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SORRY, WRONG NUMBER

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Bloomberg News

News that AT&T; agreed to buy Tele-Communications Inc. triggered the heaviest trading in TCI stock in more than four years. One problem: That’s the wrong stock.

TCI is the symbol for shares of Transcontinental Realty Investors Inc., a small real estate investment trust that trades on the New York Stock Exchange and has no connection with the cable TCI, whose Nasdaq stock symbol is TCOMA.

In a frenzy to get in on the transaction, some retail buyers started snapping up shares of TCI when they really wanted TCOMA, said Julie Snodgrass, investor relations director for Transcontinental.

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Transcontinental’s stock jumped as high as $16.56 on Wednesday, up 3.5% from Tuesday, before closing at $16.31 in its second-heaviest trading session ever.

The confusion has Snodgrass convinced that some investors are, well, just plain sloppy.

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