Publications – Page 137 – Financial Treason & Crime

KEVIN CURRAN, 04 April 2019

Shares fell over 3% after the report’s release, cutting into the Canadian e-commerce company’s 50% gain to kick off 2019. “I still think they are best in class,” Andrew Left, Citron Research’s executive editor, acknowledged in an interview with Real Money. “It’s just that when you have a PE ratio over 300, its being priced like nothing bad can happen.”

He cited the emergence of competition from Square’s (SQ) online store, Facebook’s (FB) Instagram checkout, and the rumored launch of a Microsoft’s (MSFT) shopping competitor, as indicators that could deflate the stock. “This is a company that is priced for hyper growth. If they lose 15% of their base, their multiple is going to get smacked,” Left commented.
Continue reading “Article: Shopify Shares Fall Fast Following Report From Short Seller”

04/04/201903/02/2021

Article: Shopify dives after short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research shorts the e-commerce stock

Article - Media, Publications

Shopify dives after short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research shorts the e-commerce stock

Ellen Kelleher, 04 April 2019

Shares of Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) tumbled Thursday after famed short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research went bearish and urged investors to short the Canadian e-commerce company. In a research note, Left and his team make the case that their newly-adopted short position stems from a “perfect storm” of business setbacks that will knock Shopify “off its high wire to $100 in the next 12 months.”

Growing fearful about Left’s predictions, investors sent Shopify shares down 6% to $192.75 in afternoon trade. In the past month, Citron says a lot has changed for Shopify as Square Inc (NYSE:SQ) announced it is revamping its online store; Mailchimp ended its partnership with the e-commerce site; and news surfaced that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is launching a competitive offering to Shopify.
Continue reading “Article: Shopify dives after short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research shorts the e-commerce stock”

03/28/201902/26/2021

Article: Cracks Are Forming in Cronos Group Stock

Article - Media, Publications

Cracks Are Forming in Cronos Group Stock

Todd Shriber, 28 March 2019

As has been widely noted since the start of the year, marijuana equities are among 2019’s best-performing issues. Until recently, it would have been accurate to include Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON) in that conversation. Although the ides of March recently struck Cronos Group stock, shares of the Canadian cannabis company are still up 94.80% this year (as of March 27). In fact, Wednesday could go down as a day of infamy for Cronos Group stock.

In late trading, CRON stock was down more than 11% on above-average volume after Canaccord Genuity analysts Matt Bottomley and Bobby Burleson downgraded the shares to “sell” from “hold.” Late Wednesday, Cronos Group stock was clinging to the $18 area, well above Canaccord’s price target of $12.68. “While the sales of Canada’s other prominent producers ranged from $15 million to $60 million in the December quarter — the first in which the country allowed recreational sales to adults — Cronos managed just $4 million in sales of both medical and recreational pot,” reports Barron’s. “That even missed the low-bar of Canaccord’s forecast for $5 million.”
Continue reading “Article: Cracks Are Forming in Cronos Group Stock”

03/27/201905/20/2020

Article: Part 1 in a Series of Reports on Blatant, Widespread Stock Manipulation that is Enabled by Illegal, Naked Shorting

Article - Media

Part 1 in a Series of Reports on Blatant, Widespread Stock Manipulation that is Enabled by Illegal, Naked Shorting

Larry Smith

Smith On Stocks, 27 March 2019

I am convinced that price manipulation by Wall Street bad actors is endemic in the capital markets and swindles legitimate investors out of billions of dollars each year. This criminal enterprise is particularly directed against the stocks of emerging growth companies that are at the cutting edge of technological innovation and jobs creation and are so critical to solving humanity’s greatest challenges. Because my research deals with biotechnology, I am most aware of innumerable, vicious attacks on biotechnology companies, but the scheme is perpetrated on all types of companies, primarily small but also large.

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03/20/201905/06/2020

Release: Pawar Law Group Announces A Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against 22nd Century Group, Inc. – XXII

Release

Pawar Law Group Announces A Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against 22nd Century Group, Inc. – XXII

20 March 2019

Pawar Law Group announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of shareholders who purchased shares of 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE:XXII) from February 18, 2016 through October 25, 2018, inclusive (the “Class Period”). The lawsuit seeks to recover damages for 22nd Century Group investors under the federal securities laws. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than March 22, 2019.

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03/18/201903/30/2021

Article: Short Selling and the New Market Manipulation

Article - Media, Publications

Short Selling and the New Market Manipulation

John C. Coffee, Jr. and Joshua Mitts, 18 March 2019

Stock market manipulation has been around since shortly after stock markets were invented. Everyone is familiar with the methodology in the standard “pump and dump” scheme: False rumors are circulated, the stock is bid up by the manipulators, supply might be constrained, and, once the public’s appetite is aroused, the stock is dumped by the manipulators.

But the internet has changed all that. No need exists today for the boiler shop or its battery of phones or even carefully assembled lists of suckers. All that one needs today is to put one’s message (written under a pseudonym) on a blog that features hot news about individual stocks. Of these sites, the best known and most watched is Seeking Alpha, whose “Short Ideas” column contains numerous posts recommending that specific stocks be shorted. Reversing the old pattern, the focus is no longer on touting stocks for an immediate rise, but rather on suggesting a dark downside. Once the professional media may have played a gatekeeper role, refusing to publish wild and unsubstantiated reports. But on the blogs, it is the Wild West today. Continue reading “Article: Short Selling and the New Market Manipulation”

03/16/201903/03/2021

Article: Vanguard supervisor and brother-in-law stole over $2M from dead customers and dormant accounts, feds say

Article - Media, Publications

Vanguard supervisor and brother-in-law stole over $2M from dead customers and dormant accounts, feds say

Joseph N. DiStefano, and Erin Arvedlund, 16 March 2019

A former Vanguard Group supervisor stole more than $2 million by taking money from dead or inactive customers’ accounts before state treasurers could take custody of the unclaimed money, prosecutors say.

Scott Capps of Coatesville pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, two counts of money laundering, and two years of false tax returns on Thursday before U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson. Federal prosecutors said Capps, who worked for 23 years for the Malvern-based investment giant, more than tripled his income for 2013 at customers’ expense, with help from his brother-in-law and other accomplices. Continue reading “Article: Vanguard supervisor and brother-in-law stole over $2M from dead customers and dormant accounts, feds say”

03/14/201905/12/2020

Release: Health Insurance Innovations, Inc. Investor Reminder Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP reminds investors that a federal securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida against Health Insurance Innovations, Inc.

Release

Health Insurance Innovations, Inc. Investor Reminder: Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP reminds investors that a federal securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida against Health Insurance Innovations, Inc.

14 March 2019

Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announces that a federal securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Health Insurance Innovations, Inc. (the “Company” or “HIIQ”) (NASDAQ: HIIQ) securities between February 28, 2018 and November 27, 2018 (the “Class Period”), inclusive.

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03/14/201902/24/2021

Article: The Shopify Stock Bubble Can Only Keep Getting Bigger for so Long

Article - Media, Publications

The Shopify Stock Bubble Can Only Keep Getting Bigger for so Long

Dana Blankenhorn, 14 March 2019

I’ve been pretty hard on web store provider Shopify (NASDAQ:SHOP), but investors, and the Shopify stock price, have ignored me. Since tech bottomed at Christmas, Shopify shares have risen from less than $130 to their March 13 opening bid of $202. That gives the company a market cap of $22.4 billion, on 2018 revenue of $1.07 billion.

As far back as 2017 I predicted this would all end in tears, citing a report from short-sellers Citron Research that called Shopify a scam at $60 per share. More recently I noted its lack of operating cash flow and use in drop-ship scams. All this is still true. But it doesn’t disturb the bulls. One recent story calls Shopify a “virtual go-to destination for aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses.”
Continue reading “Article: The Shopify Stock Bubble Can Only Keep Getting Bigger for so Long”

03/08/201903/10/2021

Article: Factbox: European banks hit by Russian money laundering scandal

Article - Media, Publications

Factbox: European banks hit by Russian money laundering scandal

Reuters Staff, 08 March 2019

Several European banks are facing allegations of being involved in a Baltic money laundering scandal and failing to prevent tainted Russian money from flowing through their branches across the world. Continue reading “Article: Factbox: European banks hit by Russian money laundering scandal”

03/08/201903/10/2021

Article: Senator Blumenthal seeks criminal investigation of shoddy military housing

Article - Media, Publications

Senator Blumenthal seeks criminal investigation of shoddy military housing

Andrea Januta, Deborah Nelson, M.B. Pell, 08 March 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. senators demanded accountability for slum-like housing conditions on military bases across the country Thursday, with one calling for a criminal investigation of private landlords granted vast power over tenant housing. Continue reading “Article: Senator Blumenthal seeks criminal investigation of shoddy military housing”

03/07/201903/11/2021

Article: What’s Known About Massive Russia Money Laundering Scheme, ‘Troika Laundromat’

Article - Media, Publications

What’s Known About Massive Russia Money Laundering Scheme, ‘Troika Laundromat’

Christian Baumgaertel, 07 March 2019

The so-called Troika Laundromat was a financial network set up by a Russian investment bank to help clients move money out of the country and hide it. The scheme exported about $4.8 billion over seven years, with the help of a now-defunct Lithuanian bank.

That much we know from disclosures by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project [OCCRP] and its partner news organizations. Almost daily revelations over the last week have widened the group of banks involved and added to a picture of massive laundering — perhaps facilitated by the absence of a central enforcement agency in Europe. Continue reading “Article: What’s Known About Massive Russia Money Laundering Scheme, ‘Troika Laundromat’”

02/27/201902/22/2021

Article: COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR SUES RIVAL OVER FRAUD, RACKETEERING

Article - Media, Publications

COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR SUES RIVAL OVER FRAUD, RACKETEERING

Oregon Small Business Association, 27 February 2019

Portland-based Columbia Sportswear has filed a $20 million lawsuit against a competitor, accusing Seirus Innovative Accessories of San Diego and its leaders of wire fraud, perjury, and racketeering.

Columbia’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, is just the latest volley in six-year intellectual property fight rife with accusations of perjury, fraud, and destruction of evidence.

Columbia accused Seirus of violating its two patents by copying its heat-reflective Omni-Heat technology, according to The Oregonian. Columbia uses the profitable technology introduced in 2010 in its clothing, including shirts, gloves, socks and jackets. Seirus uses a similar reflective fabric in its products.
Continue reading “Article: COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR SUES RIVAL OVER FRAUD, RACKETEERING”

02/26/201904/27/2020

Article: Short-seller Andrew Left to appeal against Hong Kong market ban

Article - Media

Short-seller Andrew Left to appeal against Hong Kong market ban

Reuters, 26 February 2019

HONG KONG (Reuters) – U.S. short seller Andrew Left lost his legal bid on Tuesday to overturn a five-year ban from Hong Kong’s financial markets and a fine for market manipulation.

Left, founder of U.S.-based short-seller Citron Research, was banned in 2016 after he was found culpable of market misconduct in connection with the publication of a research report on Chinese property developer China Evergrande Group.

02/25/201903/18/2021

Article: Solidus Raises $3 Million in Seed Financing to Tackle Digital Asset Market Manipulation

Article - Media, Publications

Solidus Raises $3 Million in Seed Financing to Tackle Digital Asset Market Manipulation

Business Wire, 25 February 2019

Solidus Labs, provider of a machine learning-powered trade surveillance platform tailored for digital assets, secured a $3 million seed round of financing led by Hanaco Ventures. Additional participants in the round include Global Founders Capital, as well as angel investors and Wall Street veterans David Krell and Norman Sorensen. With the proceeds Solidus’ team of former Goldman Sachs engineers is set to address a major challenge preventing greater institutional and mainstream adoption of digital assets – trade manipulation and market integrity.

Solidus’ web-based platform is already deployed with diverse clients including exchanges, broker-dealers, hedge funds and market makers in Europe, the United States and Israel. The funding round will be used to continue expanding the company’s engineering and machine learning teams, as well as sales, marketing and customer success operations. Solidus is accommodating growing demand from digital asset firms, as those strive to satisfy intensifying regulatory oversight and high compliance standards of traditional financial institutions. Continue reading “Article: Solidus Raises $3 Million in Seed Financing to Tackle Digital Asset Market Manipulation”