Global Technologies Gets Margin Call, to Sell Some US Wireless Stock

Investors have been hurt by them. Top management at companies whose stock prices have fallen have

seen them. And now

Global Technologies

(GTLL)

says that it is being hit by the equivalent of a margin call.

After the close, Global Tech, a technology incubator, said that it is selling a portion of its holdings in

U.S. Wireless

(USWC)

to pay off a $10 million line of credit that it got from

Merrill Lynch

in March. Global Tech had used its assets as collateral for the stock, including 1.5 million shares of U.S. Wireless. U.S. Wireless has declined 88% from its March high of $43. Today it shed $1.44, or 21.9%, to close at $5.13 in unusually heavy volume.

"We would not be selling any of this valued investment if our hand had not been forced by some of the worst market conditions we have seen in a while," stated Global Tech's Chairman and CEO Irwin Gross in the company's press release. "We are doing all that we can to alleviate any downward pressure on the stock that the sales might be creating, and we look forward to reaping the benefits that we believe the remainder of our investment in USWC will bring in time."