http://www.deepcapture.com Independent investigations into illegal naked short selling. Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:35:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Followers of the twisted tale of DeepCapture may remember that on August 12, 2005, I gave a webcast of which I will always remain proud. It was titled, "The Miscreant's Ball" (see slidedeck and accompanying transcript).  Contrary to popular "journalism" (if back-and-forth parroting by hedge fund choagies Bethany McLean, Roddy Boyd, ... http://www.deepcapture.com/someday-i-may-sac-up-and-be-more-explicit-about-the-sith/ Reuters reports that Richard Choo-Beng Lee will testify that he "engaged in illegal insider trading while working at Steven Cohen's SAC Capital, a Connecticut-based hedge fund." I'm predicting that much will be made of this development, and rightly so. As you encounter conversations on this topic in the days to come, it ... http://www.deepcapture.com/sac-capital-linked-to-insider-trading-who-knew/ You can hardly blame Fat Squirrel Trading Group (FSTG) and Rhino Trading, LLC. After all, it was 2007, and illegal short selling was almost the norm. The SEC, in passing a toothless Regulation SHO, had demonstrated that it didn’t care much. With just a few exceptions, America’s financial press had made ... http://www.deepcapture.com/sec-brings-another-case-against-naked-short-sellers/ For those new to the story: besides my gig as a journalist at the award-winning Website DeepCapture.com, I also have a day job as CEO of Overstock.com. In that context I received tonight an email from Sam Antar, of whom I have written fondly: see for example my "Why are ... http://www.deepcapture.com/sam-antar-ps-and-is-that-mr-goniff/ It was perhaps the single most important moment leading to the downfall of Bear Stearns. On March 13, 2008, reporter David Faber, live on CNBC, said, “I’m told by a hedge fund that I know well…I’m told that [last night] Goldman would not accept the counterparty risk of Bear Stearns.” Faber and ... http://www.deepcapture.com/did-hayman-capital-help-destroy-bear-stearns/ [caption id="attachment_1212" align="alignleft" width="312" caption="SB 605 is a bill on Capitol Hill"][/caption] Something of great importance in our effort to finally end illegal naked short selling took place recently. Senator Ted Kaufman of Delaware, together with three colleagues, distributed a letter to the remaining 96 members of the Senate formally requesting co-sponsors ... http://www.deepcapture.com/congress-prepares-to-bypass-impotent-sec/ “Telling the truth is only possible by accident through a special sort of boastfulness…” - Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Idiot” Regular readers of Deep Capture are aware that we have sought to expose certain journalists who seem to serve the interests of a network of market miscreants, many of whom are tied to ... http://www.deepcapture.com/roddy-boyd-and-the-bear-stearns-insider/ As should be clear from the contents of Deep Capture, the world of illegal naked short selling is a weird one, populated by sociopathic billionaires, slick lobbyists, famous felons, bent regulators, crooked law firms, corporate spies, message board maniacs, sinister banks, shifty private investigators, mendacious professors, professional dissemblers, propagandists, grifters, ... http://www.deepcapture.com/on-rolling-stone-penson-financial-the-mafia-and-naked-short-selling/ Matt Taibbi has published a story in Rolling Stone magazine that nobody should miss. It’s not yet available on-line, so you’ll have to pick it up at the newsstands, but here’s a quick summary. Taibbi writes: "On Tuesday, March 11th, 2008, somebody – nobody knows who – made one of the craziest ... http://www.deepcapture.com/rolling-stone-reports-that-naked-short-selling-killed-bear-stearns-and-lehman-brothers/ I'm usually a real optimist. Sometimes to a fault, according to my more balanced wife. But when it comes to financial market reform, I've devolved into a deeply cynical pessimist. Too many stinging disappointments, I suppose. Too many instances of people behaving badly, to be certain. But as they say, there's some value ... http://www.deepcapture.com/three-short-hours-inside-the-sec/ [caption id="attachment_1188" align="alignleft" width="207" caption="Deep Capture goes to Washington."][/caption] (Washington, DC) The SEC's roundtable on securities lending and short selling got started today, and Deep Capture was there. What follows is my assessment, based on my observations thus far. In the simplest terms, I'd say the situation at the SEC is one of ... http://www.deepcapture.com/eight-long-hours-inside-the-sec/ I need some input on the book I'm writing (more information on that here). I'm looking for the best, most colorful examples of post-1934 short-side stock manipulations. As I see it, stock manipulation comes in three general flavors... Trade-based: on the short side, this is the essence of abusive, illegal short selling, is ... http://www.deepcapture.com/the-history-of-short-side-stock-manipulation/ It's recently come to our attention that too many of you are not taking full advantage of the Deep Capture Twitter feed. If not, then you are likely among the many who do not get to see video clips like this one, in which Patrick Byrne discusses executive compensation and ... http://www.deepcapture.com/a-sweet-tweet-you-might-have-missed/ I originally published this video on the first anniversary of the destruction of Bear Stearns, though its lessons seem even more timely today, the first anniversary of the destruction of Lehman Brothers. And so, as you bump into some of the many discussions currently underway touching upon the cause of Lehman's ... http://www.deepcapture.com/hedge-funds-and-the-global-economic-meltdown/ During the past few weeks we have serialized a 30,000 word story about a network of market miscreants that includes disreputable financial analysts, prominent financial journalists, associates of the Mafia, some of America’s best-known hedge fund managers, and Michael Milken, the famous criminal from the 1980s. The story focuses on ... http://www.deepcapture.com/michael-milken-60000-deaths-and-the-story-of-dendreon/ Recently, I revealed a few details of a security flaw I had discovered on the Yahoo! message boards, which made it possible to determine a user's IP address and username. This would have been nothing more than a curiosity but for the fact that, as we've documented many times ... http://www.deepcapture.com/the-register-weighs-in-on-our-crusade/ We've long maintained here at Deep Capture that Charlie Gasparino is possibly the most insightful figure at CNBC. Today, Mr. Gasparino underscored that status while on air with Joe Grano, former CEO at UBS Financial Services and an early predictor of the current financial crisis. Grano's interview was set to coincide ... http://www.deepcapture.com/patrick-byrne-was-right-all-along/ Earlier this week,  the Wall Street Journal published what should have been a fairly explosive story implicating Goldman Sachs and its favored hedge fund clients in yet more market miscreancy. Predictably, though, this story did not have what journalists call “legs.” No other mainstream media outlets picked it up. There ... http://www.deepcapture.com/sac-capital-gets-tips-from-goldman-if-only-there-were-a-pattern/ Those of you who have been asking for a compiled version of Mark Mitchell's epic investigation into the short attack on Dendreon are in luck: the complete story of Dendreon is available for download in .pdf format here. http://www.deepcapture.com/the-complete-story-of-dendreon-is-now-available/ Two things: First, I highly recommend making a habit of listening to NPR's Planet Money podcast. I've been listening for nearly a year (the entire length of its existence) and find the benefits innumerable. If you're not familiar with podcasting, it's basically an easy way to have audio content automatically downloaded ... http://www.deepcapture.com/the-climate-on-planet-money/ (As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm looking for extra feedback on the ideas presented here, as they are currently under development and able to benefit greatly from your insights.) I think we can all agree that the middle of last September was as strange a time as our financial ... http://www.deepcapture.com/goldman-pillages-goldman-steals-goldman-sachs/ As many of you already know, I’m currently writing a book dedicated to a much deeper examination of the subjects addressed in this blog. As always, I’m going to great lengths to ensure that every assertion in the book is defensible. However, because finance is not my primary (nor secondary, nor ... http://www.deepcapture.com/a-new-category-deep-capture-the-book/ If you fail to find entertainment value in seeing illegal naked short selling proponent Gary Weiss publicly caught telling irresponsible lies, then you may consider this post optional and stop reading now. [caption id="attachment_1092" align="alignleft" width="197" caption="Gary Weiss wonders how he managed to get caught sockpuppeting...again."][/caption] On the other hand, if you ... http://www.deepcapture.com/gary-weiss-busted-again/ [caption id="attachment_1071" align="alignleft" width="183" caption="The Bizarro World Code"][/caption] Within minutes of my introduction to the world of short selling hedge funds, I encountered the analogy that remains the best suited to describe the truth to which they subscribe: Bizarro World. A planet that appears from time to time in the DC Comics ... http://www.deepcapture.com/blue-kryptonite-and-naked-short-selling/ Back in college, where the combination of free time and that university mojo so often lend themselves to this sort of thing, a friend and I challenged each other to cram the most undeniable truth into complete sentences of the fewest possible words. In the end, we settled on the following: “Entropy ... http://www.deepcapture.com/the-pendulum-swings/ // < ![CDATA[ digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Gary_Weiss_the_bumbling_sockpuppet_Deep_Capture_exposing'; // ]]> Apparently aware of the ruin that is his own reputation, Gary Weiss has taken to battling in favor of illegal stock market manipulation on political blog aggregator DailyKos.com, under the pseudonym “Tom Sykes”. Weiss has a rich history of abusive sockpuppeting, mostly for the purpose ... http://www.deepcapture.com/gary-weiss-discards-own-identity-reborn-%e2%80%9ctom-sykes%e2%80%9d-the-bumbling-sockpuppet/ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Michael_Milken_and_the_Story_of_Dendreon_Chapter_15'; // ]]> What follows is PART 15 of a 15-PART series. Soon, we will publish the full 15-part story as a single document. Click here to read PART 1 Click here to read PART 2 Click here to read PART 3 Click here to read PART ... http://www.deepcapture.com/michael-milken-60000-deaths-and-the-story-of-dendreon-chapter-15-of-15/ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Michael_Milken_and_the_Story_of_Dendreon_Chapter_14'; // ]]> What follows is PART 14 of a 15-PART series. The last installment will appear on Deep Capture in the coming days, after which point the story will be published in its entirety. Click here to read PART 1 Click here to read ... http://www.deepcapture.com/michael-milken-60000-deaths-and-the-story-of-dendreon-chapter-14-of-15/ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Michael_Milken_and_the_Story_of_Dendreon_Chapter_13'; // ]]> What follows is PART 13 of a 15-PART series. The remaining installments will appear on Deep Capture in the coming days, after which point the story will be published in its entirety. Click here to read PART 1 Click here ... http://www.deepcapture.com/michael-milken-60000-deaths-and-the-story-of-dendreon-chapter-13-of-15/ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Michael_Milken_and_the_Story_of_Dendreon_Chapter_12'; // ]]> What follows is PART 12 of a 15-PART series. The remaining installments will appear on Deep Capture in the coming days, after which point the story will be published in its entirety. Click ... http://www.deepcapture.com/michael-milken-60000-deaths-and-the-story-of-dendreon-chapter-12-of-15/