Arbitration Sought by Irvine’s Waldron

Continuing a series of legal charges and countercharges, Irvine-based brokerage Waldron & Co. Inc. filed Friday for arbitration to resolve a complaint alleging that Bear, Stearns Inc. refused to honor trades in stock of Shopping.com, a Corona del Mar Internet retailer. Waldron asked the National Assn. of Securities Dealers to hear charges that Bear, Stearns refused to honor stock purchases totaling $900,000 for Waldron’s customers. As a result, those customers have filed a legal claim against Waldron. The Irvine firm also requested unspecified damages. Waldron took Shopping.com public last November in an initial stock offering of 1.3 million shares priced at $9 each. The price leaped to $32.13 in March, leading to speculation that Waldron was keeping the price artificially high through stock manipulation. Regulators suspended trading for two weeks to investigate. Waldron has denied any wrongdoing. Shopping.com, however, still faces three class-action lawsuits alleging stock manipulation. The stock closed Friday at $20.50, up $1.75 a share, in over-the-counter-trading.