Is it a case of market manipulation or lucky coincidence? Investor Bill Ackerman warned Covid-19 would end America "as we know it" as he strongly recommended shutting down the entire country for a month in a CNBC interview on March 10, 2020:
The stock market tanked over the following week. So what was Mr. Ackman doing? CNBC reported a week later:
Pershing Square manager Bill Ackman turned a net profit of more than $2 billion on Monday after he sold his bets against the market less than one week after warning CNBC that “hell is coming” and imploring the White House to shut down the country for a month
He then used those proceeds to wager that existing Pershing bets, including hotel operator Hilton Worldwide, would rebound.
Ackman said the fund completed the exit from his bets against the market on March 23 and generated $2.6 billion compared with premiums paid and commissions totaling $27 million. The amount of capital Ackman put behind protecting credit — the actual principal wagered against the market — is unknown.
Still, the Ackman about-face came less than one week after he told CNBC’s Scott Wapner in an emotional interview that the United States was in jeopardy unless President Donald Trump closed the country for one month in a sort-of “Spring Break.”
“America will end as we know it. I’m sorry to say so, unless we take this option,” he told CNBC on March 18, five days before ending his bet against the market. “We need to shut it down now. ... This is the only answer.”...
Though some, like ex-hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz, blamed Ackman for stoking the market’s panic, the Pershing Square manager said in his Wednesday letter that the outlook for equities had changed in a material way over five days....
That bet proved prescient ahead of one of the worst market sell-offs in the modern era as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 30% through Friday from their recent highs as the coronavirus and measures to contain its spread worried economists that the U.S. economy is headed toward a recession....
A little bit different treatment than what the Wallstreetbets guys are getting right now, wouldn't you agree?
9 comments:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/26/cdc-confirms-first-possible-community-spread-coronavirus-case-in-us.html - Feb 26th
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/05/coronavirus-latest-updates-outbreak.html - March 5th
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/06/doctor-who-treated-first-us-coronavirus-patient-says-covid-19-has-been-circulating-unchecked-for-weeks.html - March 6th
Many many clues this was spreading fast before Ackman interview. I believe it was Jan 26th when first report of COVID was announced in China. And, since when does the entire market react to one man's opinion?
Some people can see the writing on the wall batter than others. They made a movie about the guys who predicted the credit default swap crash. And ZeroHedge predicts total collapse is due any time now.
The truth is that the entire system is based on hopes and unicorn farts.
Meanwhile there is mo gold in fort knox.
ZeroHedge has predicted 8 of the last 1 crashes...
@5:49
ZH makes so many predictions because our financial system is so obviously dysfunctional and fundamentally broken. It should’ve already collapsed and been reformed by now. But there are so many woefully ignorant investors like PERS and the Robinhooders who just keep pouring in the cash.
It seems the big money on Wall Street will want to punish the tiny investors who are causing them to lose big money on Game Stop etc. But what law did they break? Certainly not insider trading. If they went on the internet and said : I think Game Stop is a good buy, how is that different from what many 'experts' do on TV every day? If people follow the advice, things will happen. I have no doubt the people in power are looking hard for some way to punish and thus make sure this doesn't happen again. But when the big boys do it, it's no problem. They need to be very very careful. The small investor must feel that the markets are basically fair.
America used to be populated with titans and creative minds that actually produced wealth by making something. These days, wealth is created simply by "trading paper" propped up by a government that is hemorrhaging in red ink.
Many aspects of financial markets are over-regulated, but hedge funds are vastly under-regulated.
I'd love to see which politicians receive contributions Ackman, Jamie Diamond, et al.
8:36 PM, you are correct!
And the scams are too many to count.
Take the PPP scam last year - 535 members of congress, the VP, the Prez, and of course the Treasury Secretary, supported giving millions of $$$ to business’s that were not suffering at all, and businesses that were booming, while other businesses like restaurants, etc., and individual Americans are suffering tremendously and are literally faced with foreclosure and eviction.
Of the 535 members, some are far, far left self-described Socialists, and some are far right self-described (so-called) Conservatives (like “free markets” really no such thing as a Conservative anymore).
BUT, nobody is talking about it.
Go back to JJ’s “Who got the Money” and look at that list of businesses that literally won the equivalent of a small (or large) lottery, while many, many Americans suffer…tremendously.
But, not a peep from the so-called Conservatives, and not a peep from the so-called Socialists.
Wonder what percentage of those referenced above are too dumb to know what happened (what they voted for)…and what percentage is too corrupt to care?
A step by step guide to making money by manipulating the media and robbing the ordinary investor.
Step one - Bet on the market crashing
Step two- go on 24 hours news program predicting such crash. (Get teary eyed)
Step three - Sell bet in step one and rake in the money.
Step four - bet on the market recovering
Step five - go on 24 hour news program predicting such recovery. (show certainty)
Step six - Sell bet in step four and rake in the money.
Start back at step one and repeat!
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