get out,” one trader said.

The company, which uses celebrities to sell dolls and other products on cable television, has seen its stock skyrocket from $4 a share in June to a peak of $52 a share on Aug. 11. The stock price rose in recent weeks on expectations of a “short squeeze,” in which traders who sold stock they did not own, expecting to buy it back later at a cheaper price, are forced to buy shares at higher prices to cover their positions.