I know that stock pumping is a popular theory, but it requires an astonishing amount of stupidity to make that a corporate strategy. Executives who do such things have a habit of ending up in jail; for example, the Enron crew are largely on their way.

My own theory is that the SCO executives are genuinely deluded into believing their own hype and view the stock market gains as external affirmation of the validity of their claims. In the end, it won't matter a whit.