Mirror: The truth about why Silver fell from $50 in 1980 (CFTC, COMEX, Hunt Brothers, Silver Thurs)
VideoArticle: A long list of Anson short positions.Good post on Stockhouse here
Article - Media, PublicationsA long list of Anson short positions.Good post on Stockhouse here
u/Rubarbarbara, Reddit, 17 March 2021
I have the full post below:We all know how the dirty rats at Anson Funds work. Wash trading, down ticking, spoofing among a host of other dirty tricks the banks let them get away with.
Then we have their army of social media bashers, their relationships with Nate Anderson at Hindenburg Research, Ben Axler at Sprucepoint Capital Management and Andrew Left at Citron Research, amongst many others. All of them in the pay of Moez and Anson Funds.
All working together to destroy companies and profit off their illegal deals.
Article: Column: Forget GameStop and short sellers — the SEC says ‘OCMillionaire’ manipulated a worthless stock higher
Article - Media, PublicationsMichael Hiltzik, 17 March 2021
If you’ve been following the ludicrous saga of trading in GameStop shares, you’ve probably heard about how short sellers try to profit by manipulating stocks to fall in price.
But that’s not the only way people try to play the market.
The Securities and Exchange Commission just unveiled fraud charges against a trader allegedly trying to profit by manipulating a stock higher.
He’s Andrew Fassari, a 33-year-old Orange County resident. According to the SEC, he staged a vigorous campaign in December using the Twitter handle “OCMillionaire” to suck penny-stock investors into shares of Arcis Resources Corp., which had been defunct for years.
Fraudsters can use online platforms (including social news aggregators, investment research websites, online investment newsletters, ratings websites, message boards, chat rooms, and discussion forums) to spread false or misleading information.
Securities and Exchange Commission
Fassari made $929,693 in his first round of trading in Arcis shares from Dec. 9 through Dec. 16, the SEC says in a complaint unsealed in Los Angeles federal court Monday. He bought back in on Dec. 17 and sold his entire stake the next day, sustaining a loss of $436,312.
Fassari’s overall net gain was $493,381, the SEC says. The agency notes that Arcis never traded higher than about 5 1/2 cents while Fassari was buying, selling and promoting, and often traded for a few tenths of a cent.
Article: China tells Alibaba to sell off media assets in tech crackdown
Article - Media, PublicationsChina tells Alibaba to sell off media assets in tech crackdown
Mark Sweney and Helen Davidson, 16 March 2021
Beijing has ordered e-commerce company Alibaba to sell off media assets including Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) as the Chinese government looks to crack down on the growing public influence held by the country’s sprawling tech conglomerates.
Alibaba has become the lightning rod in the crackdown on big tech after founder Jack Ma, one of China’s most popular, outspoken and wealthiest entrepreneurs, delivered a blunt speech last year criticising national regulators that reportedly infuriated the president, Xi Jinping.
Following the comments, Chinese regulators blocked the $34bn stock market flotation of Alibaba online payments subsidiary Ant Group, which would have been the biggest share offering in history, and Ma disappeared from the public eye for three months. Last week, it emerged that regulators are reportedly preparing to hit Alibaba with a record fine in excess of $975m over anti-competitive practices.
China’s protectionist business regime, which shuts out foreign companies including Google and Netflix, has enabled a group of homegrown conglomerates to flourish as the country looks to build the next wave of global tech champions to challenge Silicon Valley.
Beijing has struggled to maintain control over their activities and wider influence with Alibaba’s media empire expanding to buy SCMP, Hong Kong’s premier English-language newspaper, in 2016 and holding stakes in social network Weibo, video streaming service Youku and Yicai Media Group, one of the country’s most influential news outlets.
“What is interesting here is that the Chinese Communist party has done a good job of cultivating huge tech giants, national champions,” said Jamie MacEwan, a senior media analyst at Enders Analysis. “But there has always been a split under the surface between those who want to encourage the great tech leap forward and a growing unease among those worried about these huge companies and the big public figures at the head of them, like Ma, outgrowing the patronage of the [Chinese communist] party.”
Article: The Next ‘Gamestop’: How China or Russia Could Attack Our Financial System
Article - Media, PublicationsThe Next ‘Gamestop’: How China or Russia Could Attack Our Financial System
Robert Carlson, Gray Gaertner, 16 March 2021
Last week, the dramatic rise and fall in the price of Gamestop demonstrated how vulnerable the stock market is to social media speculation. U.S. regulators should now turn their attention to a greater risk—that in the near future, China, Russia, or another adversary could coordinate an unwitting mob to harm the American financial system.
The potential for financial warfare follows from a playbook that China, and especially Russia, have drawn from repeatedly to meddle in U.S. domestic politics. First, foreign state agents have used social media to spread disinformation or stoke existing grievances. Second, they have counted on naive users to share the original posts, allowing the content to reach a larger audience. Finally, they fan the flames to provoke action.
In 2016 and 2020, Russian propaganda decreased U.S. voters’ trust in their candidates and the political system. During last year’s protests over race and policing, foreign bots amplified instances of both racial discrimination and violent protests, further polarizing American society. Following Joe Biden’s electoral victory in November, Russian agents embraced false allegations of fraud, providing the rationale for an armed mob to assault the Capitol Building. China spends at least $10 billion per year on its own influence operations through the United Front Work Department, which promotes pro-Beijing narratives overseas.
Article: Britain’s NatWest bank faces money laundering charges
Article - Media, PublicationsBritain’s NatWest bank faces money laundering charges
Tom Wilson, Iain Withers, 16 March 2021
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s financial regulator has started a criminal action against NatWest over allegations it failed to detect suspicious activity by a customer depositing nearly 400 million pounds ($553 million) over five years, mostly in cash.
The action is the first such case against a British bank under a 2007 money laundering law. If convicted, the bank faces a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it was bringing the proceedings after NatWest’s systems failed to adequately monitor and scrutinise activity over an account held by a British customer between November 2011 and October 2016.
Around 365 million pounds was paid into the unnamed customer’s accounts, of which around 264 million pounds was in cash, the watchdog alleged.
NatWest had previously disclosed in its 2020 annual report an FCA investigation in relation to “certain money services businesses and related parties”.
Article: BitMEX Free of Crypto Market Manipulation Claims in California
Article - Media, PublicationsBitMEX Free of Crypto Market Manipulation Claims in California
Maeve Allsup, 16 March 2021
Cryptocurrency trading platform BitMEX and its founders won dismissal of claims that they illegally manipulated the cryptocurrency market, causing losses for platform users, when a federal judge in California rejected traders’ “kitchen sink” approach.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleged 17 causes of action, including violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and state law. Continue reading “Article: BitMEX Free of Crypto Market Manipulation Claims in California”
Article: Huge Group rubbishes market manipulation claim
Article - Media, PublicationsHuge Group rubbishes market manipulation claim
DUNCAN MCLEOD, 16 March 2021
Huge Group CEO James Herbst on Tuesday rubbished a claim that the company used its share buyback programme to manipulate its share price higher ahead of its bid to acquire fellow JSE-listed firm, software services group Adapt IT.
News24 reported late on Monday that Huge Group is being probed by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) after a shareholder lodged a complaint against it at the regulatory body. According to the report, the complaint was filed by Kerem Aksoy, the managing member of a US-based investment advisory firm called Glacier Pass Management.
Huge was reportedly actively buying its own shares through December and into January – so much so, that most trades in the (often relatively illiquid) share were because of the buyback programme.
Article: Free Keene leaders arrested for money laundering in FBI raids; illegal Bitcoin exchange alleged
Article - Media, PublicationsFree Keene leaders arrested for money laundering in FBI raids; illegal Bitcoin exchange alleged
Damien Fisher and Josie Albertson-Grove, 16 March 2021
Six people involved with the libertarian Free Keene group are facing charges — including wire fraud and money laundering — related to an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange that federal prosecutors said processed some $10 million since 2016.
Prosecutors say the six people ran an unlicensed online exchange that let people swap dollars for Bitcoin, and collected fees for their service.
The six charged are Ian Freeman (formerly Ian Bernard), 40, of Keene; Colleen Fordham, 60, of Alstead; Renee Spinella, 23, of Derry; Andrew Spinella, 35, of Derry; Nobody (formerly Richard Paul), 52, of Keene; and Aria DiMezzo, 34, of Keene, who ran for Cheshire County sheriff in 2020.
The cryptocurrency exchange used bank accounts that purported to be for churches, lied to banks and told customers to lie to banks to keep up the ruse, prosecutors said in an indictment.
Beginning in the spring of 2016, prosecutors said, the group opened bank accounts for the Shire Free Church, the Crypto Church of New Hampshire, the Church of the Invisible Hand and the Reformed Satanic Church.
Freeman told the Union Leader earlier this year that the Bitcoin transaction business funds the activities of the Shire Free Church.
Freeman said one of his bank accounts was frozen last year as part of an investigation. He acknowledged there is fraud in the Bitcoin world, but said he was not part of that type of business.
“I’ve got what I think are pretty good procedures,” he said.
Article: Token deal drama between Alameda, Reef Finance breaks into public view
Article - Media, PublicationsToken deal drama between Alameda, Reef Finance breaks into public view
Yogita Khatri, 16 March 2021
A recent token deal between crypto firms Alameda Research and Reef Finance quickly turned into an ugly — and public — fight on Monday.
Both parties started slinging mud at each other, alleging that the other party was in the wrong. It all started with Alameda Research buying, or “investing,” $20 million in Reef Finance by buying the DeFi project’s REEF tokens for that amount. Alameda bought the tokens at a 20% discount.
Three days after Reef Finance announced the investment, Alameda’s trader Sam Trabucco tweeted that the market maker is not affiliated with Reef and that it does not recommend anyone to do business with Reef in any way.
“We agreed to an OTC [over-the-counter] trade with REEF; they immediately went to the press to brag. They then reneged on the OTC trade,” said Trabucco. Alameda had wanted to buy more REEF tokens, but for some reason, Reef backed out.
As The Block reported last week, Alameda wanted to buy a further $60 million worth of REEF tokens. But the deal has now been canceled.
So what went wrong? Based on the information that became public, it appears that a mix of competing incentives and the reliance on what Alameda called a “handshake deal” — that is, a verbal commitment to a transaction conducted via Telegram — are to blame.
Article: Exchange leaders say GameStop saga highlights regulatory challenges
Article - Media, PublicationsExchange leaders say GameStop saga highlights regulatory challenges
John McCrank, 16 March 2021
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The recent trading frenzy around GameStop Corp and other so-called “meme” stocks highlights shortcomings and challenges in the U.S. markets as retail investors become a bigger presence, exchange leaders said on Tuesday.
“The regulatory structure of the U.S. equity markets, in my mind, is flawed,” Jeff Sprecher, chief executive of New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange Inc, said on a panel at the Future Industry Association’s virtual FIA Boca conference.
Regulators have focused on competition between market intermediaries, like brokers and exchanges, rather than between buyers and sellers seeking to get the best prices, and the GameStop event exposed issues with that structure, he said.
In January, retail investors coordinated through social media forums in an attempt to punish hedge funds by buying shares of GameStop and other heavily shorted names, driving up their prices and forcing short sellers to close out positions at big losses.
Article: Forget GameStop and short sellers — the SEC says ‘OCMillionaire’ manipulated a worthless stock higher
Article - Media, PublicationsErin Clark, 16 March 2021
Fool’s gold? The SEC alleges that a stock manipulator sucked investors into a worthless company by claiming it was about to become a big player in cannabis.
If you’ve been following the ludicrous saga of trading in GameStop shares, you’ve probably heard about how short sellers try to profit by manipulating stocks to fall in price.
But that’s not the only way people try to play the market.
The Securities and Exchange Commission just unveiled fraud charges against a trader allegedly trying to profit by manipulating a stock higher.
He’s Andrew Fassari, a 33-year-old Orange County resident. According to the SEC, he staged a vigorous campaign in December using the Twitter handle “OCMillionaire” to suck penny-stock investors into shares of Arcis Resources Corp., which had been defunct for years.
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Article: Why Mitt Romney’s call for economic boycott of China Olympics comes as no surprise
Article - Media, PublicationsWhy Mitt Romney’s call for economic boycott of China Olympics comes as no surprise
Dennis Romboy, 15 March 2021
SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Mitt Romney’s call for an economic and diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Olympics in Beijing isn’t surprising given his political stances on China.
In his first speech on the Senate floor after taking office in 2019, the Utah Republican shifted his focus from Russia to China as America’s greatest geopolitical adversary. While running for president in 2012, he argued that Russia presented the biggest threat to the United States.
Romney said China’s economic strength and large population enable a military power that “could eclipse our own.”
“It is possible that freedom itself would be in jeopardy,” he warned. “If we fail to act now, that possibility may become reality.”
In his first two years in the Senate, Romney filed legislation to combat China’s economic aggression, condemned the Chinese Communist Party and sought sanctions over abuses of ethnic minorities. He pushed for a National Security Council task force to counter the Chinese government’s “sinister propaganda” about the origins of the coronavirus
Just last week, Romney and seven GOP colleagues reintroduced the Strengthening Trade, Regional Alliances, Technology and Economic and Geopolitical Initiatives Concerning China Act to advance a comprehensive strategy for U.S. competition with China.
“We must take decisive action now to confront China’s growing aggression, which includes linking arms with our friends and allies to dissuade the Chinese Communist Party from its predatory policies and demand that China abide by the norms and rules which the rest of us follow,” he said.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which Romney is a member, will hold a hearing on the issue this week.
Romney has accused China of unfair trade practices, stealing American jobs, currency manipulation and intellectual property theft.
“I think we have to hold China’s feet to the fire,” he said in 2019.
