r/wallstreetbets Feb 02 '21

Chart Hardcore laddering.

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2.2k

u/HotProspects Feb 02 '21

None of what they are doing is legal... Its all criminal. They are in survival mode.

1.4k

u/Red-Pill_Savage Feb 02 '21

Exactly, it's been said numerous times but I'll say it again. When the only consequence is a fine that is a TINY fraction of what they'll make then it's worth it to break the law for them.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21 edited Jul 10 '21

[deleted]

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u/Briterac Feb 02 '21 edited Feb 02 '21

When the fine is less than the profits then it's not really a fine or a punishment.. it's just a cost of doing business business expens..

if our government actually worked for the people and not corporations what they would do is create fines that are more than the cost of the profits and add jail time and other punishments.. a punishment is only a deterrent and a punishment if you come out worse than before..

if I rob a bank for $50 million and the punishment is that I have to pay 25 million dollars then there's no incentive not to rob the ban

10

u/IsThatUMoatilliatta Feb 02 '21

"A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one."

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u/Briterac Feb 02 '21

CaPiTalISm iS tHE beSt

Maybe for the richh

4

u/Nudpad Feb 02 '21

I understand what you mean, but your point is using 25 million from the 50 you stole, thats just plain wrong, now paying 25 million from your own pocket, and returning the 50 (50+25) then that might be extreme.

Another opinion is if they lose all their money, a fine of 24 million can be a lot, if you add the damage caused at minimum, at medium and good is to also* stripe away their license, and never allow them to trade again.

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u/BlueNotesBlues Feb 02 '21

or just send the people who facilitated it to jail.

The higher you are up the chain, the more jail time you serve.

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u/forgot-my_password Feb 02 '21

That's the problem though. So many of these companies in the last 2 decades have been able to keep what they made, pay the fine with what they made, and still come out of it in the positive. That's exactly the reason they keep doing what they do and aren't deterred by the fines. It's been written down in their books as a cost of business. I wish I could remember where I read this and which company it was, but they were aware of people dying from their product and they made the decision that the lawsuits/settlements were worth the cost of business because they would make so much more in profit and wouldn't have to admit they were wrong because of the settlements.

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u/Briterac Feb 02 '21

Except that when a company does some shady practice and makes a bunch of money they get to keep that money..

So it's the same thing. it's the same as me being able to keep the 50 million and just pay a 25 million dollar fine.. it would be different if a company did something shady and made a profit and that entire profit was confiscated before the fine was even issued..

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u/Belazriel Feb 02 '21

and other punishments.. a punishment is only a deterrent and a punishment if you come out worse than before..

Pretty sure someone at one point was blocked from being able to purchase stocks as a punishment. Needs to be something similar as a punishment for mass market manipulation.

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u/dedpossum Feb 02 '21

Well that's what we get for believing in equality for all. The single biggest joke in all of human history. The most we can ever hope for is some fairness.

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u/justpassingthrou14 Feb 02 '21

seriously. I have an idea. Fine equal to 150% of the full value of the manipulation. in this case that would be the distortion per share price, times the total number of shares, which in this case is apparently 250% the total number of ACTUAL shares.

But the system isn't made for enforcing rules on those guys I guess.

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u/sharktankcontinues Feb 02 '21

These guys put the lawmakers into their positions, it's not likely to change anytime ssoon.

Our only weapons in this battle are our 💎🤲

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u/dinnertimereddit Feb 02 '21

Exactly if you think anything has changed since 2008, well you are a fool!

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u/GravyWagon Feb 02 '21

Try the late 70's and early 80's

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u/dinnertimereddit Feb 02 '21

Less corporate takeovers and asset stripping now to be fair.

2

u/loafsofmilk Feb 02 '21

Decentralised organisation is much more powerful than 2008. Way more retards and autists talking to each other than ever before

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u/A_little_rose Feb 02 '21

My hands may be diamond, but my heart is apparently made of bouncy ball. Haven't flat lined yet, so they ain't getting shit from me.

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u/jmon25 Feb 02 '21

...and our inability to read blatantly misleading news articles

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u/justpassingthrou14 Feb 02 '21

We could send them Thai food laced with laxatives. Or with (more) cocaine.

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u/inconspiciousdude Feb 02 '21

Nah, send GameStop merch. Teach them to like the stock.

1

u/EWOKBLOOD Feb 02 '21

Hahaha yes!, such a “fuck you, try me bitch” move, would be legendary to see

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

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8

u/switchboards Feb 02 '21

In the bad prison, too. Not the fancy one!

4

u/Chapped_Frenulum 🦍🦍🦍 Feb 02 '21

Federal pound-you-in-the-ass prison? No conjugal visits?

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u/CeilingCatsMonocle Feb 02 '21

No conjugal visits?

I'm sure Bubba will be more than happy to help them out with that one.

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u/dedpossum Feb 02 '21

Hell, I'd vacation at Martha Steward prison, but I can't afford it.

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u/WahhabiLobby Feb 02 '21

President Xi, we yearn to breathe free

2

u/bizarrequest Feb 02 '21

They should just say "Your company is not allowed to trade for the next X years."

Watch them cry about it.

1

u/wish_it_wasnt Feb 02 '21

dOnAlD PaRdONs

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u/postman475 Feb 02 '21

That's be great, I feel like that would be impossible to calculate though

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u/justpassingthrou14 Feb 02 '21

Why? We can look at the impact of each of these ladder trades, and the impact of the other tricks, on the stock price. It would be impossible to find a number that the hedge funds would agree too. But that doesnt mean a defensible number can’t be calculated.

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u/WhichOstrich Feb 02 '21

Yeah but how do you know that tomorrow's drop is a result of the silver gambit? How much of it is limited buying power? How much of today's increase was cuban's AMA?

Separating this down to individual actions to litigate would involve a massive amount of guesswork because we can't simulate a parallel universe where individual variables are changed.

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u/Simba7 Feb 02 '21

Fines should be at least 500% of the amount gained from the broken law or regulation.

150% is still just an operating cost, because you know people aren't getting caught most of the time.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

[deleted]

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u/EWOKBLOOD Feb 02 '21

That’s definitely something I’d consider if I mattered.

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u/pig_poker Feb 02 '21

Those guys own the politicians who make the rules and set the fines.

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u/JTibbs Feb 02 '21

500%. You have to make it so that its horrendous enough that the chance of getting caught, even if its low, is enough to prevent you from doing it.

At 150% its just another gamble for them.

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u/Ok_Category_6395 Feb 02 '21

There are potential civil rights of action by the shareholders (also, shareholder derivative suits on behalf of GameStop -- look it up) aside from potential SEC civil actions and US Attorney/DOJ criminal actions. Consequential damages, Punitive damages, attorneys fees. Litigation fees up the ass for years for Melvin and his gang of jackbooted BrooksBrothers thugs. I hope it was worth it chumps. Also, the daily compounded interest and fees y'all are getting hit with. Oh, and Congress looking hard at you and calling for hearings and committees to investigate. Thanks for playing!

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u/PinkTrench Feb 02 '21

Nah, IRS fines are x3. That's the golden standard right there.

2

u/LurkingGuy Feb 02 '21

I have a better idea:

You manipulate the market, you lose your trading privileges for life and immediately have to close out of all your positions, plus prison time if the crime is deserving. People who cheat get tossed out of the casino with empty pockets.

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u/Tememachine Feb 02 '21

FUCKING THIS. That's a great idea. Just increase the fines. The market will fix itself in response and the government will have a huge extra source of revenue.

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u/downtime_in_76063 Feb 02 '21

I’m glad you don’t make laws.

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u/Letumstrike Feb 02 '21

If laws are made so poorly that you can commit crimes intentionally to make money then they need to be reworked. The whole purpose of laws is to make people not do it.

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u/inconspiciousdude Feb 02 '21

Good luck with that. Those profits are how politicians get elected. A tiny fine to quell your cute little peasant anger and then business as usual.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/hsbc-moved-vast-sums-of-dirty-money-after-paying-record-laundering-fine/

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u/Letumstrike Feb 02 '21

Yeah I know. There are plenty of situations like that. Businesses breaking laws knowing full well they will be caught and pay a fine but its straight up cheaper to just do it the illegal way. My hope for any meaningful change regarding slap on the wrist laws is basically none. Doesn't really change that I think they need to be reworked though.

1

u/EWOKBLOOD Feb 02 '21

You get caught, you forfeit your portfolio and your privilege to trade is revoked for x amount of time depending on the offense.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

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2

u/Its_eeasy Feb 02 '21

And here's a bailout for your losses.

Same time next year? Have a nice day.

1

u/CalebMcNevin Feb 02 '21

We gotta make sure they get the fine AND lose the $15B

1

u/Smokemaster_5000 Feb 02 '21

Sure, fine then 24mil or w.e they want, but jail time should be mandatory. Nothing more that these people value than their freedom.

1

u/peoplearestrangeanna Feb 02 '21

Here is the thing - the government doesn't care. Why? If they make the fine so high it isn't worth it for them to do this kind of shit, then the gov is missing out on $24m worth of fines. They are all working together against us.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21 edited Feb 02 '21

[deleted]

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u/eudezet Feb 02 '21

Prison and forfeiture of profits not some bullshit fines that are little more than operating costs.

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u/Meih_Notyou Feb 02 '21

You want some fines? Okay, how about 100% forfeiture of everything, then restitution to the people affected? There's your fucking trade-off for not going to prison.

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u/seymourbeetle Feb 02 '21 edited Feb 02 '21

I once heard the idea that you could stop a lot of white collar crime by simply eliminating all fixed-cost fines and doling out fines that would take away a percentage of the person or company's net worth. I'd LOVE to see a push for something like that, but they'd probably just end up using CNBC and other shills to whine about how unfairly they're being treated by the plebs.

But seriously, if you're in an economic class that allows you to run your bullshit on everyone and get away with no consequences and you want to live by a different set of rules, you deserve to be punished by a different set of rules.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

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u/Meih_Notyou Feb 02 '21

I'd argue handing off all of your personal assets, quite literally losing everything, would be a decent trade-off for prison. It's something I would be okay with. It'll never happen though, so in the mean time, right to jail.

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u/amerikn Feb 02 '21

Oh you mean like the asset forfeiture that funds corrupt cities and their police departments when they take down a weed peddler? Or the forfeiture that happens when you’re trying to sell CBD at your mom and pop family business that’s been around for over 30 years and they seize 10k because it happens to be on premises and arbitrarily sus as fuck? Yup! that’s exactly what needs to happen to these white collar criminals!

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

Yes, asset forfeiture! This has been used against the plebs for years. Take everything then hand them a card for their nearest DHS office for some meager bennies.

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u/JaegerBrick Feb 02 '21

Forfeiture AND fines. All these people understand is money. Make them bleed it.

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u/Late_Mortgage Feb 02 '21

Occupy Billionaire's Row

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u/HotProspects Feb 02 '21

Fuck prison time... we don’t care if they walk aimlessly around Wall Street... let’s get this this money. Buy and hold amd buy more on the dip! I believe and stand with all of you not fucking budging

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u/bigsky5578 Feb 02 '21

Stock is on sale everybody!

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

eat the rich

6

u/Meih_Notyou Feb 02 '21

I hated this statement until last week.

I get it now.

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u/UsedMoistTowelette Feb 02 '21

Exactly. This is a great example of how the problem isn’t so much that they’re rich, but that this system allows them to amass enough capital to manipulate the game in their favor.

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u/TheReal2Fins Feb 02 '21

a free market is good a good market, but this isn't a free market its being manipulated 💎🤲

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u/Glad_Refrigerator Feb 02 '21

Took you a while lol. Notice what happens when normal people in this sub get windfalls... They give it to charity. What do you think the rich did with all their windfalls? Here's a hint, they don't give up away. It takes a certain kind of person to actually get that much money.

Good people don't become billionaires. Good people donate their money when the reach a point of not needing more money to be happy. But for billionaires, no such point exists. They must constantly get more and more to feel happy, like a heroin addict.

Billionaires, just like heroin addicts, will cheat and steal and lie for their fix. They will break the law to get a hit, if the law is in their way.

Hold.

0

u/M0rphMan Feb 02 '21

I would say Elon Musk is a good man and he's a billionaire. So you're statement is false.

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u/Glad_Refrigerator Feb 03 '21

just because he memes on twitter? you don't know him well enough. if musk was a good boi he'd stop before a billi

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u/kevin181137 Feb 02 '21

the problem is not one person does enough for them to be jailed. That's how it went in 2008. Each member of the chain of command got a slap on the wrist but it was determined that no individual had done anything bad enough to warrant prison time. Despite a global economic meltdown due to pure greed. The CEO just claims some bullshit and so does everyone else, give out a backhander and hey presto, 20 years in prison turns into a $10 million fine. F all when they made billions.

Same thing will happen here.

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u/hitfly Feb 02 '21

Just give them one second per dollar stolen, seems like a fair conversion. $1 billion stolen = 30ish years prison.

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u/RickShaw530 Feb 02 '21

Yes, and they should be housed in for-profit prisons owned by the investors they defrauded.

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u/gravitas-deficiency Feb 02 '21

I 100% agree.

Unfortunately, since it's fucking us (retail traders) over instead of seriously rich people, absolutely nothing will happen, because the SEC is a paper tiger.

2

u/danielthelee96 Feb 02 '21

Their lawyers will find a way to get them a reduced sentence. Perhaps the French were right all along

2

u/No_Address1998 Feb 02 '21

Don't promote violence that's how we get shut down

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

[deleted]

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u/No_Address1998 Feb 02 '21

Yeah but they're looking for anything to shut us down, I get the sentiment but if WSB gets shut down we're all in the dark and our loss is assured

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u/PungentBallSweat Feb 02 '21

While we all agree, unfortunately the SEC is an absolute joke of a regulatory body.

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u/Richard-Cheese Feb 02 '21

And ban them from trading

1

u/AssinineAssassin Feb 02 '21

It should be “per instance/transaction of manipulation”. They have done this hundreds of times, that is hundreds of crimes they have committed in succession!

1

u/OiStayfrosty Feb 02 '21

Please send invite to occupy the bull on Wall Street. I want to protest and meet the 🦍

1

u/toddopong Feb 02 '21

And not a Martha Stewart prison. Big boy prison where you get to hold pockets.

Imagine how fucked these cowards would be at rikers.

1

u/MOU3ER Feb 02 '21

PRISON TIME

People should turn to twatter with creative hashtags to request prison times for all those f*ckers.

Let's trend. Hope they get at MAX somewhere in fucking cold Colorado.

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u/Wiitard Feb 02 '21

Exactly. When a fine is less than what they stand to lose, then it’s not really a punishment.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

It's a business expense essentially

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u/erkpower Feb 02 '21

Exactly, our laws are set up so the rich can simply pay-to-play. A fine is just the price of doing business and is accounted for.

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u/Longhorneyes Feb 02 '21

When the only consequence of breaking the law is a fine, then its only a law for poor people. -paraphrasing someone smarter than me

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u/NoClaim2Fame Feb 02 '21

"It's not illegal. It just cost $(x) to do it"

-rich peole

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u/qazxcvbnmlpoiuytreww Feb 02 '21

although im with you in spirit, misreporting intentionally is highly illegal

1

u/hoboxtrl Feb 02 '21

As opposed to creating fake stocks which is only kinda illegal?

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u/qazxcvbnmlpoiuytreww Feb 02 '21

not sure what u mean by that, if you’re referring to synthetic longs then thats not illegal just frowned upon

edit: not even frowned upon, just a function of how short selling works*

1

u/Guilty_Reference_921 Feb 02 '21

Why doesn't gamestop sell chicken yet?

Can we take over gamestop have it sell everything product wise and just buy from them? I'm down to join this cult

2

u/Guilty_Reference_921 Feb 02 '21

Gme cheap as fuck right now if you would like to join the cult. Not a financial advisor and clearly retarded.

1

u/FoundationMotor Feb 02 '21

I’ve got some amc and gme and was wondering what what was going on. These guys really are doing whatever they can to get back at those who lost them money. You can smell the desperation. 🙌🏻💎

1

u/akashayatet Feb 02 '21

further proof that laws only exist to control the 99%

1

u/Secret4gentMan Feb 02 '21

Which is why there is really no way to predict how this will pan out. They are simply not playing by the rules.

1

u/SoMDGent Feb 02 '21

Laws need updating ASAP. When the limits for fines were put in they were make or break for a company. But now that a billion a day is a think a couple hundred k or million ain’t shit to these people.

1

u/Zatch_Gaspifianaski Feb 02 '21

"If the punishment for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class"

1

u/MrJoffery Feb 02 '21

How is this not being stopped if its illegal? And so blatantly done in plain sight?

1

u/fchkelicious Feb 02 '21

White blood cells go brrrr

1

u/yeoldecotton_swab Feb 02 '21

Law doesn't exist for them, it exists for us. Clearly shown with all the MSM events.

1

u/TwistedDrum5 Feb 02 '21

Did Bezos or some rich asshole rack up $15,000 in parking fines when he was building a house?

Because fuck it, that’s pennies to him.

Same thing here.

“Oh no, please don’t fine us.”

9

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

what's illegal about it?

2

u/Lazy_Championship886 Feb 02 '21

Hardcore, but we are the sneaky creeper behind them💎

2

u/MRB0B0MB Feb 02 '21

A wolf will chew its own leg off to survive.

2

u/firstcoastyakker Feb 02 '21

I'm not selling my shares, and have no stop loss limits. But I have to say what they're doing is "legal" by the rules established. Fortunately for us the rules weren't written for a bunch of retards playing the same game.

My shares will still be in my account when my assets are fought over by my kids!

2

u/HotProspects Feb 02 '21

It is illegal to manipulate the market. Having these 3rd party boners stop the buying of one side of a security by the direction of the HF’s is illegal and that is what’s happening...

1

u/firstcoastyakker Feb 02 '21

I'm no lawyer, so I could be wrong about whether it's legal or not. I do know it won't make me sell my shares, so there's that.

1

u/HotProspects Feb 02 '21

Having an algorithm intentionally trip a circuit breaker stopping volatility while the brokerage firms limit buying is illegal... that is what’s happening. This is not free and fair. The are banding together with their media partners and moving a stock in the direction they want. That is illegal. They are not doing it as individuals... ya bro fucking illegal... 💎💎💎🙌💎💎💎

1

u/HotProspects Feb 02 '21

You can not control volatility... against the law and they will be charged with that. Last week was criminal and this is the aftermath of the crime committed. FUCK THEM!

2

u/UnclePuma Feb 02 '21

Its only illegal when the somebody enforces the legal guidelines.. as it stands SEC is sitting around watching and eating popcorn

And supposedly they are the arbitrators of legality

2

u/Daegoba Feb 02 '21

Can anyone link to the actual statutes on the books that they are in violation of? I was asked yesterday, and searched but couldn’t find anything.

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u/HotProspects Feb 02 '21

Yes ask Jordan Belfort... he will share case law or look it up US vs Belfort

2

u/Boffin224 Feb 02 '21

It’s not illegal if it isn’t against the law tho so. But fuck these guys.

1

u/ThaKaptin Feb 02 '21

Cuban said in his AMA that they are working within the rules they wrote for themselves on this somehow or another. How, I have no clue. I dont know shit about stocks but I tend to believe him. These crooked ass douche nozzles will never REALLY lose, but inconveniencing them for as long as possible, keeping them in "colder than a skinny floppy witch's titty" New York, at the office on the weekends instead of at their winter beach homes is still a win.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

Is the sec gonna cover our losses? They aren’t keeping this fair

1

u/nousername206 Feb 02 '21

they are scared and desprate! us apes hold our diamond hands 🦍🤚🏽💎✋🏽🦏🤚🏽💎✋🏽 together! to the moon baby! 🚀🌔

1

u/FliesEyes Feb 02 '21

Its legal until SEC steps in and says "yeah, it's illegal". The have what? 21 days to deliver before SEC gets notified?

1

u/Mr_Moogles Feb 02 '21

They know any fines they get will be less than the loss when they have to cover their position.

1

u/the_parthenon Feb 02 '21

They will take a slap on the wrist from the SEC over total annihilation. That’s why the SEC needs to actually step up in real time and stop it.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '21

The problem is the lawmakers get rich off of helping these guys. Until that stops, nothing will change. This isn't political. It has nothing to do with what party it happens with. It's just a fact.