Muddy Waters – Financial Treason & Crime

Sofia Horta e Costa, 03 May 2021

Activist short seller Soren Aandahl is launching his first hedge fund, with a mandate to find accounting malpractice and overvalued stocks all over the world.

The Blue Orca Global Activism Fund starts trading Monday with $25 million in assets under management, according to Aandahl, who founded Blue Orca Capital three years ago in Austin, Texas. He says he’s lining up another potential $30 million in committed capital. The fund will pursue targets globally, using a market-neutral strategy to seek profits regardless of whether global stocks are in a downturn or uptrend, said Aandahl. Continue reading “Article: Short Seller Soren Aandahl Chases Targets With New Hedge Fund”

02/27/202103/03/2021

Investor: Carson Block

CEO, People

Carson Block (Block grew up in Summit, New Jersey, and holds a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Mr Block went to work with his father, a period he describes as “very embittering” as he was “lied to by a parade of management” of internet companies. He quit equity analysis for law school, later moving to Shanghai before leaving law and setting up the self-storage business in 2007. Continue reading “Investor: Carson Block”

02/03/202102/03/2021

Article: In the ‘Reddit vs Wall Street’ Battle, Muddy Waters sees a Smokescreen of Internecine Warfare Between Hedge Funds

Uncategorized

SCMP | 21.02.02

“When we get tagged as establishment, you can’t be more inaccurate than that,” he said. “It’s almost funny if it weren’t for the fact that I now have all these people trying to troll me.” What Block agrees with is the growing sense that financial markets are overvalued and predominantly small investors will be hurt when the bubble finally bursts. He faults the Federal Reserve for pumping in too much liquidity, allowing for too much credit extension and too much leverage.

Continue reading “Article: In the ‘Reddit vs Wall Street’ Battle, Muddy Waters sees a Smokescreen of Internecine Warfare Between Hedge Funds”

02/01/202102/03/2021

Carson Block Suspects Hedge Fund Coordination in Short Squeezes

Article - Media

Erik Schatzker | 21.02.01

Carson Block, the activist short-seller famous for targeting Chinese frauds, recognizes familiar behavior in the rally of shares such as GameStop Corp. To him, the parabolic moves look less like the product of Reddit-driven retail orders than a short squeeze by hedge funds targeting other hedge funds.

Continue reading “Carson Block Suspects Hedge Fund Coordination in Short Squeezes”

12/01/202005/12/2021

Article: The Dark Money Secretly Bankrolling Activist Short- Sellers — and the Insiders Trying to Expose It

Article - Media

The Dark Money Secretly Bankrolling Activist Short-Sellers — and the Insiders Trying to Expose It

Michelle Celarier

Institutional Investor, 30 November 2020

More than a dozen short-sellers interviewed by Institutional Investor in an effort to penetrate this murky terrain say there are numerous players and various permutations of the model that may involve the sharing of ideas and research along with either a cut of the gains on the short trade or a set fee. In fact, some short-sellers believe that almost all of the activists have such backing — even those running small hedge funds themselves.

11/30/202003/03/2021

Article: The Dark Money Secretly Bankrolling Activist Short-Sellers — and the Insiders Trying to Expose It

Article - Media, Publications

The Dark Money Secretly Bankrolling Activist Short-Sellers — and the Insiders Trying to Expose It

Michelle Celarier, 30 November 2020

John Fichthorn had been in the hedge fund business for more than 20 years when a half-hour phone call with a stranger put him on high alert. In December 2017, Fichthorn — a veteran short-seller and the founder of hedge fund Dialectic Capital Management — had joined the board of a troubled small-cap company called Health Insurance Innovations. But when he happened to mention its name to a prospective investor a year later, the man told him an alarming detail. Continue reading “Article: The Dark Money Secretly Bankrolling Activist Short-Sellers — and the Insiders Trying to Expose It”

09/22/202004/13/2021

Article: Short-seller Muddy Waters takes aim at Nano-X Imaging after Citron

Article - Media, Publications

Short-seller Muddy Waters takes aim at Nano-X Imaging after Citron

Manas Mishra, 22 September 2021

(Reuters) – U.S.-listed shares of Israel’s Nano-X Imaging Ltd NNOX.O fell nearly 20% on Tuesday after short-seller Muddy Waters joined Citron Research in raising doubts over the company’s diagnostic product.

Muddy Waters likened the company to Nikola Corp NKLA.O, whose founder Trevor Milton stepped down on Monday amid scathing reports from short-sellers.

“We conclude that NNOX (Nano-X) has no real product to sell other than its stock,” Muddy Waters said in a report on Tuesday.

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08/22/202003/08/2021

Article: A famed short-seller explains why he’s betting big against a Chinese tech stock that has seen a ‘crazy stupid’ 320% gain in 2020

Article - Media, Publications

A famed short-seller explains why he’s betting big against a Chinese tech stock that has seen a ‘crazy stupid’ 320% gain in 2020

Saloni Sardana, 22 August 2020

Famed short-seller Andrew Left is aggressively shorting a “crazy stupid” Chinese stock that has gained more than 320% on the New York Stock exchange in 2020, as he believes it has exaggerated its earnings and will eventually be delisted. The activist short-seller and founder of Citron Capital, told Business Insider that he believes that the earnings of GSX Techedu are grossly inflated “anywhere between 50 to 80%.” GSX, which is an online education provider, has surged despite a number of claims by various short-sellers casting doubt on the company’s performance. Continue reading “Article: A famed short-seller explains why he’s betting big against a Chinese tech stock that has seen a ‘crazy stupid’ 320% gain in 2020”

06/19/202003/08/2021

Article: Short selling tests China’s zeal for market reform

Article - Media, Publications

Short selling tests China’s zeal for market reform

Samuel Shen, Alun John, 19 June 2020

As the novel coronavirus swept the world this year, Chinese hedge fund manager Yuan Yuwei made lucrative short-selling bets against stocks such as New York-listed Starbucks Corp SBUX.O, Yum China Holdings Inc YUMC.N and Walt Disney Co DIS.N. At home, he barely bothered. “Short-selling is too inefficient in China. Either there are no available stocks to borrow, or it takes too long,” said Yuan, who runs a global macro fund for Olympus Hedge Fund Investments.

Short sellers sell borrowed shares in the hope of buying them back when prices fall and pocketing the difference. Those such as Carson Block of Muddy Waters and Dan David of Wolfpack Research have made their name shorting Chinese stocks but, like Yuan, their bets have been against stocks in New York or Hong Kong, not Shanghai or Shenzhen. Continue reading “Article: Short selling tests China’s zeal for market reform”

05/15/202005/18/2020

Article: Burford Loses Bid For LSE Trader Info In Short-Selling Attack

Article - Media

Burford Loses Bid For LSE Trader Info In Short-Selling Attack

Richard Crump, Ed Harris

Law360, 15 May 2020

Burford Capital has failed to win a court order to force the London Stock Exchange to hand over the names of traders that dealt in its shares. (iStock)

Judge Andrew Baker has refused to grant an application by Burford Capital Ltd. for a court order to force the exchange to hand over the names of traders that bought and sold the funder’s shares on Aug. 6 and 7, 2019.

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05/15/202005/18/2020

Article: Burford Capital loses fight to force London Stock Exchange to hand over confidential trading data

Article - Media

Burford Capital loses fight to force London Stock Exchange to hand over confidential trading data

Global Legal Post, 15 May 2020

Litigation funder Burford Capital has conceded defeat in an unprecedented battle with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) after the High Court rejected its application for the LSE to hand over confidential trading information.

Burford was seeking the identities of market participants trading in its shares in a bid to prove that its share price had been illegally manipulated during a sell-off that occurred after a heavily critical research report by hedge fund Muddy Waters last August.

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05/15/202003/18/2021

Article: Burford abandons market manipulation claim

Article - Media, Publications

Burford abandons market manipulation claim

Gazette reporter, 15 May 2020

Burford Capital has abandoned a legal bid to prove its share price was illegally manipulated after being denied access to market information.

The embattled litigation funder said it does not intend to appeal a High Court ruling refusing an application to compel the London Stock Exchange to release trading data.

Burford has made a concerted effort to pursue claims for market manipulation following an August 2019 short attack against its shares. The Guernsey-registered and New York-based business came under assault when a US shareholder activist, Muddy Waters, published an apparently damning analysis. Muddy Waters claimed Burford was ‘arguably insolvent’ and described its governance as ‘laughter-inducing’, allegations which were strenuously denied by Burford. Muddy Waters renewed its attack on Burford earlier this week, accusing it of over-stating profits. Continue reading “Article: Burford abandons market manipulation claim”

05/15/202003/18/2021

Article: Burford Loses ‘Market Manipulation’ Claim Against London Stock Exchange

Article - Media, Publications

Burford Loses ‘Market Manipulation’ Claim Against London Stock Exchange

Krishnan Nair, 15 May 2020

Burford Capital has failed in its claim against the London Stock Exchange (LSE) that it had been the victim of market manipulation, after its share price plummeted last year.

Last August, the litigation funder’s share price tumbled following what the firm referred to as a “short-selling attack” by U.S. research firm Muddy Waters. More than $1.2 billion was wiped off Burford’s value, with shares dropping as low as 64%.

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08/12/201903/18/2021

Article: Burford Capital adamant last week’s share price plunge was down to ‘illegal market manipulation’

Article - Media, Publications

Burford Capital adamant last week’s share price plunge was down to ‘illegal market manipulation’

Tom Howard, 12 August 2019

On 6 August alone, Burford reckons almost £90mln of sell orders were placed and cancelled, artificially driving down the value of its shares. Burford Capital Limited (LON:BUR) is adamant that last week’s share price plunge owed more to “illegal market manipulation” than any flaws in its business.

Last week, shares in the litigation funder plunged by more than a third after notorious US short-seller Muddy Waters accused it of “Enron-esque mark-to-model accounting” and “egregiously misrepresenting” its returns. Continue reading “Article: Burford Capital adamant last week’s share price plunge was down to ‘illegal market manipulation’”

10/13/201802/25/2021

Article: Manulife faces backlash from investors over failure to disclose court case

Article - Media, Publications

Manulife faces backlash from investors over failure to disclose court case/

Matt Scuffham, 13 October 2018

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s biggest life insurer is under pressure from shareholders to explain why it failed to disclose details of an ongoing court case which came to light after a short-seller released a report detailing the litigation. The stock has dropped 11.5 percent since Muddy Waters Capital LLC said last week that it had taken a short position, compared with a 4.7 percent decline in the stocks in Canada’s financial sector. Muddy Waters cited a court case pending in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan it believes could damage Manulife’s financials. The case against Manulife was filed on Nov. 23, 2016 by Mosten Investment LP, managed by Ontario businessman Michael Hawkins, documents submitted to the court show.
Continue reading “Article: Manulife faces backlash from investors over failure to disclose court case”