Investment Q&A

Q: Hi, do you have a link to US companies that you cover or have interest ? Thank you!

Q: Hi Peter,

How do you see the hedge funds unwinding their position? All the data says that there is still over 100% short interest.. if "the people" don't sell and keep buying it will drive the price/daily margin calls higher and higher until they are bankrupt (and they are already probably close due to the $2.75B injection Melvin had to get, which was before the price was as high as it is now and is probably all gone).

But if they start unwinding the massive short position it will just squeeze them harder. Am I missing something? What do you think their plan is here? Are they all calling each other saying "don't unwind we need to hold off?" Seems like a big game of chicken and the masses are not backing down - people were already pissed off before hand, but I think people got extremely enraged on that day the retail guy for restricted and could only sell but the hedge funds could trade freely.

I think they were already on the brink and it would have been game over if robinhood didn't restrict trading that day last week. But even now they only allow 1 share to be bought. If it wasn't for the restrictions "the squeeze would have be squoze" they say! What do you see as likely scenarios for this ending?

Q: Please tell me about this situation

Q: As it says no trading commision Does it make sence to switch to them?
Are they insued for clients money.This is not stock related but most of Us will benefit
by Free trading.
2.Is it because of GME and others that Hedgefund is selling stocks and driving market down.Please advice us how to protect us from big losses from current wild fluctuation.

Q: How long of notice do these short squeezed companies have to give to issue new shares and shore up the balance sheet? If AMC was to issue new shares at the elevated price it would be a win for them. I see executives are cashing shares in - why not? I would.

Q: I’ve heard that the costs to borrow shares for shorting purposes have gone from 29% to 50%. I’ve never shorted shares before and was curious if this was an annual percentage fee.

Q: hi 5i team

2 beginners questions about options

Question 1; This may seem like a silly question. I owned 300 shares of FLGT for a while, then I sold 3 july calls at 47.5 Now the silly question is, when the call expires, do I have to give specific instructions to the brokerage, or do they just see the 300 shares in my account and automatically sell them at 47.50 ? (since I did not place both the buy share order and sell call at the same time).

Question 2a and 2b: For the sake of the question, let's assume a zero bid ask spread. From what I see in the quotes in my account, and suppose the call was to expire at the same prices tomorrow, then I would be better (by about 1000$ US) to buy back the calls and sell the shares at the current prices then to let it execute ! I am surprised by that, any comment you can make, does it seem normal ?
Question 2b: then IF I thought the price of the stock would keep going up, it would be better to close out the position now.
many thanks

Q: The typical suggested portfolio size seems to be about 20 stocks. Your portfolios are constructed at about this size. Why?

Why not a larger assortment of stocks/ETFs/etc...? Perhaps a limit of $2000 (or whatever) per selection could be made and each sector would then be represented and diversified within. Would not this mitigate risk while still providing opportunities for gain?

Q: Is it possible to create a list of USA and CDN stocks that are heavily shorted if not is there a site that you can refer to?

Thanks for the great service

Q: I just read one person claiming that he turned 50k into 11 million trading this stock. (probably fake news).But if it goes the other way, how does this retail gambler pay back an 11 million dollar loss when he's only got 50k in the bank?And how does the winner get their money from robinhood or whomever? the amount of margin required ,would astronomical for this retail trader.Hedge funds at least,can sell other stocks which drives other asset values lower.It seems someone is going to get a beating.

Q: Gents,
Your thoughts on the GameStop situation.
With the success of the Robinhood + Reddit influencers, how does one put pure speculative momentum trading back in the bottle? It feels like an OTC chat board on steroids' that self perpetuates. Other examples like AMC, BB and FR (today).
Some CEO's may even embrace this activity.
A sidebar question, what would happen if a Company had an approved ATM financing in place and fed into the mob?
Just thinking out load...
Thanks.
G

Q: I seems like the CEO of Real Matters is selling shares on the public market while company buys back shares. In December CEO share buy backs for redemption or cancellation were always followed by CEO public market sale. Could this be an indication of something stinky going on?

Q: What is the economic value added by "short selling"? Especially lately, the practice seems to be driven by nothing other than greed? Why isn't it prohibited by regulators?

Q: Apologies for the dumb question, but the craziness over these short squeezes has introduced me to new ideas I don't fully understand.
1. I didn't realize I could instruct my broker not to permit my shares to be borrowed by short-sellers. But how can I lend out a share to a short-seller if I'm holding the stock the entire time? I don't plan to sell my 100 shares of LSPD anytime soon, so how can I lend it to a short-seller?
2. Can't all shareholders instruct their brokers not to permit borrowing of their shares? If so, would'nt that restrict the ability of short-sellers to short a stock? It seems like reducing the ability of short-sellers to short a stock I own would be good for the stock price.

Thanks
Michael

Q: Today, Finland announced the introduction of a financial literacy strategy aimed at educating its population. This move is a direct result of increasing consumer credit defaults, a dangerous statistic for economic health.

The new program will rely on help from industry experts like bankers and insurance companies to create a curriculum. Social media influencers and TV personalities will help spread knowledge, too.

Finland seems to understand that you never really stop learning.

Thank you 5i for advancing Canada's financial literacy.

Glen

Q: My broker's website crashed again this morning. You would need to book off a full day to try to get hold of them on the phone. Hmmm, doesn't this sound a lot like 2008/9? We know how that ended.

Q: For those (like me) who are struggling to understand the gamestop story
there is a fairly clear explanation here.
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22249458/gamestop-stock-wallstreetbets-reddit-citron

Q: My information source discloses that institutional holdings of ATD have dropped 20 million shares in the past three months to overall 31.4%. Two questions, is 31.4% low for institutional holdings? And is it a concern that institutions may be negative on the company?

Q: In your opinion how will these short squeeze situations affect the markets going forward? Will we never see such a large percentage of the float being shorted again? Surely any company that experiences a 100% float will be the next target of a reddit campaign.

It could also be looked at from the other side. Any company with a high percentage of shares sold short could experience buyers trying to preemptively predict reddit forums from doing it first. Has this situation permanently changed short selling?

Q: Hi 5i,

You have mentioned that the US retail investors are speculating BB's operating system for autos may become the industry.
What exactly is the social media stock boards Redditt and RobinHood do you mentioned? How can they able to push up or down the stock price? Just like a large group of gamblers doing mass trading without any fundamental analysis? Would you please kindly advise and explain in detail? Thanks a lot.