Posted on 01/28/2021 10:54:41 AM PST by TigerClaws
LONDON (Reuters) - Short-sellers are sitting on estimated losses of $70.87 billion from their short positions in U.S. companies so far this year, data from financial data analytics firm Ortex showed on Thursday.
The hefty losses come as shares of highly-shorted GameStop jumped more than 1,000% in the past week without a clear business reason, forcing short-sellers to buy back into the stock to cover potential losses -- defined as a short-squeeze -- while retail investors then piled in to benefit from the surge.
Chasing shorted companies became a trend among retail traders, rippling across U.S. markets and Europe. Ortex data showed that as of Wednesday, there were loss-making short positions on more than 5,000 U.S. firms.
Its data also showed that estimated losses from shorting GameStop at $1.03 billion year-to-date, while those shorting Bed, Bath & Beyond were looking at a $600 million loss.
Ortex said the figures are based on the change in trading prices between the start of January to Wednesday’s close, and the number of short positions. The company sources short interest data from submissions by agent lenders, prime brokers, and broker-dealers.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The big boys were losing so they stopped everything for a few hours and then rigged the game.
Sound familiar?
I love this story and keep reading more versions every hour. I wonder if enough smart people understand exactly what happened and how Dangerous it could be if properly controlled by real American Patriots?
If done right, the force and mass of Tens of Millions of Taxpayers with nothing more than a $1000 or two to throw in, could just about blow up ANY Stock or Company at a Moments Notice, just like the Big Boys do.
This is how you beat them at their own game, now direct that to the Companies political enemies like Twitter, Amazon, Facebook,... and you just might have a viable weapon with insurmountable power.
“Beginning in 1992, (George) Soros and his fund began to take a large short position on the British pound. This means he gradually was borrowing pounds from other investors. After borrowing, he would immediately sell the pounds in the forex market for German currency. Once the pound fell, Soros could buy back the pounds he owed at a far lesser value.” It nearly broke the Bank of England.
In 1997 he did the same to the Thai Baht nearly destroying the Thai economy. See my tagline
Finally, some good news!
Short sellers remind me of vultures.
Vultures serve a purpose by getting rid of carcasses, but they’re still disgusting.
zerohedge
@zerohedge
Some were confused why Citadel paid Yellen over $800K for “speeches”
https://mobile.twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1354886376743968771
zerohedge
@zerohedge
Some were confused why Citadel paid Yellen over $800K for “speeches”
https://mobile.twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1354886376743968771
“As someone aptly stated last night on FR, ‘Naked shorts are illegal.’”
Not quite. What is illegal is failing to deliver on an out-of-the-money short, naked or covered. A trader has three days to transfer (or buy, if not in legal possession) the stock and deliver it on a short trade. Here are the SEC rules: https://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/regsho.htm
“There is a bit of a difference between selling stock that you don’t own (naked shorts) and selling stock that doesn’t exist (fraud).”
Correct. Naked short selling per se, is not illegal.
https://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/regsho.htm
I'm not an expert either, but I think it's more like this:
It's when someone BORROWS the shares from someone else (like a loan with interest), and then sells those shares to another person.
That's short selling.
-PJ
Robinhood reportedly LIQUIDATED peoples positions in Game stop without their permission.
I saw one screen shot where they sold 4500 shares for someone at the I’m purely coincidental low for the day of 118$ a share, when the top had been 500$ share.
“Screw short sellers. Vile vultures, may they lose everything”
Short-sellers provide a valuable function in markets by taking on intertemporal risks.
https://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/regsho.htm
“What is Clearing?
Clearing is the procedure by which financial trades settle - that is, the correct and timely transfer of funds to the seller and securities to the buyer. Often with clearing, a specialized organization acts as intermediary and assumes the role of tacit buyer and seller in a transaction, to reconcile orders between transacting parties. Clearing is necessary for the matching of all buy and sell orders in the market. It provides smoother and more efficient markets as parties can make transfers to the clearing corporation rather than to each individual party with whom they transact”
Shouldn’t then a transaction be not allowed to start with if it can’t be cleared wnen the time comes to close it?
Good news!!
“I will defer to others, but I don’t believe this [naked short selling] is illegal.”
You are correct. Here is what the SEC has to say:
https://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/regsho.htm
"Newly-confirmed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen received around $810,000 in speaking fees from the hedge fund that bailed out one of the primary losers in the recent Gamestop frenzy.
Yellen's financial disclosure shows her making $337,500 for multiple days in Oct. of 2020 from Citadel. She similarly banked $292,500 in October of 2019 and $180,000 in December of that year. The Senate confirmed Yellen on Monday, making her the first female secretary of the department. She previously chaired the Federal Reserve after an appointment by former President Obama.
Both Citadel and Point72 infused almost $3 billion into Melvin Capital, which saw massive losses after betting against the video game retailer Gamestop. The White House said on Wednesday that Yellen was monitoring the situation.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked Thursday during the daily briefing whether Yellen would recuse herself from advising the president on Gamestop. Psaki did not commit one way or another."
BILLION, 3 Bizillion$.
There’s an old saying that the best way to make a small fortune in stock futures is to start with a large one.
Great half hour video by Glenn Greenwald on this subject—he argues for an alliance of right wing and left wing populism to defeat the oligharchy:
This is a _smart_ strategy.
This is a _winning_ strategy.
The entire system is corrupt from top to bottom. Not just the financial system. The elite are not under the law. They do as they want. This is what Tyranny is. Now what did the founders say about Tyranny?
The fix to this is simple. Do not allow naked options trading.
If you want to sell a call/put option - you must either have the asset (stock) in your account to cover or have a covering option to close the account or cash reserve of current market value at market close. This rule would work for either short or long positions and would prevent the worst of the manipulations practiced by many fund managers.
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