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Web: Our Financial Oligarchy; Emperors of a Brave New World

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Our Financial Oligarchy; Emperors of a Brave New World

They own the regulators; they own the brokerage houses; they own the clearing houses; they own all of your investments; and it’s even been shown that they can exert complete control over the government.

To understand how these banks exert complete control over our financial system, one must first understand the securities clearance system.

In the United States of America, there is only one central clearinghouse: The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, and for almost 50 years they have maintained a virtual monopoly over this essential service.

It is a private corporation that is owned by these mega-banks and brokers.

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PDF (470 Pages): Our Financial Oligarchy Back-Up

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Article: A Short-Seller Goes Too Far to Beat the ‘Bullies’

Article - Media

A Short-Seller Goes Too Far to Beat the ‘Bullies’

Joe Nocera

Bloomberg, 19 August 2019

The first line in Marc Cohodes’s Twitter ID reads: “No Greater Motivator Than Disrespect.”

It’s a sentiment you often hear from athletes, but rarely from an investment professional like Cohodes. And with good reason. Although being “disrespected” can be a powerful spur, it also creates blind spots that can lead one astray. You won’t find a better example of this than Cohodes’s efforts over the last year to destroy — yes, destroy — MiMedx Group Inc., a biomedical company that makes products that heal wounds and treat serious inflammation.

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Web: 5,000 Reasons Why the Overstock.com Saga is Crazier Than Ever

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5,000 Reasons Why the Overstock.com Saga is Crazier Than Ever

Gary Weiss

gary-weiss.com, 30 January 2018

It’s been a long time since the financial press has cast a skeptical eye on Overstock.com and its CEO, Patrick Byrne, Yet there are multiple reasons to do so. Five thousand to be exact. So I’ve dusted off my blog for an update on my favorite fraudulent stock.

As in all soap operas, its continuing story line is not new: Byrne wants the stock to go up. The stock has a history of manipulation, mainly through cooking the books, resulting in multiple restatements. But it takes an expert to sniff out accounting irregularities. All you need to detect the latest Overstock scam is a working pair of eyes and an Internet connection.

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Article: Meet this maverick short seller whose favourite pastime is exposing ‘bad companies’

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Meet this maverick short seller whose favourite pastime is exposing ‘bad companies’

Tom Redmond

The Economic Times, 12 February 2017

The roosters start crowing at 4 am on Alder Lane Farm, about an hour north of San Francisco on the edge of Sonoma wine country. While horses stir in their stables and chickens begin to roam the 20-acre property, one of the world’s most fearsome short sellers puts on his usual attire—shorts and flip-flops—and makes his way in the dark to the room behind his garage. Six pinball machines, a gigantic flatscreen, and a pingpong table compete for attention. If not for the Bloomberg terminal in the corner, you might assume this was your typical man cave.

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Article: Anger at Goldman Still Simmers

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Anger at Goldman Still Simmers

Gretchen Morgenson

New York Times cited by RGM Communications via Wayback, 26 March 2012

Just before the financial crisis began in September 2008, a prominent hedge fund appeared well positioned to take advantage of any turmoil in the markets. That fund, Copper River Partners, had made sizable bets months earlier against companies whose stocks it expected to suffer.

Within weeks, however, Copper River, once a successful $1.5 billion hedge fund, was out of business, having unexpectedly absorbed losses on the very bets it thought would be profitable.

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Web: Remember How Naked Short Selling Wasn’t a Big Deal?

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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.

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