Foreign Collusion, Naked Shorting (Counterfeiting) & Money Laundering — All Illicit Wealth
James S. Chanos (born December 24, 1957) is an American investment manager. He is president and founder of Kynikos Associates, a New York City registered investment advisor focused on short selling. A noted art collector, he appeared on the BBC Four documentary The Banker’s Guide to Art.
Article: Save The Billionaire Short-Sellers!
Article: House Hearing On Gamestop Fiasco Will Focus On “Short Selling And Stock Manipulation”
House Hearing On GameStop Fiasco Will Focus On “Short Selling And Stock Manipulation”
Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, 16 February 2021
In order to affect change, one has to understand the problem before them. It is by those standards we can confidently say we are near-certain that this week’s upcoming congressional hearings on the GameStop fiasco will be both a useless circus and a intellectual farce.
Short-seller Jim Chanos reveals bets against Dunkin’ Brands and Burger King’s parent
Matthew J. Belvedere, 26 April 2018
Short-seller Jim Chanos revealed Thursday on CNBC that he’s betting against two fast-food stocks. The founder and president of Kynikos Associates said in a “Squawk Box” interview that he’s shorting Dunkin’ Brands and Burger King’s parent Restaurant Brands International.
“We’ve been short these things for about a year,” said Chanos, who’s known for his past early negative calls on Enron and Tyco. On Thursday’s news, shares of Dunkin’ saw an initial 5 percent spike lower in premarket trading before recovering some of those losses. Dunkin’ had been up before Chanos’ comments. The stock opened lower.
Dunkin’ Brands CEO Nigel Travis pushed back on Chanos’ call in a Thursday afternoon interview with CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “I love a challenge,” Travis said. “And that was a challenge before our earnings this morning. And I have a book coming out later this year, so I’ll take him head on. He’s absolutely wrong.” Shares of Restaurant Brands — owner of Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — sank about 3 percent on the news and then pared some of those declines. The stock opened down slightly.
Continue reading “Article: Short-seller Jim Chanos reveals bets against Dunkin’ Brands and Burger King’s parent”
Why Wendy’s Stock Crashed Today
Anders Bylund, 02 April 2020
Shares of fast-food chain Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) fell as much as 8.6% on Thursday even though the market trended upward in general. Noted short-seller Jim Chanos appeared on CNBC in the morning and said that he still expects several food-service stocks (including Wendy’s) to continue falling. After mounting a partial recovery, the stock closed Thursday’s trading 4.4% lower.
The founder of short-selling investment firm Kynikos Associates appeared on CNBC’s Halftime Report, where he said that the firm still is short-selling restaurant stocks such as Wendy’s, Burger King parent Restaurant Brands (NYSE:QSR), and Dunkin’ Brands (NASDAQ:DNKN). Restaurant Brands shares fell as much as 5.4% today, and Dunkin bottomed out at a drop of 8.2%.
Continue reading “Article: Why Wendy’s Stock Crashed Today”
Berkshire Hathaway Bet Big on Dialysis Giant DaVita. Jim Chanos Thinks It’s a Scam.
Christine Idzelis, Institutional Investor, 4 December 2019
DaVita provides life-extending dialysis treatment to more than 200,000 patients. But is it gaming the system through questionable donations to the American Kidney Fund?
Comment: Chanos is calling DVA a fraud. Stock was $59 it fell to $53. Then it went to $115. NICE WORK. Buffet too big to cheat?
Short on Dunkin’ Brands and Burger King’s Parent: Jim Chanos
SHOBHIT SETH, 25 June 2019
Founder and president of Kynikos Associates, Jim Chanos, is betting against two popular fast food stocks. Talking about his short positions in Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (DNKN) and Burger King’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR), the closely followed short seller told CNBC in an interview on Thursday morning, “We’ve been short these things for about a year.” (See also: The World’s Top 10 Restaurant Companies.)
Providing the justification for his short calls on the stocks, Chanos expressed concerns about the increasing price-to-earnings ratios of the restaurant stocks as the business continues to struggle. An increasing trend in price-to-earnings ratios indicates a higher price of the stock compared to its earnings potential and is considered to be detrimental to sustained positive returns from the stock investments.
Questioning the viability of the “franchisers versus the franchisees” operating model of such businesses, Chanos added that he doesn’t like what he calls “this asset-light idea” of these companies not owning their restaurants while “basically clipping the coupons, collecting royalties” from the franchises.
Continue reading “Article: Short on Dunkin’ Brands and Burger King’s Parent: Jim Chanos”
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”
Michelle Celarier, 17 September 2018
It’s a sweltering, 95-degree August day in Manhattan, but Jim Chanos — fresh off a two-week holiday, rocking a sharkskin suit — is pumped: Elon Musk had once again called a hero of the Thai cave rescue a pedophile. It’s 1:30 in the afternoon. Chanos bolts through the door to his office building on West 55th Street, grabs the journalist waiting for him, and, on the elevator ride to his eighth-floor office, fills her in on the latest news. Continue reading “Article: How Jim Chanos Uses Cynicism, Chutzpah — and a Secret Twitter Account — to Take on Markets (and Elon Musk)”
Jim Chanos: Bet Against Dunkin’ Brands, Burger King
F McGuire, 26 April 2018
Investment guru Jim Chanos is betting against Dunkin’ Brands and Burger King’s parent. Chanos told CNBC that he has been shorting fast-food stocks Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. and Burger King’s parent Restaurant Brands International Inc. “for about a year.”
The founder and president of Kynikos Associates said in a “Squawk Box” interview that he’s shorting Dunkin’ Brands and Burger King’s parent Restaurant Brands International. “We’ve been short these things for about a year,” said Chanos. Chanos said price-to-earnings ratios for restaurant stocks have been going “higher, higher and higher as restaurants themselves have struggled.”
“At some point, that has to come to an end,” he said. “This is part of a broader theme … the franchisers versus the franchisees,” Chanos said. He said he doesn’t like what he calls “this asset-light idea” of these companies not owning their restaurants while “basically clipping the coupons, collecting royalties” from the franchises, CNBC.com reported.
Continue reading “Article: Jim Chanos: Bet Against Dunkin’ Brands, Burger King”
Why Famed Short-Seller Jim Chanos Is Betting Against Burger King And Dunkin’ But Praising Chipotle
Maggie McGrath, 26 April 2018
The tale of two restaurant ownership models — wholly-owned and franchised — is translating into similarly divergent market performances for certain restaurant stocks Thursday. And much of the movement has to do with the comments of one short-seller.
Shares of Dunkin’ Brands and Restaurant Brands International (QSR), which is Burger King’s parent company, are in negative territory after Jim Chanos, the investor who famously shorted Enron, told CNBC Thursday morning that he’s taken short positions in both names. His reason: he is not optimistic about the future of asset-light, franchise-focused businesses. “[E]verybody wants to sell the restaurants and not own them but basically clip the coupon of collecting royalties,” he said. “And we’ve had this dichotomy now of restaurant stock multiples going higher and higher and higher as restaurants themselves have struggled. I think at some point that has to come to an end.”
Continue reading “Article: Why Famed Short-Seller Jim Chanos Is Betting Against Burger King And Dunkin’ But Praising Chipotle”
Jim Chanos: I’m still short Valeant and not about to quit
Tom DiChristopher, 13 September 2016
Short seller Jim Chanos on Tuesday said he is still short shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals, and he’s not about to close out his bet against the drug company anytime soon.
“We started shorting the stock in the low $100s, added to it in the $200s, choked on it at $290 but stayed short and added to the stock as recently as early this year,” the Kynikos Associates founder told CNBC’s “Fast Money Halftime Report” on the sidelines of the Delivering Alpha conference in New York. Continue reading “Article: Jim Chanos: I’m still short Valeant and not about to quit”
Valeant accused of ‘aggressive accounting games’ by renowned short-seller Jim Chanos
Nicolas Van Praet, 16 May 2014
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. teamed up with respected activist Bill Ackman to buy Allergan Inc. in part to build its own legitimacy with investors after several periods of short-selling in Valeant stock in recent years. So far, however, the partnership has done little to silence the most vocal voices betting against Canada’s largest drug company. Continue reading “Article: Valeant accused of ‘aggressive accounting games’ by renowned short-seller Jim Chanos”
Save The Billionaire Short-Sellers!
Rch Karlgaard
Forbes, 24 March 2009
My, oh my. Here is a shocker. James Chanos, the billionaire short-seller, opposes any reforms that would tilt the stock market away from shorting selling. Here is his argument. Not surprisingly, Chanos, whose firm Kynikos means “cynic” in Greek, leaves out all the recent history that has made short-selling so lucrative. Such as:
3. Naked short-selling. Cox’s SEC failed to enforce its own rule against naked short-selling. Again, Wikipedia: “Naked short-selling, or naked shorting, is a type of financial speculation. It is the practice of selling a stock short, without first borrowing the shares or ensuring that the shares can be borrowed, as is done in a conventional short sale. When the seller does not obtain the shares within the required time frame, the result is known as a “fail to deliver.” The transaction generally remains open until the shares are acquired by the seller or the seller’s broker, allowing the trade to be settled. Naked short-selling can be used to manipulate the price of securities by driving their price down, and its use in this way is illegal. … Some commentators have contended that despite regulations, naked shorting is widespread and that the SEC regulations are poorly enforced. The SEC has denied these claims. However, the SEC and others have also defended the practice in limited form as beneficial for market liquidity. Its critics have contended that the practice is susceptible to abuse, can be damaging to targeted companies struggling to raise capital, and has led to numerous bankruptcies.”
Remember How Naked Short Selling Wasn’t a Big Deal?
Bob O’Brien
Sanity Check via Wayback, 28 January 2009
Bernie Madoff’s brokerage owed $600 million in stock to its clients, that it, well, didn’t actually have on hand, as in the shares were either never delivered to the brokerage, or far more likely, it just, “Desked the trades” – meaning that it took the client cash, represented the securities as having been bought in the market and delivered (via the brokerage statement the client got every month), but never bothered with buying the shares.
Also known as one type of naked short selling.
Bloomberg TV Examines ‘Phantom Shares’ in Special Report Tonight
Bloomberg , 13 March 2007
NEW YORK, March 13 /PRNewswire/ — Tonight BLOOMBERG TELEVISION(R) examines a little-known stock trading practice that can be affecting your portfolio and your company. The special report, titled “Phantom Shares,” explores the problem of “naked shorting” in the stock market. The half-hour BLOOMBERG TELEVISION program is scheduled to air on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 7:00, 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. ET.
Every day, millions of shares of stock are sold but can’t be delivered because of an obscure trading practice called “naked short selling.” In a normal short sale, an investor borrows shares and sells them, making a profit if the price falls by replacing the borrowed shares with cheaper ones. In a naked short sale, an investor doesn’t borrow the shares, but sells them anyway. In extreme cases, the investor sells “Phantom Shares,” shares that don’t exist. The BLOOMBERG TELEVISION report, anchored by Mike Schneider, explains this practice, how it’s executed and what the Securities and Exchange Commission is doing in an effort to control it. Continue reading “Article: Bloomberg TV Examines ‘Phantom Shares’ in Special Report Tonight”
THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?
