An issue that is introduced that is irrelevant to the matter at hand, which usually diverts attention from the main matter actually in issue. An irrelevant or misleading indicator or statement that appears to be important and isn’t, designed to obfuscate and hide the primary issue. With regard to securities law, it is a preliminary prospectus regarding a stock that has yet to be approved by the SEC and uses red ink as an alert to investors as to its unapproved status.