In S.E.C. v. Howey Co. (1946) 328 U.S. 293, the Supreme Court considered whether the sale of small parcels of a citrus grove development fell within the definition of security under the Securities Act of 1933. (Howey, supra, 328 U.S at p. 295.) The Howey court announced that an investment contract is "a contract, transaction or scheme whereby a person invests his money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits solely from the efforts of the promoter or a third party . . . ." (Id. at pp. 298-99.) This test "embodies a flexible rather than a static principle, one that is capable of adaptation to meet the countless and variable schemes devised by those who seek the use of the money of others on the promise of profits." (Id. at p. 299.) Applying this then-new test, the Howey court concluded that the sale of the parts of the citrus grove in which the investors sought a return on their investment through the managerial efforts of the Howey company, was the sale of an investment contract. (Ibid.)