Carl Icahn Comes Under Fire!

Legendary corporate raider and activist Carl Icahn found himself on the wrong side of a familiar battle this week when the short selling investment firm Hindenburg Research took aim at Icahn’s publicly traded holding company, alleging in a new report that Icahn Enterprises L.P. (IEP) is overstating the value of its private asset portfolio, and that its publicly traded stock units–85% of which Icahn owns–are “significantly overvalued.” Icahn’s fortune fell over 35%, from $18.3 billion on Monday afternoon to $12 billion as of Tuesday’s market close. 

Icahn Enterprises units tumbled 20% on Tuesday, shaving $3 billion in market value off Icahn’s fortune. Forbes then trimmed Icahn’s estimated net worth by another $3.6 billion, after it was revealed that Icahn had pledged over half of his IEP shares as collateral against unknown personal debts. 

Hindenburg is a short selling activist hedge fund run by Nate Anderson who is most famous for having released a video of Nikola’s electric truck prototype being towed up a hill in order to be pushed down to make a promotional video showing that the technology was fully operational. He claims that Icahn Enterprises has a Ponzi-like economic structure.

GameStop trading frenzy being probed for misconduct

The trading frenzy that saw unexpected surges in GameStop, AMC and other stocks has now got the attention of federal regulators who are now investigating the rally for market manipulation or other misconduct, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday (Feb. 11), citing sources.

More details from this PAYMNTS. com post - READ HERE

 

“Must Reads” for 8 February

Today’s “Must reads” in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity and risk management include:

• Gen Z is defining digital banking. FinTech is listening
• Treasury under Yellen to prioritize climate change, sanctions, AML reform
• How to defend against today's top 5 cyber threats - Help Net Security
• What Happens When Cybercriminals Target Industrial Robots?
• The U.S. Banking and Payments Market: A crucible of Fintech Innovation
• Robinhood raises another $2.4 billion, Eases trading curbs
• Jack Ma's Ant Group reportedly plans to transform into a financial holding company overseen by China's central bank

The GameStop Rally Explained

Why it's likely not what it seems

How Short Selling Works

Short selling lets investors bet against a stock, profiting when it falls in price, but how exactly does a short work? In this video Richard Coffin discusses the process and the risks it entails.

How the GameStop short-sellers play - Charts that Count

The FT's US finance editor Robert Armstrong looks at a company whose shares soared more than 400 per cent just two weeks ago as amateur stock traders took on Wall Street to make money from its fortunes.

 You can get more information on this story from the FT article;

"GameStop curbs put clearing houses under the spotlight"

GameStop: what it reveals about the US stockmarket - The Economist

The frenzied rise of GameStop’s share price baffled Wall Street and panicked the US Treasury. What does the GameStop story reveal about American stockmarkets? "Economist" experts answer your questions.

Short Selling or Shorting – Is it really a conspiracy?

Bloomberg's Sara Eisen reports on a February 8, 2010 secret dinner of hedge fund managers, at which the investors discussed big bets against the euro.