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Maybe someone stole Babs identity for the crypto scams not realizing who he really was so they made up that court case story to make him rich again.
Or maybe Babs needs to average down on his crypto investments.
Who knows - the truth will surface soon enough.
LOLOLOLOL!!
There's a clue in that:
"Lorem ipsum dolor hockey sit amet, gretzky consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do hockey eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et hockey dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud gretzky exercitation hockey ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure orr dolor in hockey reprehenderit in lemieux, voluptate velit esse cillum hockey dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur hockey sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia hull deserunt mollit anim id est laborum hockey."
Did he spend all the money he made?
One of the links in seeker article redirected to johnbabikian.org.
Nothing on wayback.
Set up recently:
Whois Record for JohnBabikIan.org
Domain Profile
Registrant REDACTED FOR PRIVACY
Registrant Org Privacy service provided by Withheld for Privacy ehf
Registrant Country is
Registrar NameCheap, Inc.
IANA ID: 1068
URL: http://www.namecheap.com
Whois Server: whois.namecheap.com
(p)
Registrar Status ok
Dates 207 days old
Created on 2022-05-03
Expires on 2023-05-03
Updated on 2022-07-16
Name Servers BOWEN.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM (has 26,802,073 domains)
ITZEL.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM (has 26,802,073 domains)
Tech Contact REDACTED FOR PRIVACY
REDACTED FOR PRIVACY,
REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, REDACTED FOR PRIVACY
(p) (f)
IP Address 104.21.6.191 - 595 other sites hosted on this server
IP Location Netherlands - Noord-holland - Amsterdam - Cloudflare Inc.
ASN Netherlands AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET, US (registered Jul 14, 2010)
Domain Status Registered And Active Website
IP History 2 changes on 2 unique IP addresses over 0 years
Hosting History 3 changes on 4 unique name servers over 0 year
Website
Website Title 500 Internal Server Error
Server Type cloudflare
Response Code 500
Terms 2 (Unique: 2, Linked: 0)
Images 0 (Alt tags missing: 0)
Links 0 (Internal: 0, Outbound: 0)
Whois Record ( last updated on 2022-11-26 )
——-
Also johnbabikian.com. (Which is active)
“About Us
John Babikian business breaking news reports. John Babikian latest trends and financial news stories. John Babikian music, video, lifestyle and business news. John Babikian financial reporters.
Follow US
Whois Record for JohnBabikian.com
Domain Profile
Registrant Redacted for Privacy
Registrant Org Privacy service provided by Withheld for Privacy ehf
Registrant Country is
Registrar NAMECHEAP INC NameCheap, Inc.
IANA ID: 1068
URL: http://www.namecheap.com
Whois Server: whois.namecheap.com
(p)
Registrar Status clientTransferProhibited
Dates 207 days old
Created on 2022-05-03
Expires on 2023-05-03
Updated on 0001-01-01
Name Servers BOWEN.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM (has 26,802,073 domains)
ITZEL.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM (has 26,802,073 domains)
Tech Contact Redacted for Privacy
Privacy service provided by Withheld for Privacy ehf
Kalkofnsvegur 2,
Reykjavik, Capital Region, 101, is
(p)
IP Address 104.21.56.12 - 597 other sites hosted on this server
IP Location United States - California - San Jose - Cloudflare Inc.
ASN United States AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET, US (registered Jul 14, 2010)
Domain Status Registered And Active Website
IP History 3 changes on 3 unique IP addresses over 7 years
Registrar History 2 registrars with 1 drop
Hosting History 4 changes on 4 unique name servers over 7 years
Website
Website Title 500 SSL negotiation failed:
Response Code 500
Whois Record ( last updated on
Website has error but google shows the website involved crypto:
Search only for johnbabikian.org crypto
Search Results
Web results
johnbabikian.org
https://johnbabikian.org
John Babikian | Business Technology Crypto Investment News
John Babikian offers Bitcoin, Ethereum and Altcoin news updates. John Babikian delivers real estate investment and innovative technological news.
https://johnbabikian.org › category
Technology Archives - John Babikian | Business Technology Crypto ...
John Babikian | Business Technology Crypto Investment News · Globel News · Technology · Blockchain · Business · NFT Assets · Crypto · Forex · About Us ...
https://johnbabikian.org › there-is-n...
There Is No Need To Hide Your Age In A Home Based Business - John Babikian
Jul 22, 2022 — Globel News · Technology · Blockchain · Business · NFT Assets · Crypto ·
——
As well as johnbabikian.com references:
Search only for johnbabikian.com crypto
Search Results
Web results
johnbabikian.com
https://johnbabikian.com › category
Crypto - John Babikian Top Breaking News Stories - Lifestyle & Music
John Babikian Explains Bitcoin Mining Exchange Rewards John Babikian's Bitcoin news is changing the way we see money by working to expand access of ...
johnbabikian.com
https://johnbabikian.com › tag › cry...
Crypto Archives - John Babikian Top Breaking News Stories ...
John Babikian - Crypto Signals Crypto buying and selling could be worthwhile when the dealer manages to control the market around the clock.
johnbabikian.com
https://johnbabikian.com › crypto-si...
Crypto Signal Services – Choosing The Best - John Babikian
Aug 14, 2022 — John Babikian - Crypto Signals Crypto buying and selling could be worthwhile when the dealer manages to control the market around the clock.
johnbabikian.com
https://johnbabikian.com › bitcoin-...
Bitcoin News – Crypto Currency Mining Solutions - John Babikian
Aug 14, 2022 — John Babikian's Bitcoin news is changing the way we see money by working to expand access of financial services worldwide.
johnbabikian.com
https://johnbabikian.com
Home - John Babikian Top Breaking News Stories - Lifestyle & Music
John Babikian financial marketing and business breaking news reports. John Babikian crypto trading, forex, and stock updates. John Babikian world news reports.
johnbabikian.com
https://johnbabikian.com › page
Michael Gorban - John Babikian
Mr. Gorban is a passionate journalist who contributes news worthy updates on world news, politics, financial business, crypto and lifestyle
———
Than there is this guy by the name John Babikian touting crypto on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/user/seeron/
lol, that's the only "Lorem ipsum" at the site. I guess whoever created it assumed no one what really want to advertise.
Presumably the business model contemplates making money in other ways.
Never, far as I can tell.
More nonsense, and full of links that don't work, though it purports to have been written only a few days ago.
And I'd also note it was written by a non-native English speaker. That seems to be the case with all the "articles" in that publication.
I think that's a fake. That is, it exists at the site linked to, but it makes very little sense. Far as I know, they were never any case brought against Babs in the Northern District of New York. The SEC's action against him was brought in the SDNY. It did end in 2022, just not in the way described by the author of the article:
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/2988534/Securities_and_Exchange_Commission_v_Babikian
Note also that the judge in the case was Paul Crotty.
See also:
https://www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/claims/docs/babikian-final-order.pdf
https://www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/claims/babikian
The SEC litigation notice is from 14 October 2022.
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa."
https://www.seekerstime.com/advertise/
Pulitzer material. Especially in the field of Cannabis.
"Seekers Time is an engaging platform for the readers who seek unique and perfectly readable [???] portals to be updated with the latest transitions all around the world whether it is Education, Law and Order, Politics, or any new events in the world of Cannabis and its advancements. As a new platform, we gel well with the requirements of the current generations with creative writing styles for each new piece. Seekers Time is where one can be assured of refreshing news with unadulterated content right from the source.
We work together to constantly update our readers with the trending bulletins in a regular pattern so the readers do not miss single information of relevance. Whether you are a technology buff interested to know the latest gadgets in the market or someone who wants to know the current condition of the stock market for various international organizations, we are the best platform where you can get each detail with perfect precision."
https://www.seekerstime.com/about-us/
Hmmmm when did this case happen?
In New York?
John Babikian Acquitted Of All Penny Stock Fraud Charges
November 22, 2022
John Babikian Acquitted Of All Penny Stock Fraud Charges
In 2013, by the young age of just 25, John Babikian had already established a world renown and globally respected marketing company that serviced fortune 500 companies. During this time-period, Mr. Babikian was on top of the world driving around in a custom Bugatti Veyron and is said to have accumulated a personal net worth estimated at 250 million dollars.
According to court documents and witness testimony, the downfall of John’s career began under the auspices of an ugly divorce. At the time, Mr. Babikian’s wife demanded to receive a $100 million dollar separation settlement which made headlines. In lack of thereof, the now ex-wife decided to submit a series of affidavits claiming foul play to get John’s assets seized by authorities.
According to Christopher Neumann, a former VP at the world’s largest global PR firm Weber Shandwick, “Soon after the divorce proceedings began, Mrs. Babikian hired us to brand John as “The Wolf of Montreal” and get authorities at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other agencies involved to investigate him”.
Mr. Neumann testified, “The case involving the SEC eventually came to fruition based on a technicality of John not including a disclaimer at the end of financially related marketing emails he was sending on behalf of clients. This information was known to Mrs. Babikian, and we were instructed to publicize it for the purpose of leverage in her divorce proceedings. Eventually, Mr. Babikian wasn’t required to admit wrongdoing nor found guilty in the case, but Mrs. Babikian was super ecstatically happy when she learned the SEC settled with her now ex-husband to pay a fine of $3.7m for his corporate mistake.”
Despite the SEC settlement being resolved in 2014, it took an additional 8 years of a criminal investigation, which was followed by a covid delayed trial, until a US federal court finally found Mr. Babikian not guilty of all penny stock manipulation related charges.
In the final verdict, presiding Judge Glenn Suddaby of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York wrote, “The court finds Mr. Babikian was not involved directly in the manipulation of stock, nor did he financially gain indirectly from the losses of others.”
The courts reprimanded the prosecution for submitting falsified digital evidence throughout the trial and furthermore scolded the character of multiple witnesses who provided contradicting testimony.
“Almost every prosecution witness contradicted each other on key issues pertaining to Mr. Babikian’s alleged role. For example, several witnesses referenced a meeting that allegedly took place in June of 2012 at the company office headquarters during a corporate party. The witnesses were not employees, rather friends of the ex-wife. They all claimed John was physically present at the party, and personally instructed his marketing team to send promotional emails in effort to manipulate stock” wrote the judge while explaining his decision to fully exonerate Mr. Babikian.
“Several other witnesses, including former employees on behalf of the defense testified that at the same exact date and time of the corporate party, John was overseas in Australia. Most convincing was Mr. Babikian’s passport which was in the hands of the prosecution throughout the entire investigation.”
According to Judge Suddaby, “Mr. Babikian entry and exit stamps show he was not in the country at the annual corporate party. Furthermore, Mr. Babikian provided an official apostilled document signed by the Aussie Authorities confirming he had not exited the Australian continent throughout the period of the entry and exit stamps appearing in his passport. This has convinced the court it was impossible for Mr. Babikian to have attended the corporate summer party or delivered criminal instructions to his staff in person as alleged in the indictment.”
In his final words of acquittal, the judge wrote, “The court was not provided with a single shred of evidence proving Mr. Babikian was involved in the manipulation of penny stock prior to departing the country to Australia, nor during the period of his absence. Also, the forensic investigation into his personal and corporate finances reveal John Babikian never invested any money (nor profited) from the alleged crimes, all of which are important key factors when determining the guilt or innocence of the accused”.
In final words, the judge ordered over $100 million dollars in cash and property seized by authorities to be immediately return to Mr. Babikian.
https://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/john-babikian-acquitted-all-penny-stock-fraud-charges/
John Babikian Fully Exonerated Of Penny Stock Manipulation
by Albert Cogmon November 26, 2022
https://www.seekerstime.com/john-babikian-fully-exonerated-of-penny-stock-manipulation/
John Babikian Fully Exonerated Of Penny Stock Manipulation
by Albert Cogmon November 26, 2022
Upon hearing the presiding Federal Judge Glenn Suddaby ruling last week stating, “The court finds John Babikian was not involved directly in the manipulation of stock, nor did he financially gain indirectly from the losses of others”, Mr. Babikian broke down in tears. After all, it had taken nearly a decade for the former online fintech marketer to finally clear his name of the false penny stock manipulation criminal charges waged against him.
Following the not-guilty verdict, his lawyer Michael Parsons stated, “Justice is one of the most important moral and political concepts in our society. The word ‘justice’ itself originates from the Latin word of jus, which means ‘law’ or ‘just’. We often say, ‘Justice has no boundaries’ or ‘Justice is not blind’”.
According to Mr. Parsons, “Unfortunately, in the case of John Babikian, there are no words or phrases to describe a person of good moral character who got put through an ugly divorce polluted with extortion, nearly a decade of securities and fraud investigations, a federal indictment sheet, and a lengthy trial – only to be fully acquitted and exonerated of all criminal charges.”
As witness testimony eventually proved, the case began under the auspices of an ugly divorce back in 2012 when Mr. Babikian’s wife demanded to receive a $100 million dollars settlement. After John refused to pay, his now ex-wife hired lawyers, a PR agency, private investigators, and others to fabricate information with the purpose of damaging his personal name and business empire.
Christopher Neumann, a former Vice President at Weber Shandwick, testified on the witness stand that he didn’t knowingly spread lies, yet stated, “Soon after the divorce proceedings began, Mrs. Babikian hired us to brand John as “The Wolf of Montreal” and get authorities at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other agencies involved to investigate him”.
According to Mr. Neumann, “The case involving the SEC eventually came to fruition based on a technicality of John not including a disclaimer at the end of financially related marketing emails he was sending on behalf of his clients. This information was known to Mrs. Babikian, and we were instructed to publicize it for the purpose of leverage in her divorce proceedings”.
In the SEC case, John Babikian wasn’t ever criminally indicted, nor required to admit guilt, rather instead he was fined over $3.7m in fees for his corporate mailing mistake. Nevertheless, Neumann did testify that Mrs. Babikian was happy to learn her ex-husband had been financially punished by the federal government for the error.
Throughout the lengthy proceedings, the judge found the prosecution turned a blind eye to contradictory forensic evidence and witness testimony submitted to the court.
Judge Glenn Suddaby wrote, “Almost every prosecution witness contradicted each other on key issues pertaining to Mr. Babikian’s alleged role. For example, several witnesses referenced a meeting they claimed took place in June of 2012 at the company office headquarters during a corporate party. The witnesses were not employees, rather friends of the ex-wife. They all claimed John was physically present at the party, and they witnessed him personally instructing his marketing team to send promotional emails to manipulate penny stock”.
According to Judge Suddaby’s ruling, “Mr. Babikian passport entry and exit stamps show he was not in the country at the annual corporate party. Furthermore, Mr. Babikian provided an official apostilled document signed by the Aussie Authorities confirming he had not exited the Australian continent throughout the period of the entry and exit stamps appearing in his passport. This has convinced the court it was impossible for Mr. Babikian to have attended the corporate summer party, and thus was not present to deliver instructions to his staff as alleged in the indictment.”
Judge Glenn elaborated on his decision to fully vindicate the accused by stating, “The court was not provided with a single shred of evidence proving Mr. Babikian was involved in the manipulation of penny stock prior to departing the country to Australia, nor during the period of his absence.”
In final words to exculpate the defendant and return nearly $118m in property seized by the government, the Judge wrote, “The forensic investigation into his personal and corporate finances reveal John Babikian never invested any money (nor profited) from the alleged crimes, all of which are important key factors when determining the guilt or innocence of the accused”.
———
Interesting. So where did his money come from. I guess APS originally just used those servers registered to him?
It was his divorce that blew the case open. Too bad witnesses resorted to telling lies that blew the case apart and found him innocent.
Oh well.
I always figured maybe the Canadian mob would get to a judge or jurors - but I guess the ex-wife’s lying witnesses were enough to get caught and help find Babikian innocent.
Active discussion of both ETFs, MEME and BUZZ occur on Yahoo and elsewhere with just about all participants concluding those ETFs are scams. Maybe, but It's mostly that overheated stock fads almost always cool in time.
I'd suggest that both ETFs may have been created so smart insiders can easily short the fads. Here's the interesting BUZZ Yahoo conversation group wall-to-wall with stunned cleaned-out investing newbies.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BUZZ/community?p=BUZZ
Just bet 100 on pens to win it all 26 to 1. This is a Crosby bet. He wants another cup. And likely last run with malkin and letang. Took my Grey cup winnings and threw it at this.would be my largest sports bet win ever after Ernie els to win British open 6 bucks and 100 to 1 and that was laying back a big portion of the bet.
Um, they needed to be TOLD that wouldn't work out??
I hear ya'. Bruins lookn' real good...and the Guins' back on track!...8th in league :) Had a really rough patch against those damn western Canadians on their turf a while back ...that fd' them up mentally. Be free friend.
Similarly: "MEME ETF IPO: A Mistake that went badly"
From Seeking Alpha
Summary
* Roundhill Investments recently launched the MEME ETF, [symbol MEME} comprised of 25 securities that have a high "meme score" and high short interest.
*The pitch is straightforward: Although many of these stocks will fail, investors only need a few home runs to make them profitable.
* Unfortunately, MEME's passive indexing approach and 14-day minimum holding period mean losses are the most likely outcome.
* I will show that increased social media activity is a poor predictor of future returns, and hedge funds now have access to better data to protect against short squeezes.
* My recommendation is to watch with interest but not take a position in MEME. Speculative investing has a place in portfolios, but you're better off doing it with individual stocks on your own. Will and did Badly
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4474611-meme-etf-a-mistake-that-will-likely-end-badly
It was a slow burn all day LOL. Light beer no hard stuff with a bit of wine for dinner. Tradition to celebrate thanksgiving
They are no longer required to file an 8 K since they are no longer SEC reporting.
But under the Pink Basic Disclosure Guidelines the must report material events.
Current Reporting of Material Corporate Events
Companies are expected to release quickly to the public any news or information regarding corporate events that may be material to the issuer and its securities (including adverse information). Persons with knowledge of such events would be considered to be in possession of material nonpublic information and may not buy or sell the issuer’s securities until or unless such information is made public. If not included in the issuer’s previous public disclosure documents or if any of the following events occur after the publication of such disclosure documents, the issuer shall publicly disclose such events by disseminating a news release within 4 business days following their occurrence and posting such news release through an Integrated Newswire or OTCIQ.
Material corporate events include:
• Entry into or termination of a material definitive agreement
• Completion of an acquisition or disposition of assets, including but not limited to merger transactions
• Creation of a direct financial obligation or an obligation under an off-balance sheet arrangement of an issuer
• Triggering events that accelerate or increase a direct financial obligation or an obligation under an off-balance sheet arrangement
• Costs associated with exit or disposal activities
• Material impairments
• Sales of equity securities
• Material modification to rights of security holders
• Changes in issuer's certifying accountant
• Non-reliance on previously issued financial statements or a related audit report or completed interim review
• Changes in control of issuer
• Departure of directors or principal officers; election of directors; appointment of principal officers
• Amendments to articles of incorporation or bylaws; change in fiscal year
• Amendments to the issuer's code of ethics, or waiver of a provision of the code of ethics
• Any changes to litigation the issuer may be involved in, or any new litigation surrounding the issuer
• Officer, director, or insider transactions in the issuer’s securities
• Disclosure regarding stock promotion campaigns deemed material by the issuer
• Changes to the company’s shell status
• Other events the issuer considers to be of importance
https://www.otcmarkets.com/corporate-services/information-for-pink-companies
IHUB daytraders buy the "BUZZ" and suffer.
Created in March 2021, the fascinating VanEck Social Sentiment ETF [symbol: BUZZ] was created for the wrong reason, to track stocks enjoying current buzz on the web. It's performed dreadfully, consistently underperforming the S&P by about 40%.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4517696-vaneck-social-sentiment-etf-dont-buy-into-the-buzz
"BUZZ tracks an Index of 75 large-cap growth stocks with positive online sentiment. Fees are 0.75% annually, and the ETF has $118 million in assets under management."
"BUZZ is an ETF you should avoid at all costs, and it gets one of my rare "strong sell" recommendations today." More important, Investors should learn to avoid... The Buzz
This is his latest felony fraud indictment. His co-defendant has already pleaded/pled guilty and Foley-Coyote is currently scheduled for his THIRD felony trial in April 2023.
He will be CONvicted and if you do the sentencing guidelines math with the two prior felonies AND committing the current ones while in prison, he will get more years than Lizzy or SunniBoi. If he lives to his mid- to late-70s he might gett ~OUTT, He served the full 85 percent of DaHole time in Taft for his prior two separate felony convictions (bank fraud and conspiracy to commit business fraud). This time he will get a Medium prison with cells and some very bad men - nott like cushy Taft camp.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/silicon-valley-streaming-service-executive-indicted-alleged-pump-and-dump-stock-fraud
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/48918895/united-states-v-foley/
Just in case anyone else was having trouble recalling the reference.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Two-indicted-over-theft-of-arcade-software-3225746.php
OTC pink company 8-K requirement?
If an OTC Pink company files a Form 15, is it still required to file 8-Ks for appropriate 8-K type events?
"Why beginners lose money on Robinhood - attention induced trading warning"
This video has useful investing info. Mentions academic research by Berkeley Prof Terrance Odean and UC Davis Prof Brad Barber.
Not sure how you can day drink now. I used to start @ 11:30 and go til dinner..lol. How the hell do you not fall asleep early?
At times..I would go to a nice restaurant/bar in early afternoon and have a few heavy martinis...bring food home and pass out...lol.
That was then ..this is now.
God bless you Buckey...God bless.
Happy Nova Scotia Thanksgiving friend :) ...
I was busy day drinking today. is that SBF really doing that conference? with all he stole I would be cutting that hair ditching the shorts and t shirt and maybe and finding an island where they go by the code - Dont ask any questions because we all here because we are running from something. Maybe fake an accent
Or touch base with Gerald Cotton and see how he did it ( quadriga he died dec 2018 supposedly)
I hope SBF winds up in a cell with DAVID RUSSELL FOLEY USBOP Inmate No. 13141-111 so they can bullshit each other to death. Each one trying to chisel the other ~OUTT of their weekly commissary ramen noodles and tuna pouches.
As I read that I wondered if it was some type of suicide note.
It was a pretty damn overwhelming collapse destroying a lot of people.
Just saying…as it bothered me a bit.
Or is that all part of being a con man?
Although this ending sounds like another con job in the making:
I am informed (by reading material from GUSTAVE HASFORD and others) that among USA troops in Vietnam during the Vietnam Special Military Operation the preferred phrase was “sorry ‘bout that“ which translates to Merrikun Engrish as ‘yeah, I did something that fked you over, butt I either did it intentionally and/or I just don‘t care that you were negatively impacted.‘
“Yeah, I called in an artillery fire mission on your position. Sorry ‘bout that.“
Is "deeply sorry" sort of like "thoughts and prayers"?
FTX’s ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried blamed his “irrational decisions” on “sh---y” circumstances in a letter obtained by CNBC that was sent to employees of the bankrupt crypto exchange.
Bankman-Fried said he “froze up in the face of pressure and leaks” as his crypto empire quickly lost investor confidence and customers rapidly withdrew billions of dollars from the platform.
Read Bankman-Fried’s full letter (Executive Summary: Mistakes were made. Basically we got unlucky and a conspiracy of bad luck and unfortunate circumstances beyond my control are at fault. Let‘s move on.)
“Hi all—
I feel deeply sorry about what happened. I regret what happened to all of you. And I regret what happened to customers. You gave everything you could for FTX, and stood by the company—and me.
I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, and I would give anything to be able to go back and do things over again. You were my family. I’ve lost that, and our old home is an empty warehouse of monitors. When I turn around, there’s no one left to talk to. I disappointed all of you, and when things broke down I failed to communicate. I froze up in the face of pressure and leaks and the Binance LOI and said nothing. I lost track of the most important things in the commotion of company growth. I care deeply about you all, and you were my family, and I’m sorry.
I was CEO, and so it was my duty to make sure that, ultimately, the right things happened at FTX. I wish that I had been more careful.
I want to give you a better description of what happened—one I should have written out as best I understood it much earlier.
Piecing things together recently, making approximations—I don’t have full data access right now to get precise answers—and marking everything to market, regardless of liquidity, I believe that the events that led to the breakdown this month included:
1) A crash in markets this spring that led to a roughly 50% reduction in the value of collateral;
a. ~$60b collateral, ~$2b liabilities -> ~$30b collateral, ~$2b liabilities
2) Most of the credit in the industry drying up at once;
a. ~$25b collateral, ~$8b liabilities
3) A concentrated, hyper-correlated crash in November that led to another roughly 50% reduction in the value of collateral over a very short period of time, during which there was very little market bid-side liquidity;
a. ~$17b collateral, ~8b liabilities
4) A run on the bank triggered by the same attacks in November;
a. ~$9b collateral
5) As we frantically put everything together, it became clear that the position was larger than its display on admin/users, because of old fiat deposits before FTX had bank accounts:
a. ~$9b collateral, ~$8b liabilities
I never intended this to happen. I did not realize the full extent of the margin position, nor did I realize the magnitude of the risk posed by a hyper-correlated crash. The loans and secondary sales were generally used to reinvest in the business—including buying out Binance—and not for large amounts of personal consumption.
I deeply regret my oversight failure. In retrospect, I wish that we had done many many things differently. To name a few:
a) being substantially more skeptical of large margin positions
b) examining stress test scenarios involving hyper-correlated crashes and simultaneous runs on the bank
c) being more careful about the fiat processes on FTX
d) having a continuous monitor of total deliverable assets, total customer positions, and other core risk metrics
e) Putting in more controls around margin management.
And none of this changes the fact that this all sucks for you guys, and it’s not your fault, and I’m really sorry about that. I’m going to do what I can to make it up to you guys—and to the customers—even if that takes the rest of my life. But I’m worried that even then I won’t be able to.
I also want to acknowledge those of you who gave me what I now believe to be the right advice about pathways forward for FTX following the crash. You were right, of course: I believe that a month earlier FTX had been a thriving, profitable, innovative business. Which means that FTX still had value, and that value could have gone towards helping to make everyone more whole. We likely could have raised significant funding; potential interest in billions of dollars of funding came in roughly eight minutes after I signed the Chapter 11 docs. Between those funds, the billions of dollars of collateral the company still held, and the interest we’d received from other parties, I think that we probably could have returned large value to customers and saved the business.
There would have had to be changes, of course: way more transparency, and way more controls in place, including oversight of myself. But FTX was something really special, and you all helped make it that. Nothing that happened was your fault. We had to make very hard calls very quickly. I have been in that position before, and should have known that when shitty things happen to us, we all tend to make irrational decisions. An extreme amount of coordinated pressure came, out of desperation, to file for bankruptcy for all of FTX—even entities that were solvent—and despite other jurisdictions’ claims. I understand that pressure and empathize with it; a lot of people had been thrust into challenging circumstances that generally were not their fault. I reluctantly gave in to that pressure, even though I should have known better; I wish I had listened to those of you who saw and still see value in the platform, which was and is my belief as well.
Maybe there still is a chance to save the company. I believe that there are billions of dollars of genuine interest from new investors that could go to making customers whole. But I can’t promise you that anything will happen, because it’s not my choice. In the meantime, I’m excited to see some positive steps being taken, like LedgerX being turned back on.
I’m incredibly thankful for all that you guys have done for FTX over the years, and I’ll never forget that.
—SBF”
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/23/heres-the-apology-letter-sam-bankman-fried-sent-to-ftx-employees.html
Whatever happens to her in the years to come--and it probably won't be much fun--some will always remember her as "the polyamorous Caroline"...
Rail stocks are doing better than one might expect. My rail paper portfolio created in February with$100k sits at $98,300,000 It has all four major railroads and GATX, a rail maintenance company. Son bought some UNP around then and has a small profit. Div yield is 2.44% as of today.
NY Times profiles our favorite new polyamorous Disney Princess.
She Was a Little-Known Crypto Trader. Then FTX Collapsed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/23/business/ftx-caroline-ellison-sbf.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Doc
GOAL 1. Protect the investing public against
fraud, manipulation, and misconduct.
They have a lot of work to do...
.
Rail is having a hard time. I noticed UNP recovered somewhat...but look what's on the horizon during the first week of December...or not?
I think it's going to be a "not"..or a corrected political "not"...lol. But if it gets to that date..or near...there will already be shutdowns in place way before such...and a ton of money lost.
U.S. weekly rail traffic drops 3.2% vs. last year
"According to Association of American Railroads (AAR) reports, U.S. rail traffic for the week ending November 19, 2022 was 491,794 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.2% 5 vs. prior year week.
Total carloads were 235,887 carloads, down 0.6%, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 255,907 containers and trailers, down 5.6%.
4 of 10 commodity groups posted an increase vs. prior year, includes: grain (up 2,039 carloads to 26,624), coal (up 1,766 carloads to 66,485), and nonmetallic minerals (up 463 carloads to 31,558)
Commodity groups that posted decreases included chemicals (down 3,081 carloads to 31,074); motor vehicles and parts (down 1,030 carloads to 13,631); and forest products (down 864 carloads to 9,033)."
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3911204-us-weekly-rail-traffic-drops-32-vs-last-year?
There are no journalists..and media pundits are about as bright as a door knob. Crypto is easy to understand after just a 5 minute read. But, enthusiasts like to use new made up words to make it sound complicated. Such is part of their exploitative bull shit.
From the SEC:
STRATEGIC PLAN
FISCAL YEARS 2022–2026
Happy Thanksgiving!
https://www.sec.gov/files/sec_strategic_plan_fy22-fy26.pdf
Maybe Hester does. But I wouldn't put money on it. At this point, though, I think the real question is whether it's worth understanding.
Even by industry professionals.
I do think a lot simply don't understand what happened, because they aren't specialists, and don't understand crypto.
Who the hell does?
That seems overstated to me. I don't think journalists in the mainstream media have been bending over backwards to be kind to Sam, Caroline, and their friends.
I do think a lot simply don't understand what happened, because they aren't specialists, and don't understand crypto.
Wow! How many tens of thousands of years did it take?
Another bank that needs serious help.
Credit Suisse Unveils Sweeping Revamp to Revive Its Fortunes
The restructuring includes shrinking its investment bank and raising $4 billion in capital from investors, including a state-owned Saudi bank.
By Michael J. de la Merced
Oct. 27, 2022
After decades of chasing the prestige and profits of its rivals on Wall Street, Credit Suisse is pulling back to save itself.
The Swiss bank said on Thursday that it would carve up its investment bank, cut thousands of jobs and raise $4 billion in capital from the state-owned Saudi National Bank and other investors, as it seeks to move on from years of losses and scandals around the world.
The announcement came as the firm reported that it had lost 342 million Swiss francs, or $346 million, in the third quarter, a sharp swing from a $1 billion profit a year ago. And that excluded taxes and hefty costs related to the restructuring; including those charges, the bank’s third-quarter loss was just over 4 billion Swiss francs.
Credit Suisse’s stock fell more than 18 percent on Thursday, as investors absorbed the scale of the firm’s reorganization plans and the amount of capital it was seeking to raise by selling new shares.
Thursday’s announcement punctuates the daunting challenges facing the 166-year-old lender, a linchpin of Switzerland’s banking system. For years, it has stumbled from crisis to crisis, including billions of dollars in losses, costly legal settlements and a series of executive departures — including the ouster of a chief executive, Tidjane Thiam, over the surveillance of employees.
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Fears about undiscovered financial land mines in the bank’s books have weighed heavily. Its stock has fallen 60 percent so far this year, pulled down in part by unfounded rumors about its solvency. That speculation may have also spooked clients, with the bank reporting a loss of $13 billion in assets under management during the most recent quarter.
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The bank’s latest earnings announcement underscored the urgency behind the vast restructuring. Credit Suisse said it reflected weak performance in its investment bank, as well as charges related to legal settlements in a New Jersey mortgage-bonds investigation and a French money-laundering case.
To bolster its finances, Credit Suisse said it would cut its costs by some $2.5 billion through measures including layoffs that would reduce its employee count by 9,000 positions. It employed about 52,000 people at the end of September.
And it plans to raise about $4 billion by selling new shares to investors to shore up its capital reserves, including more than $1 billion to Saudi National Bank, a new shareholder that would own up to 10 percent of Credit Suisse after the transaction.
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Credit Suisse’s revamp caps months of promises by its management team — including its chief executive of six months, Ulrich Körner — to devise a strategy to make the bank smaller and more financially prudent. What emerged from the review was a plan to focus on its private wealth unit, which represents more than a third of its revenue and manages more than $640 billion in assets, and to keep only the operations that directly support this business.
Investment banking and trading, which Credit Suisse had sought to build up for years to better compete with Wall Street rivals like Goldman Sachs, increasingly became a costly distraction. The firm’s deals and advisory unit often landed big mandates for work on mergers, bond issues, public listings and other transactions, but it trailed the likes of Goldman and Morgan Stanley in the closely scrutinized rankings of deals and fees generated by this kind of business.
Trading operations can yield huge profits but also come with big risks, like when Credit Suisse lost $5.5 billion linked to the implosion of the investment firm Archegos Capital Management.
“The investment bank has not created value for a long time,” Mr. Körner said on a call with analysts on Thursday. “We have taken a hard look at what makes sense for us at this juncture.”
Credit Suisse plans to spin out its deals and capital advisory business into a new firm called CS First Boston, resurrecting the name of the well-known American investment bank it acquired in 1988.
That firm will be led by Michael S. Klein, a veteran deal maker with deep contacts across the Middle East who, as a Credit Suisse director, helped lead the strategic review. As part of the reorganization, Mr. Klein will step down from the Credit Suisse board, while its existing leader, Christian Meissner, will leave immediately.
The investment bank will seek to raise capital from outside investors, potentially including Saudi National Bank.
Credit Suisse also plans to put some of its riskiest assets and nonessential businesses, including what’s left of its hedge fund lending unit and its operations in regions like Latin America, into a new division — informally known in financial circles as a “bad bank” — to eventually be sold or wound down.
The bank reached a preliminary deal to sell a majority of its securitized products group, a profitable trading business that requires significant capital, to investors led by Apollo Global Management and Pimco. If a final agreement is reached, the transaction is expected to close by next summer.
Analysts offered a cautious assessment of Credit Suisse’s plans. Kian Abouhossein of JPMorgan Chase wrote in a note to clients that he had hoped for a greater retreat from investment banking and worried about existing investors’ holdings being diluted by the planned sale of shares. But overall, he said of the bank’s plan, “our initial view is it is going in the right direction.”
Michael de la Merced joined The Times as a reporter in 2006, covering Wall Street and finance. Among his main coverage areas are mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies and the private equity industry. @m_delamerced • Facebook
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/business/credit-suisse-restructuring.html?
DD Support Board and Fraud Research Forum
This forum is a place for ALL to share and build research and due diligence.
This is not a forum for recommending stocks to buy or sell. It is for information sharing only.
Please do not use this forum to promote stocks.
Feel free to build on the research already done by others or to present fresh new research.
Please start all informational posts with the ticker symbol of the stock.
Important links:
Another place to read some of nodummy's research:
http://promotionstocksecrets.com/
Great Forum for Litigation and Court Docket updates not posted on this board:
www.investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx
SEC trading suspensions:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/suspensions.shtml
SEC press releases:
http://www.sec.gov/news/press.shtml
SEC administration proceedings:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin.shtml
SEC litigation releases:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases.shtml
Most recent SEC flings:
http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=&CIK=&type=&owner=exclude&count=40&action=getcurrent
Great Website for basic information about the laws surrounding penny stocks
http://www.securitieslawyer101.com
Stock Dilution Scam:
A share dilution scam happens when a company, typically traded in unregulated markets such as the OTC Bulletin Board and the Pink Sheets, repeatedly issues a massive amount of shares into the market for no reason, considerably devaluing share prices until they become almost worthless, causing huge losses to shareholders. Then, after share prices are at or near the minimum price a stock can trade and the share float has increased to an unsustainable level, those fraudulent companies tend to reverse split and continue repeating the same scheme.
Pump and Dump Schemes:
"Pump and dump" schemes, also known as "hype and dump manipulation," involve the touting of a company's stock (typically microcap companies) through false and misleading statements to the marketplace. After pumping the stock, fraudsters make huge profits by selling their cheap stock into the market.
Pump and dump schemes often occur on the Internet where it is common to see messages posted that urge readers to buy a stock quickly or to sell before the price goes down, or a telemarketer will call using the same sort of pitch. Often the promoters will claim to have "inside" information about an impending development or to use an "infallible" combination of economic and stock market data to pick stocks. In reality, they may be company insiders or paid promoters who stand to gain by selling their shares after the stock price is "pumped" up by the buying frenzy they create. Once these fraudsters "dump" their shares and stop hyping the stock, the price typically falls, and investors lose their money.
http://www.sec.gov/answers/pumpdump.htm
The key is understanding
The key is understanding that pink sheet stocks are not investments - 99% of them will lose value over the long run and never accomplish most of their forward looking pumping statements they put in press releases or on their websites. Never believe the hype - always be skeptical of everything you hear.
The people mostly making money with pink sheet stocks are promoters, front loading pumpers with big followings they can dump on, crooks, some of the flippers, and sometimes the very lucky.
Pumpers only tell you to buy stocks that they already own. Pumpers only tell you to hold stocks because they want to make sure you hold longer than them.
They make money by pumping the stock and getting other people to buy then dumping their shares on the followers.
If you really want to take the risk of trying to make money trading pink sheet companies then you have to understand how the game works and never ever hold long term - take profits when you can. Pump and Dumps dominate the IHUB forums.
Trading pink sheet stocks is a sick game full of lies and deceit where people take advantage of the inexperienced and naive stealing away their life savings for their own personal gains.
Very little respect or morals exist in stinky pinky land.
The Consequences of an SEC Suspension:
Complete list of SEC suspended stocks and SEC Admin. Law Judge registration revocations from January 1st, 2010 to May 9,2020:
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=155531213
More information on Suspended Stocks
http://investorshub.advfn.com/SEC-Suspensions-&-Revocations-25334/
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