Naked Short Selling
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Michael Burry Admits Missing The Biggest Short Squeeze In History— GameStop's 'Gamma Squeeze' That Broke Wall Street - GameStop (NYSE:GME)
Benzinga· 2025-12-16 11:08
Core Insights - Legendary investor Michael Burry sold his significant position in GameStop Corp. just weeks before the stock's historic rally in January 2021, missing a potential $1 billion profit [1][3]. Group 1: Investment Decisions - Burry's Scion Asset Management held approximately 3 million shares of GameStop with an average cost basis of about $3.32 (pre-split) but exited the position in the fourth quarter of 2020 as the stock reached the mid-teens [3]. - The decision to sell was influenced by skepticism regarding activist investor Ryan Cohen's plans, which Burry deemed to have "execution risk" [3]. - Burry preferred the immediate returns from share buybacks over uncertain digital transformation strategies and faced client withdrawals, prompting the exit [3]. Group 2: Market Dynamics - Burry described the GameStop event as the only "legal market corner" he has ever witnessed, where retail traders executed a "gamma squeeze" by buying large volumes of call options, forcing market makers to buy the underlying stock [4]. - He dismissed the theory that "naked short selling" was the main cause of the volatility, arguing that it was the breakdown of standard synthetic positions that led to panic unwinding by legal short sellers [5]. Group 3: Historical Context - The strategy applied to GameStop was similar to Burry's 2001 investment in Avanti, where he bought undervalued companies, but he admitted to being "blinded" by traditional valuation metrics and failed to anticipate the retail frenzy that transformed GameStop into a global phenomenon [6]. Group 4: Current Performance - GameStop shares have declined 27.95% year-to-date and 24.97% over the past year, with a recent closing price of $22.09, reflecting a 4.05% increase on Monday but a 0.32% decrease in premarket trading on Tuesday [7]. - Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that GameStop maintains a weaker price trend across short, medium, and long terms, despite a solid growth ranking [7].
Genius Group files Federal Securities Class Action Lawsuit against Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial for Alleged Market Manipulation.
Globenewswire· 2025-11-14 22:30
Core Viewpoint - Genius Group Limited has filed a Class Action Complaint against Citadel Securities LLC and Virtu Americas LLC, alleging a long-running market manipulation scheme involving spoofing and naked short selling of its shares, violating multiple sections of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 [1][2][3]. Group 1: Allegations and Legal Actions - The lawsuit claims that the defendants engaged in a manipulative trading scheme for at least three years, from April 12, 2022, to May 30, 2025, involving thousands of spoofing trades that created a false impression of excess supply and volatility in Genius Group stock [3][7]. - Genius Group is seeking at least $250 million in damages due to the alleged market manipulation that led to artificially deflated stock prices [3][4]. - The company aims to recover losses not only for itself but also for all shareholders who sold stock at these manipulated prices, and it will request to be appointed as the "lead plaintiff" in the class action [6][8]. Group 2: Impact on Shareholders - The complaint emphasizes the commitment of Genius Group to protect shareholder interests and to expose unfair trading practices that have affected investors [4][5]. - The CEO of Genius Group highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by shareholders, including brokers restricting buying options while allowing selling, which further complicates the situation for investors [5][6]. Group 3: Company Overview - Genius Group is an AI-powered, Bitcoin-first education group serving 6 million users across over 100 countries, providing AI training and solutions tailored for individuals, enterprises, and governments [9].