1. If you turn on CNBC, you'll hear a narrative that reckless retail investors from Reddit are destabilizing the stock market by driving up prices for GameStop and other stocks.

This is BS.

Follow along if interested.

2. Market instability was created by hedge funds and other "sophisticated" investors that SHORTED MORE GAMESTOP STOCK THAN WAS EVEN AVAILABLE FOR SALE

Retail investors are exploiting instability created by the hedge funds

They didn't start the fire

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec
3. The primary "victim" of the retail investors, hedge fund mogul Gabe Plotkin, worked SAC until 2013.

What happened in 2013? SAC pleaded guilty to insider trading and paid a $1.3 billion fine.

Plotkin then left to start his own firm.

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec
4. Plotkin made massive returns by doing a lot more shorting than most hedge funds & no one complained

But this week he was bailed out by his old boss, SAC founder Steve Cohen, and another hedge fund mogul, Citadel's Ken Griffin to the tune of $2.75B

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec
5. Cohen & Griffin now own a significant piece of Plotkin's firm. So they have an interest in Plotkin navigating out of his current predicament. They also may have exposure themselves.

This is where things get interesting.

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec
6. We now see retail trading platforms -- including TD Ameritrade, Schwab, and Robinhood -- RESTRICTING TRADES OF GAMESTOP AND OTHER STOCK.

Why are they doing this?

They say its to protect their customers.

But is that really what's going on?

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec
7. Restricting trading on these stocks will make it easier for Plotkin (and his new investor Griffin) and others to get out of this jam

Griffin is pays these platforms tens of millions of dollars for the right to handle their "order flow"

Let me explain

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec
8. When retail investors want to make a trade, these platforms let Griffin fulfill it.

"Citadel Securities accounts for 40 of every 100 shares traded by individual investors in the US, making it the number one retail market maker"

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec
9. So Griffin is both a major business partner with these platforms AND potentially will benefit from their current actions restricting the trading of this stock.

This warrants further investigation.

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec
10. Griffin, who recently purchased the most expensive home in America, is only in business because of government bailouts.

In 2008 he had massive exposure to AIG and relied on Morgan Stanley for lending. He survived only because they got bailouts

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec
11. It's a free market until the hedge fund moguls start losing money. Then SOMEONE NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING.

For updates on this story and more accountability journalism, sign up for the newsletter.

https://t.co/TfpCItdVSo
12. Here is Robinhood acting in a way that benefits Griffin its other business partners.

We need to explore why they are doing this.

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec

https://t.co/ISlZfsXKQ8
13. I'm just a journalist so don't take it from me. Here is a financial expert making the same point.

https://t.co/26pyBtj4ec

https://t.co/LQhcsM8yxS

More from Judd Legum

1. BREAKING

3 major corporations say they'll stop donating to members of Congress who tried to overturn the election

BlueCross BlueShield (@BCBSAssociation)

Marriott (@MarriottIntl)

@CommerceBank

Follow along for more on these 3 plus 141 other

@MarriottIntl @CommerceBank 2. In the last 3 cycles, the BlueCross BlueShield PAC has donated 959K to GOP candidates and 359K to Dem candidates.

Now, BCBS's CEO says it will "suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy"

https://t.co/r4Z4TjJUCe


@MarriottIntl @CommerceBank 3. @CommerceBank's PAC favors Republicans over Democrats by a 6 to 1 margin. The bank now says it has "suspended all support for officials who have impeded the peaceful transfer of power"

@MarriottIntl released a similar statement to Popular Information.

https://t.co/r4Z4TjJUCe


4. @tesszeeks and I contacted 144 corporations that donated this cycle to Senators who objected to the Electoral College vote

We asked if their support would continue

We got a lot of other responses + a lot of corporations who, so far, are ignoring

5. More details coming in this thread. But if you value this kind of work, please subscribe to our newsletter, Popular Information.

It's free to sign up.

The newsletter, not this Twitter account, is what makes this work possible.
1. Florida teachers are being told to remove all books from their classroom libraries OR FACE FELONY PROSECUTION

The new policy is based on the premise that teachers are using books to "groom" students or indoctrinate them with leftist ideologies.

2. Officials from the Manatee County School District confirmed the new policy to
https://t.co/Gl6evXRDcZ.

The policy was communicated to principals in a meeting last Wednesday.

Teachers are in the process of being informed now.


3. Teachers in Manatee County lamented the news on social media. "My heart is broken for Florida students today as I am forced to pack up my classroom library," one Manatee teacher wrote on Facebook.


4. Another Manatee teacher called the directive "a travesty to education" that interfered with efforts to "connect with books and develop [a] love of lifelong learning."


5. The new policy in Manatee, which is likely to be duplicated across Florida, was issued in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March.

That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students.

More from Business

The Mother of All Squeezes

How Volkswagen went from being on the brink of bankruptcy to the most valuable company in the world in two days

/THREAD/


1/ At the peak of the 2008 financial crisis, Volkswagen was considered a very likely candidate for bankruptcy.

Heavily indebted and already financially struggling before 2008, with car sales expected to plummet due to the ongoing global crisis.


2/ With GM and Chrysler filing for bankruptcy in 2009, shorting the VW stock would seem a safe bet.

If you are not familiar with stock shorts and short squeezes check my thread


3/ On October 26, 2008, Porsche announced it had increased its stake at VW from 30% to 74%.

This was a surprise to many who were led to believe that Porsche wasn't planning a takeover of VW, based on the company's announcements.


4/ Before the announcement, the short interest was approximately 13% of the outstanding shares, a number considered relatively low.

Porsche had a 30% stake, the Lower Saxony government fund held 20% of the shares, and another 5% was held by index funds.

You May Also Like

Margatha Natarajar murthi - Uthirakosamangai temple near Ramanathapuram,TN
#ArudraDarisanam
Unique Natarajar made of emerlad is abt 6 feet tall.
It is always covered with sandal paste.Only on Thriuvadhirai Star in month Margazhi-Nataraja can be worshipped without sandal paste.


After removing the sandal paste,day long rituals & various abhishekam will be
https://t.co/e1Ye8DrNWb day Maragatha Nataraja sannandhi will be closed after anointing the murthi with fresh sandal paste.Maragatha Natarajar is covered with sandal paste throughout the year


as Emerald has scientific property of its molecules getting disturbed when exposed to light/water/sound.This is an ancient Shiva temple considered to be 3000 years old -believed to be where Bhagwan Shiva gave Veda gyaana to Parvati Devi.This temple has some stunning sculptures.