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Caught with Their Shorts Down
Townhall.com ^ | January 31, 2021 | Gil Gutknecht

Posted on 01/31/2021 4:47:46 AM PST by Kaslin

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To: Kaslin
The Citadel has yellin in their pocket, so no one is going to jail, and they will get bailed out, either directly or via a back door payoff from the feds.

The hedge hoppers are not going to loose $70 Billion without uncle sugar and auntie yellin, giving them our money to save their asses.

BTW, did anyone see how many years in prison that scumbag fbi agent that committed fraud on the fisa court got last week?

What? 12 months probation.

OK, someone from Robinhood is going to jail, and is going to get the same punishment as the crooked fbi pimp.

21 posted on 01/31/2021 6:52:54 AM PST by USS Alaska (NUKE ALL MOOSELIMB TERRORISTS, NOW.)
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To: exDemMom
Try this 4 min. video on Short Selling from TD Ameritrade

4 major topics:


22 posted on 01/31/2021 7:13:12 AM PST by HonkyTonkMan ( )
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To: Theoria
I'm skeptical of this run up. The fact that there is liquidity and people are holding suggest hype. No doubt some option payouts will hurt, but the hedgies involved are the boy scouts.

-----

The hedge funds are boy scouts?

Shorting can have infinite losses. Many (all?) online brokerages popup this warning when you attempt to short a stock.

You cannot short stock that you are unable to deliver (this is naked shorting, and illegal).

Somehow, the hedge funds shorted GME 140% of outstanding shares. IE, they somehow "borrowed" shares with the intent to sell those at a lower price for a profit.

As an aside, massive short interest against a company, makes it harder for the company to release stock/bond offerings and gain access to capital and reorganize the business in more profitable manner. Essentially, massive short interest can be a race to the bottom.

John Q. Public on social media sees this scenario playing out, and through discussion (since ~Aug 2020) realizes that if the price of GME goes up, there are more shares shorted than available to purchase, which could mean significant gains for "retail investors." All retail has to do is buy and "hold."

The hedge funds double down on their shorts even though the price of GME rises. Flash forward to mid/late January 2021, and the price of GME skyrockets. The hedge funds along with CNBC start shilling the potential massive losses for retail investors.

Simultaneously, CNBC advertises Melvin Capital covered all of their shorts; the math shows GME still shorted at ~120% of outstanding shares.

Within days, retail wipes out ~$5 billion from some of the hedge funds, including Melvin Capital. In response, Citadel, provides Melvin with a $2.75 billion bailout.

The next day, RobinHood, an online brokerage, which runs ~60% of its trades through Citadel, stopped their users from buying GME and other heavily shorted stock, and only allowed selling, which relieves pressure from the hedge funds at the expense of retail investors (i.e. the average public using RH to trade)..........and the hedge funds are boy scouts?

The only thing some of these hedge funds have in common with boy scouts, is they made stupid decisions and then went bankrupt.

23 posted on 01/31/2021 7:13:39 AM PST by Repeat Offender (While the wicked stand confounded, call me with Thy saints surrounded.)
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To: Kaslin

Many hedge fund boys went bust flaw in shell game noted.


24 posted on 01/31/2021 8:27:59 AM PST by Vaduz (women and children to be impacIQ of chimpsted the most.)
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To: exDemMom

Short selling is very simple.

1. Person A owns a share of stock.
2. Person B thinks the price of that stock is going to go down.
3. Person B borrows a share of stock from Person A, but only for a defined period of time, say 30 days.
4. Person B also pays Person A a flat fee, say $1, to borrow that stock.

So, Person B has a borrowed share of stock that they have 30 days to return and pay a $1 fee to Person A.

5. Person B then sells that share for say $10 (whatever it is worth on the market at that time).
6. Person B then waits up to 30 days for that stock price to come down from the $10 price they originally paid.

So, Person B has $10 in their pocket, but they must buy a share of stock back within 30 days to give back to Person A. They hope like hell that the stock price is less than the $10 they sold the original stock at.

Two things can happen: Stock price goes down or the stock goes up. Either way, Person B must buy a share to give back to Person A.

Price goes down, say to $6.
7. Person B buys a share of stock at $6.
8. Person B gives Person A their share of stock back, plus the $1 fee.
9. Person B had $10 from originally selling the borrowed share of stock. They paid $6 for another share to return to Person A and they paid Person A the $1 fee. This means Person B kept $3 ($10 - $6 - $1 = $3) for themselves, a nice and tidy profit of $3.

Price goes up, say to $14.
7. At the end of the 30 day period, Person B finds the stock actually went up to, say, $14. They are screwed. They must buy a share of stock at market price of $14 to return to person A.
8. Person B had the original $10 in their pocket from selling the borrowed share of stock, but they must fork out another $4 to have the $14 to buy the share of stock to return to Person A. Plus, there is that $1 fee.
9. Person B must pay out $15 total, and therefore has lost $5 in this transaction.

This shows that shorting a stock can result is significant losses if the stock price goes up and not down. Imagine a $10 stock going to $200! Shorting that stock in this scenario may make up to the $9 for Person B, but it can also result in losses of $191 if the price goes to $200.


25 posted on 01/31/2021 8:47:33 AM PST by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Have!)
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To: CodeToad

Complex simplicity😊


26 posted on 01/31/2021 8:50:57 AM PST by SE Mom (Screaming Eagle mom)
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To: SE Mom

Lots of words but a very simple process. Borrow a share, return a share.


27 posted on 01/31/2021 8:51:33 AM PST by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Have!)
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To: Repeat Offender
I'm not saying that hedge funds are altruistic boy scouts, but that the hedge funds that took a hit are not the real military of the financial world. Larger funds, the marines of finance, haven't even engaged in battle.

RH gamblers and late arrivals, are gonna take a hit, if there is continued liquidity. There is still massive volume and exchange, even in the face of hold the line. I don't have a stake in the gme, amc, etc, but I'll gladly admit I'm wrong.

It is possible to have 140% short. Brokers borrows to cover shorts, then delivers the shares to the buyer, whose broker then lends out the share to short again. Not uncommon. Naked short selling, that is different. Continue watching volume, if volume drops and prices increase, that would be a sign of a larger problem.

28 posted on 01/31/2021 9:16:31 AM PST by Theoria (I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive)
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To: CodeToad

Yep- years ago I played forex. No more!


29 posted on 01/31/2021 9:54:52 AM PST by SE Mom (Screaming Eagle mom)
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To: SE Mom

I did forex, but found the markets were moving far too fast with microtransactions to make a reliable profit.


30 posted on 01/31/2021 10:10:09 AM PST by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Have!)
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To: Kaslin

I guess they were SO sure their tactics were foolproof, they never thought to buy way-out-of-the money calls as a CYA.

YEARs ago, that was my tactic when shorting a stock. A tad less profit but no sleepless nights.


31 posted on 01/31/2021 12:42:50 PM PST by Oatka
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To: Kaslin

“It demands Congressional hearings.”

If I had a dollar for every time someone has said this over the last couple of years and nothing came of it, I would be rich myself. Nobody in charge seems to care about what is right.


32 posted on 01/31/2021 1:53:04 PM PST by Pining_4_TX (‘You can drive out Nature with a pitchfork, but she keeps on coming back.’ – Horace)
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To: Nateman

Sell it to a “market maker”.

https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-a-market-maker-and-how-do-they-make-money-4053753


33 posted on 01/31/2021 3:01:31 PM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: CodeToad

Short explanation:

“Buy low, sell high. Not necessarily in that order”.


34 posted on 01/31/2021 3:02:59 PM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: DuncanWaring

Nice! Love it!


35 posted on 01/31/2021 3:33:54 PM PST by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Have!)
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