Episode description
Episode description
I explain in simplified terms exactly what happened with Gamestop, r/WallStreetBets, the stock market, manipulation, and hedge funds. This stuff is really crazy and I think everyone should be paying attention to this. It's blatant corruption and pulls open a door to the uber wealthy and the game they play.
Establishment will always side with the wealthy. According to the media:
- Hedge fund investors bet on a short sale and hope to tank a company = good
- Regular people use this public knowledge to make an investment = bad
What was happening -
Here's how the mechanics work for hedge funds:
- A short seller borrows shares from a broker.
- The short seller then sells those shares.
- They then wait for the stock's price to fall.
- They buy the stock back to return to the lender – ideally, at a lower price than they sold.
The Jim Cramer video I was referencing (I actually can't believe they kept it up) - source
"In March 2007, a December 2006 interview from TheStreet.com's "Wall Street Confidential" webcast stirred controversy after it appeared on YouTube.com. In the video, Cramer described activities used by hedge fund managers to manipulate stock prices - some of debatable legality and others illegal. He described how he could push stocks higher or lower with as little as $5 million in capital when he was running his hedge fund. Cramer said, "A lot of times when I was short at my hedge fund...When I was positioned short-meaning I needed it down-I would create a level of activity beforehand that could drive the futures." He also encouraged hedge funds to engage in this type of activity because it is "a very quick way to make money"."
"Cramer stated that everything he did was legal, but that illegal activity is common in the hedge fund industry as well. He also stated that some hedge fund managers spread false rumors to drive a stock down: "What's important when you are in that hedge-fund mode is to not do anything remotely truthful because the truth is so against your view, that it's important to create a new truth, to develop a fiction." Cramer described a variety of tactics that hedge fund managers use to affect a stock's price. Cramer said that one strategy to keep a stock price down is to spread false rumors to reporters he described as "the Pisanis of the world". The comment was a reference to CNBC correspondent Bob Pisani, who reports from the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. "You have to use these guys," said Cramer. He also discussed giving information to "the bozo reporter from The Wall Street Journal" to get an article published. Cramer said this practice, although illegal, is easy to do "because the SEC doesn't understand it." During the interview Cramer referred to himself as a "banking class hero.""
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