FINRA, the brokerage industry’s self-regulatory body, has finally done what someone should have done weeks ago: It has halted trading in shares of the bankrupt company once known as General Motors. According to the New York Times, the suspension occurred after the shares inexplicably surged 39 percent on Friday.

The old GM is now called Motors Liquidation, but some investors apparently were confused and thought they were buying shares in the new General Motors, which emerged from bankruptcy on Friday. As the Times mentions, the Penny Stock Chaser newsletter listed the old GM among shares that “are expected to go higher.”

As I mentioned in a June 9 column, the continued trading in these shares makes no sense. The company has said repeatedly that the shares are worthless, and yet, as of Friday, they had a total market value of $600 million. It seems highly likely that some market manipulation and fraud was occurring , and I hope FINRA and the Securities and Exchange Commission can ferret it out.