By Reza Ganjavi, MBA
This page contains information about war on truth by short sellers and naked short sellers, featuring Jim Kramer and his cronies and former employees Adam Feuerstein and the convicted criminal Martin Shkreli. Also discussed: Avanir, naked shorting, Jefferies, Thomas Wei, Bernie Madoff, etc.
Jim Cramer is the guru of deception and lies. A disgusting man to listen to - when I hear him talk I feel nauseous. He boasts about deception and dishonesty: "But what's important when you're in that hedge fund mode is to not do a thing remotely truthful, because the truth is so against your view that it's important to create a new truth to develop a fiction." Jim Cramer.
These were removed by the scum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOS8QgAQO-k – longer version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMShFx5rThI
Here are newly uploaded versions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyaPf6qXLa8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AADRiRqdmZw
Jim Cramer admits to illegal activity, manipulation, deceptive practices. This is as bad and ugly as Wall Street gets.
Jim Cramer draws fire over manipulation comments (Reuters): https://archive.is/1ykS0
Cramer unbelievable "caught on tape" - Discussion in 'Wall St. News' started by Don Bright, Mar 21, 2007: https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/cramer-unbelievable-caught-on-tape.90147/ , https://archive.is/nOJ8E
Jim Cramer's Wall Street Confidential: https://web.archive.org/web/20240122040407/https://seekingalpha.com/article/22953-jim-cramers-wall-street-confidential-dec-22
The convicted crook Martin Shkreli, and Adam Feuerstein both worked for Cramer – he was their mentor and boss.
Adam Feuerstein has been considered as the most hated journalist on Wall Street. What does journalism have to do with Wall Street? See the Cramer video above!
Adam has engaged in relentless bashing of some stocks that are heavily manipulated and shorted.
Steven Pearlstein: “Adam Feuerstein, a biotech reporter whose relentlessly negative blog posts for thestreet.com this year have not only been filled with exaggeration, mischaracterization and half-truths, but curiously have also coincided with the spikes in short trading.”
Adam Feuerstein and his friend Martin Shkreli are both from Cramer school. Shkreli was short big on Avanir. See notes in Avanir section below on Feuerstein’s bashing. Also Seeking Alpha was supporting Shkreli. I know this first hand. Shkreli is in prison.
Feuerstein is not a securities analyst. He has no academic credentials in finance, medicine, biology, or any other health-science. He studied Political Science! I have thought at times that some of the garbage he writers to bash stocks, which sound very scientific, may be handed to him others - possibly the doctors and scientists who are employed by hedge funds. We know that Shkreli's hedge fund also employed doctors -- who apparently help him trash talk stocks.
This list of issues with Adam is long. Here’s a snapshot.
Citizens for responsibility and ethics in Washington (CREW) alleges that Adam Feuerstein is involved in stock manipulation scheme.
“CREW requested the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigate possible illegal manipulation of stock prices in Northwest Biotherapeutics, a biotechnology company developing cancer treatment drugs. Strategically released blog posts by well-known biotech stock analyst and senior columnist for TheStreet.com Adam Feuerstein seem designed to cause the price of the company’s stock to fall at times when short sellers were financially overexposed. CREW has asked the SEC and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to conduct a full investigation of the timing of Mr. Feuerstein’s posts and their relationship to short seller financial interests.” – That completely fits the Cramer school of thought (see video above).
CREW Requests SEC Investigate Manipulation of Drug Company Stock Price to Benefit Short Sellers: https://archive.is/GsXax , old: https://www.citizensforethics.org/legal-filing/crew-sec-investigation-manipulation-drug-company-biotech-stock-feuerstein/
CREW Complaint To SEC: https://archive.is/ozsH1 , https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.citizensforethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/20021957/7-29-14_SEC_Feuerstein_Letter.pdf
CREW Complaint To SEC (Exhibits): https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.citizensforethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/20021922/7-29-14_SEC_Feuerstein_Investigation_Exhibits.pdf
“It also has implied that Adam Feuerstein, a reporter for TheStreet.com, may be in cahoots with the shorts.” https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-a-washington-post-columnist-takes-aim-at-shortsellers-but-misfires-20140929-column.html , https://archive.is/0GXMB
Open Letter to FTC Alleges Unlawful Intent, Advertising Fraud, Deception
“This flagrant inaction to rectify obvious and possibly slanderous errors possibly establishes willful action on the part of CEO Ms. Elisabeth H. DeMarse, Adam Feuerstein, James J. Cramer & The Street, Inc. a publicly traded corporation possibly demonstrates ongoing unlawful intent in perpetrating a systematic, active and recurring Advertising Fraud and Deception within all States in the U.S. by utilizing the internet as a dissemination vehicle for possibly systematically publishing”
http://x54389.weebly.com/617-open-letter-to-ftc-re-the-street-inc-possible-nationwide-advertising-fraud-and-deception.html#page_4 , https://archive.is/o89nD
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Battles the Shorts and Adam Feuerstein
“Adam's Feuerstein's Intentionally Misleading Headlines and Distorted Articles.” https://web.archive.org/web/20170309174028/http://www.exposeadam.com/
Adam Feuerstein’s inaccurate reports are becoming patient safety issue claims biomedical company CEO: https://archive.is/hlMuB , old: https://www.biomedreports.com/articles/most-popular/1683-reporters-inaccurate-articles-are-becoming-patient-safety-issue-claims-biomedical-company-ceo.html
Not long after the announcement, TheStreet.Com’s biomedical columnist Adam Feuerstein leveled an accusation that Oculus “appeared to be skirting U.S. drug laws by claiming that its wound-cleansing product containing common diluted bleach has drug-like therapeutic properties.” “This is becoming a patient safety issue and putting public safety at risk,” Alimi told BioMedReports in an exclusive recorded interview. “It’s no longer [about] attacking a company and the market potential and market cap. You’re damaging public safety.” Ocolus CEO felt that the publication had fallen short of reporting the truth and science behind the technology accurately. “When you haven’t done your due diligence and you don’t understand the basic chemistry of our product [and] you make recommendations like that you are putting patients’ safety at risk,” insists Alimi. “There has to be a level of integrity in the research written and I think that’s really lacking in their case.
The Truth about Adam Feuerstein
This article has a lot to say about Adam. I don’t know how much of it is true. Reader can decide for themselves: http://bioinvestor204.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-adam-feuerstein-lie-with-his.html , https://archive.is/aA4Cg
Collection: Adam Feuerstein Bashing Stocks
https://www.investorvillage.com/smbd.asp?mb=971&mn=336133&pt=msg&mid=8823648 , https://archive.is/Qa3gn
Washington Post Calls For An Investigation Into Hedge Fund Trading And Adam Feuerstein's Blogging
The article was written by Steven Pearlstein, a 2008 Pulitzer prize winner. The Post suggests that there may be a wide spread criminal conspiracy that has victimized many small biotechnology companies and their investors. The Post also focuses on the prominent role of Adam Feuerstein in this situation. https://seekingalpha.com/instablog/649685-smith-on-stocks/3312775-washington-post-calls-for-an-investigation-into-hedge-fund-trading-and-adam-feuersteins-blogging , https://archive.is/Rq8V8
Mr. Pearlstein highlighted the role of Adam Feuerstein, a biotech columnist for TheStreet.com. Mr. Feuerstein’s “relentlessly negative blog posts”… have curiously “coincided with the spikes in short trading” of the company’s stock. https://web.archive.org/web/20170505163006/https://www.citizensforethics.org/why-did-comments-critical-of-thestreet-and-adam-feuerstein-disappear/ , old: https://www.citizensforethics.org/why-did-comments-critical-of-thestreet-and-adam-feuerstein-disappear/
Short & Distort
Adam clearly doesn’t have the qualifications, credentials, education, background, medical knowledge to duel with doctors and scientists who call out his lies. So where does he get his info from? Is he merely parroting lines that he’s told? By whom? I don’t have the answer to these questions explicitly, but I do know that many hedge funds who engage in “short and distort” have medical doctors and PhD’s on their payroll who help them stir up fictions and lies. Shkreli’s company claimed to to have MD’s and PhD’s on staff.
“Short & Distort” is an age old strategy on Wall Street (see Cramer’s video above). Hedge fund lobby fiercely defended the practice at a SEC’s round table. Is Adam part of that scheme? Many think that he’s been. I also believe that Adam is not talking only for his own opinions.
Jim Watson @jimbo_781 wrote (https://twitter.com/jimbo_781/status/1357866567321616385/photo/1) , https://archive.is/84i5B :
Has anyone at Stat actually researched this company? It’s almost like Adam is provided pre-written talking points from his Hedge Fund buddies. Do you have an editor? Or is it that “Spiegal” guy? $cydy
“Pharma bro” is known as the most hated man on Wall Street. In my book, he only comes after his guru, Jim Cramer, and Adam Feuerstein, as the worst of Wall Street. He’s serving a 7 year prison sentence for defrauding investors, etc.
~~~
HEDGE FUND MANAGER MARTIN SHKRELI tried to dissuade the FDA against a company I invested in, and he failed as I told him he would. Before that, he shorted another stock I owned in a manner which many felt uneasy about since his arguments seemed problematic, fictional, manipulative. There he also said he'll donate 50% of his gain to charity and agreed to be held accountable. I held him accountable as a member of public but to date he's failed to show his charity contribution.
Later on he covered his short position at a nice profit.
I wrote to him and called and exchanged emails. Here's one. The previous correspondences were to his old company MSMB CAPITAL (msmbcapital.com) doesn't seem to exist any more.
Martin Shkreli, Retrophin, Inc.
Subject: For Martin Please
From: Reza Ganjavi
To: Martin's email (also sent to his other emails)
Date: 19 March 2013
Hi Martin
I'm writing to follow up on the pledge you made about AVNR, your assistant confirmed on February 21, 2012 that you have "committed to donating a large sum to an organization" and that you were planning a joint announcement in the near future.
It's been over a year and I haven't heard of any such announcements. Given the fact that you made the pledge in an AVNR article (in which you misrepresented Avanir's patents before the price drops significantly), I suspect such announcement would be made to Avanir investors who were your audience at the time and were misled by your false argument on the patents.
As a reminder, you wrote an article on May 31, 2011 in which you said: "I promise to donate 50% of my personal AVNR-related profits to charity. I agree to be held accountable to this."
Since you offered, I'm holding you accountable. What charity was it donated to? When was the announcement made? What was donated?
Would appreciate an update on that.
Regards
Reza Ganjavi
~~~
I never held back
Him or his assistant had told me the gift giving was a big deal and it would take time as they'd need to get lawyers and media etc. involved. As far as I know it never happened and a promise went unfulfilled. Talk is cheap I guess. I am ready to stand corrected but I've done my diligence to see if Mr. Shkreli will acknowledge his promise or not and so far have not seen any proof of it.
~~~
CASE CLOSED! Martin Shkreli didn't keep his word.
COMPLAINT TO SEC
TO: SEC Division of Enforcement, SEC Commissioners
7 August 2011, by Reza Ganjavi
Report to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate trading and short-selling of Avanir (AVNR).
BACKGROUND
I am a proponent of Freedom of Speech. However, no form of freedom is absolute, and may not be abused. In the classic “short and distort” setting which the SEC is well aware of (reference: 5 May 2009 “Roundtable to Examine Short Sale Price Test and Circuit Breaker Restrictions” in which, I believe, it was Commissioner Walter who referred to the concept), this freedom is abused. The short who distorts often abuses freedom of speech. In certain cases companies who are victimized take action against such abuse, but in most cases, they don’t bother.
The purpose of this letter is to bring your attention to at least one such recent case, and also to bring to light other actions, which I believe, might be abusive.
As in the case of the gun-shop owner in Texas who recently called the police because of a suspicious soldier, who turned out to be a terrorist, I believe, reporting suspicious activity to the SEC is prudent.
This complaint alleges that Avanir Pharmaceuticals may have been a victim of unethical and abusive short selling. Avanir (Nasdaq: AVNR) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing, and commercializing novel therapeutic products for the treatment of central nervous system disorders. Within the past year it received approval for the first and only FDA-approved treatment for PBA, a debilitating condition which may occur in patients with ALS, MS, Parkinson's, Stroke, TBI, and other neurologic conditions.
AVANIR, A SMALL COMPANY AMONG NASDAQ’S TOP SHORT INTEREST POSITION
As of 26 July 2011, according to Bloomberg, Avanir was the 14th largest short interest position on Nasdaq – just behind Sirius Intel Dell Yahoo Cisco Microsoft etc., with 10’s of millions of shares of volume while Avanir’s volume was 1.2 million and the market caps are not comparable.
The short thesis has been that PBA is not a real disease, and Avanir is going after a fictitious market. Science says otherwise. Credible surveys show there are hundreds of thousands of PBA patients in the US.
CONSEQUENCE OF SEC’S HANDS-OFF APPROACH TOWARDS SHORT-SELLERS ON THE ECONOMY
The SEC, specially, its Republican Commissioners, in the roundtable stated above, have demonstrated to be pro-short selling, supposedly as a tool to help liquidity, but while Wall Street enjoys its freedom to abuse short selling, Main Street is faced with the ugly, unethical, and almost criminal side of this practice on a day to day basis – something which our policeman, the SEC, doesn’t seem to care a bit about.
I believe you will go on for years seeking public comment and holding round tables but never acting, never mandating that large short sellers publicly report their position in a timely manner. The “frontrunner” excuse is just an excuse not to act. It just lets abusive short selling, together with its abuse of freedom of speech, to rape investors and small companies. This includes using journalists, and trolls who disparage Avanir around the clock on public forums attempting to persuade investors to sell their shares by causing fear uncertainty and doubt.
I also believe you will never put a stop to this lack of pre-borrow requirement which according to every criminal justice system, except the SEC’s, is just that: criminal. It is very simple: if I sell your car without even asking you if I could borrow it, it is criminal. This criminal abise happens in the US stock market every single day: people are selling things that they don’t own and not even bothered borrowing.
The consequence of the SEC not caring about these unethical acts of “short and distort” and “lack of timely disclosure of large short positions” and “lack of pre-borrow requirement” is that innovation is killed, which in turn hurts the US and the global economy.
In the case of Avanir, the company spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars in developing its medication to help hundreds of thousands of patients in the US and many more abroad, with a debilitating condition for which no other treatment had been approved. And a bunch of unethical cunning short sellers are doing everything they can to hurt the company. Avanir has enough cash to not depend on its stock in the short term but there are many other victims of short attacks which are destroyed because they can’t raise funds at attractive prices because short sellers have killed the stock.
“CHANNEL CHECKS”
In a recent Tweet, Martin Shkreli (see below) wrote: “DNDN simply breathtaking-Some hedge fund careers will end tomorrow -and I'm sure a few new superstars will be born. so much 4 channel checks”. I assume what is meant by “channel checks” is insider information. What else could it mean in this context? That if “channel checks” were effective we would have known Dendreon had poor earnings. That information is not public until it’s made public. Is it that in the world of these hedge funds, receiving public information before it’s public is not unusual? Isn’t that criminal?
CONGRESSIONAL HEARING
In 9 trading days the price of Avanir soared from $3.25 to $4.80. This translates to about $50,000,000 of losses for the short interest. Reaching $5 would have meant new funds would be eligible to buy, potentially sending the losses for short sellers into hundreds of millions of dollars as a whopping 31.6% of the float is short.
On May 23, Senator Herb Kohl, Congressman Henry Waxman, Congressman Frank Pallone, Congresswoman Diana DeGette wrote the following letter to Avanir: http://aging.senate.gov/hearing_detail.cfm?id=332993&
There are so many pharmas and so many have drugs which are much more expensive than Avanir’s. Avanir is just a new kid of the block and is just learning how to kick the ball, and just as its stock is about to reflect the true prospects for the company these congress people decide to pick on Avanir to investigate the pricing. We do not know the facts, but a lot of people, including respectable industry analysts were appalled not just by this investigation, but by its timing or considered it a non event. Influenced by shorts or not, it did set off a momentum to push the stock down.
Recently, the Senate Commission on Aging came to the conclusion that Avanir is off the hook (http://aging.senate.gov/events/hr236rpt.pdf), citing Avanir had spent $239 Million in developing the drug, etc., and outcome everybody could predict, nevertheless, the company wasted precious resources and tax payers wasted precious resources. Was this inquiry influenced by short sellers? Many believe it did. I do not know. But I collected some of the comments which can be found here: http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/avanir_congress.html
MARTIN SHKRELI
Martin “Marty” Shkreli of MSMB Capital Management (212-983-1310 330 Madison Avenue, 6th Floor New York, NY 10017) is a hedge fund manager and short seller of AVNR.
Some info about his background can be found on https://sites.google.com/site/vatsire/Searching-for-Martin-Shkreli
Notable in his background:
- Four years at Jim Cramer’s company, “Cramer Berkowitz”. I’d like to remind you of Jim Cramer’s famous statement which perfectly portrays the corrupt values of some powerful elements of Wall Street:
"But what’s important when you’re in that hedge fund mode is to not do a thing remotely truthful, because the truth is so against your view that it’s important to create a new truth to develop a fiction."
- Mr. Shkreli was sued by Lehman Brothers and a $2,300,600.00 judgment was levied against Mr. Shkreli, et al. by the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
On May 31, 2011, Mr. Shkreli published an article in which he disparaged Avanir and its patents. According to an Avanir spokesman, Shkreli’s arguments were flawed, inaccurate, and misleading. Details of his flawed arguments have been argued extensively on public forums but fact is, he is short and he uses an inaccurate argument to disparage the stock. What else is “short and distort” if not this?
The timing of this article was also suspect. It was released a few days after the Congress inquiry while the market was ignoring the congress inquiry as insignificant and the stock was beginning to rally again. The day he released the letter the stock was $4.74. Avanir was a victim of further short attacks again, the short interest rose, and the price went as low as $3 in the following weeks.
Mr. Shkreli continues to disparage Avanir in his Tweets and discourage investors from buying Avanir stock.
GOOD NEWS: MARTIN SHKRELI WAS ARRESTED TODAY, 17 DEC 2015 ON CHARGES OF FRAUD, RUNNING A PONZI SCHEME, ETC.
ADAM FEUERSTEIN
Mr. Feuerstein is a senior columnist for TheStreet.com, again, associated with Jim Cramer, and reportedly in contact with Martin Shkreli (according to his Tweets). He has touted and celebrated when Avanir showed a weak week sales data in the earlier stages of the launch but remained awfully quiet on many weeks when the sales data were very good. He just tweeted a statement which some interpret as making fun of PBA: “For those who haven't laughed or cried uncontrollably enough over the past 2 days, we have $AVNR earnings on Monday.”
Neither Shkreli nor Feuerstein have any academic degrees we know about which qualifies them to judge biotech companies. Here’s one website dedicated to exposing Feuerstein: http://www.exposeadam.com. “Adam Feuerstein wouldn’t know good science if it bit him in the ass" - Dr. William A. Carter
THOMAS WEI - JEFFERIES & COMPANY
Around November 2010 Jefferies had a $10 and then $15 price target for Avanir. They underwrote a public offering for the company at a price of around $4.40. Their analyst Andrew Fein was very bullish about the stock: "To add icing to the cake, there is no black box warning on Nuedexta's label, which gives Nuedexta no restrictions in its target patient population".
Things have only gotten better since then for Avanir. Weekly script numbers have been rising. Yet short interest grew to over 33 Million shares. But Jefferies’ analyst Thomas Wei “initiated” coverage of Avanir and gave it a price target to $3.50 despite citing a $4B market potential.
Three other analysts who follow the stock all have much higher price targets (e.g. Wedbush: $13, covered by the notable analyst with excellent credentials and track record, Dr. Gregory Wade). Thomas Wei has consistently done a hatchet job on Avanir including his latest so called report which we have indication to believe it makes the short interest happy. I suspect Jefferies might have clients who hold large short interests in Avanir.
In his latest hatchet job, Thomas Wei took a stab at European estimates which he’s entitled to, but whether they’re fair or accurate, and whether they’re a part of a short-and-distort scheme or not is another question. It happened on the day the company released a good news article about Europe, and the stock had enjoyed a 7 day rally.
I tried to contact the firm, both Mr. Wei and their CEO, Mr. Handler, for comments but either they were not reachable (Mr. Handler) or rude and refused to talk to me after giving me the run around (Mr. Wei’s organization). Other analysts who stand behind what they say are not afraid of talking with investors and journalists. Whose side is Mr. Handler on? Truth, fairness, or short sellers?
Public opinion about Jefferies’ hatchet jobs have not been kind. Jefferies has been accused of “representing the interests of those who are short”, and of being a "short propagandist”. I do not know if these charges are true or not but am only including these as a citizen journalist.
If the SEC has any interest in investigating the trades in Avanir, this tiny company’s shares, which is among the top shorted stocks on Nasdaq, you may get surprised at what you find.
The least Main Street is asking the SEC for is:
- Enforcement of rules that require fair analyst reports which includes disclosure of number of clients who have a large short position
- Timely public disclosure of short interest by large short sellers
- A pre-borrow requirement
- Criminal prosecution of “short-and-distort” incidents and not leaving it up to victimized companies to litigate civil cases against cash rich hedge fund perpetrators
I hope I have provided some tips and hints in this letter. Please investigate the trading in Avanir (AVNR) shares.
Thanks & Regards
Ganjavi
<contact info>
Dec 2011 -- Hedge Funds & Congress in Bed !
This is incredible but is true.
"Congressmen aren’t the only ones trading on their inside info. A lucrative practice has sprung up in Washington, in which hedge funds and other investors pay handsomely for private meetings with top lawmakers or their aides, who give them an early scoop on market-moving news, the Wall Street Journal reports."
http://www.newser.com/story/135792/lawmakers-give-inside-info-to-big-investors-legally.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204844504577100260349084878.html
http://moneymorning.com/2011/12/23/congress-handing-out-stock-tips-to-hedge-fund-managers/
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article32292.html
20 DEC 2011 - Jefferies & Hedge Funds
Excerpt from CNN report:
http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/03/markets/jefferies_hedgefunds/index.htm
"Dozens of Jefferies (JEF) hedge fund clients are scrambling to find another investment bank where they can warehouse client's money and execute trades, according to sources in the prime brokerage divisions at three competing banks. These sources said they spent all day Thursday fielding calls from hedge funds who could be potential clients....Jefferies has roughly 400 hedge fund clients that use its prime brokerage services to execute trades. It typically takes months, if not years, to win new hedge fund clients.... two sources said they inked deals with several Jefferies customers Thursday and were in constant conversations all day about signing on other clients. Lehman's demise killed several hedge funds and made operations difficult for others. "
400 Hedge Fund clients !!
Are any of them part of the gang which is short 29 Million share of Avanir? If so, is Jefferies trying to cater to these hedge funds by writing their poor quality reports about Avanir ?
20 DEC 2011 - Jefferies Journalist Distortion
Last week an article hit the wire that totally misrepresented Avanir. It stated a big big flat out lie about Avanir -- very harmful to Avanir's image. Reminded me of SEC's notion of "Short and Distort" but who's to provide proof and who's to investigate it. Nobody. So I tried.
Unlike other analysts who are civilized polite courteous respectful, if you try to call Jefferies' analysts they are rude and don't talk to you. If you're not a client, for example, one of those hedge funds, you have no chance to get a straight answer. I tried but no chance. So I went straight to the CEO and demanded an answer to what appeared to be a latest hatchet job. The call found its way to assistant of their chief council and eventually I got an email back from him saying Thomas Wei's report was distorted by some journalist. Was I a bit surprised? 400 hedge funds, analyst who regularly has a negative tone, and now how surprising that a so called research report has turned into another hatchet job. I called the journalist. They corrected the article on their website. Didn't correct the "pushed" version b/c that would be reissue of a hatchet job. Meanwhile I found a couple of high powered NY securities lawyers and a friend's friend who's a high powered tort litigation lawyer and we had good discussions. If in fact this "error" was Jefferies, they'd end up paying handsomely but for now they're off the hook. Needless to say given the level of disgust and intensity, the journalist was very cooperative. I asked him to publish another analyst's fresh report that has a price upgrade on Avanir. He agreed. I got the report and sent it to him and provided info so next time they get this analyst's report too.
The saga continues...
15 OCT 2011 - Letter about Jefferies
A friend wrote:
"it's highly unethical that Jefferies was the LEAD underwriting on Avanir's secondary offering at $4.40 and reiterates a Buy with a $15 price target! Months later some new analyst Wei says we INITIATE coverage (like you didn't already have coverage), with a $3.50 price target WHEN the stock was heading to $5.00 at the time of Wei's statement! Hopefully the SEC is looking into this potential conflict of interest!"
I agree with him. If this stock was so bad why did they think it would go up over 300% and then say they're "initiating" and attack just as it was about to go over $5 which would have been devastating for shorts. One thing for sure is Jefferies is no friend of Avanir.
13 OCT 2011 - Letter to Jefferies
I sent a letter to Jefferies after hearing that they may be fronting for shorts. I don't know if this information is true or not but I have read their analyst Thomas Wei's reports and would not be shocked if this information is true.
I sent the letter to the following (not sure if the email addresses are correct but none of them bounced but their email server is not set up for catch all so false emails do bounce back).
MBrinkman at Jefferies.com : Michael Brinkman (who was involved in the raise that Jefferies did for Avanir last year)
bfriedman at jefferies.com : Brian P. Friedman CPA, 55 Director, Chairman of Exec. Committee and Pres of Jefferies Capital Partners
twei@jefferies.com : Thomas Wei, Biotech analyst
rhandler@jefferies.com : Richard B. Handler, CEO, President, Jefferies Group Inc.
The information that I referred to was the following which was stated by a person whom I think is credible based on his history (but I do not know if the following statement is true or not).
"As a favour I asked my friend to check with the fund's traders to see what the "inside look" is on AVNR.
He came back with two things. Jefferies is a big buyer lower with blocks of 400,000 shs to buy at $3.14 and 200,000 shs to buy at $3.08 and 200,000 shs to buy at $3.11.
The second thing is that Goldman Sachs - the prime broker for this hedge fund says there are NO SHARES OF AVNR AVAILABLE TO SHORT.
The third thing is that there is very little stock for sale. Currently the sellers include Raymond James and Stifel.
So my friends it is true.
The shorts are trapped and will have to cover higher.
And imo it appears Jefferies is fronting for the shorts."
I gave it to Jefferies. That if it is true that they're fronting for the shorts they should reconsider it, and shared my opinion that shorts should bite the bullet and cover. I also reminded them of the ethical issues and consequences of being on the side of the shorts, if it's true, and if not, I apologized.
24 DEC 2011 Response to Jefferies' email:
Dear Sir:
The "error" sees to be on the part of the journalist. I talked to the media source that terribly distorted Jefferies news about Avanir and made it look like gaining patients was losing patients -- very bad stuff and highly damaging to Avanir -- they admitted it was their error -- what's behind the scenes no-one knows. You know given all the corruption and collusion on Wall Street I can't make head and tail of it. I am not accusing you and the press to be in bed but it does happen on Wall Street. Big influential hedge fund have analysts and journalists and brokers in their pockets. This is not a mystery.
As for ethics you must have heard Jim Cramer's famous remarks about how truth is against the short sellers' agenda. So in my opinion, there's something inherently corrupt about short selling, and despite the new rules market makers can naked short without much worry.
I have no idea what Jefferies is up to with regards to Avanir. I know you have some 400 hedge fund clients. I also know Avanir has over 29 Million shares shorted. How many shares your clients have shorted if any is unknown. SEC knows who the big shorts are but they're protecting their names so shorts have a ball in this day and age.
I just read http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/03/markets/jefferies_hedgefunds/index.htm which didn't surprise me.
The sentiments against Jefferies and Mr. Wei's hatchet jobs have been strong -- it kind of comes intuitively to some people reading Wei's reports that he's trying to bat for the shorts. But we have no way of proving this.
I read recently a person writing the following sentiment about Jefferies.
"I am happy to watch Socialisms crony capitalist enablers like Corzine and now Jeffries finally pay the price and have the real results of their plans exposed for all to see. Hopefully Jeffries downfall will eliminate their ability to control AVNR's stock price. One crack in their control, at a time when AVNR is in a position to declare ramping sales, could be all we need to burn these shorts. 30,000,000 shares @ 10.00 is 300,000,000. Traders that suffer that kind of hickey will be history. Lets hope Jeffries and their hedge fund lackeys burn in hell. LONG AND STRONG AND ANGRY AS HELL. Paul"
In closing, I remind you that if you guys are involved in protecting and helping these people who are large shorts in Avanir I tell you you're batting on the side of evil. Avanir is trying to help people improve their lives and these short sellers are out to destroy Avanir in order to make a dollar in a very unethical way. Very bad Karma. I and many other people have a guess that Jefferies might be a part of this action but that is just a guess, not an accusation because we have no proof of it but only hints. If that is true, I invite you to clean up your act and run a respectable ethical business.
Regards
R.Ganjavi
By the way check out www.avnr.info (Except you Mr. Wei. There are facts there I think you prefer to ignore).
24 Dec 2011 Another Letter to SEC
Gentlemen:
Congratulations on your recent winnings against illegal short sellers. I hope you build up on that momentum. Maybe you can have a look at the shorting of AVNR.
Jefferies has some 400 hedge fund client.
Avanir (Nasdaq: AVNR) has been under regular attacks by Jefferies' analyst Thomas Wei.
This month an article was published which totally falsified Avanir -- JEF says the journalist twisted it -- but there's so much corruption that it's hard to believe anybody. I reported this before knowing it's the journalist's fault and then reported back saying it wasn't JEF's fault but we just don't know what occurs behind the scenes. As you know pwerful hedge funds have brokers analysts and journalists in their pockets.
AVNR has been manipulated (in my and many people's opinions) by a short interest of over 29,000,000 shares (1/4 of the float). Shorts made the wrong bets from pre-FDA approval all the way through launch. Sales rose 100% Q-over-Q. Over 70% of shares are owned by institutions.
A discussion on JEF and a past letter to SEC is on http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/SEC_Avanir.html
Unfortunately I don't have much evidence for you. But the wild card is in the hands of the SEC because you know who the large shorts in AVNR are.
Many people believe JEF has takes the negative attitudes it takes to possibly help shorts but we do not know if this is true by way of evidence.
Also as you know market makers are allowed to naked short a stock (almost to death) and get away with it.
It's up to you what you do but I thought I'd share this with you.
Merry Christmas and Happy New year.
Kind Regards
A beat up "Main Street" investor (vs. Wall Street's crooks).
Note: Avanir was manipulated by Martin Shkreli and others down to the $2 range. These scum hedgies were all wrong. Avanir was later acquired for $17 a share!! But the manipulation was orchestrated wide and deep. Here’s a file of letters and notes I produced on it at the time. Features the usual suspects including Adam Feuerstein.
GOOD NEWS: MARTIN SHKRELI WAS ARRESTED TODAY, 17 DEC 2015 ON CHARGES OF FRAUD, RUNNING A PONZI SCHEME, ETC.
Letters/postings about investigation of Avanir by 4 members of congress which many believe is ridiculous.
Note: as I had no way of verifying authors of these letters, if you authored one and do not want it reprinted here please let me know ((info {at} rezamusic {dot} com)). I am merely hosting this content and am not responsible for what others have written. The reason I decided to reprint this is because I share some of the sentiments expressed below and believe this inquiry might have been influenced by those who have a large short position in the stock. The timing of the inquiry as one analyst put it, is "very interesting". It occurred just as the stock was on a strong rally after a long period of being depressed, and under attack of short sellers who've kept increasing their position. Just recently the stock started to move up and boom, we have an investigation the content of which is funny !! (read below).
My letter to House Committee on Ethics
“I am writing to you in your capacity as a member of the House Committee on Ethics.
As an investor in Avanir Pharmaceuticals I became aware that Representative Henry Waxman along with 3 colleagues ( Representative Frank Pallone, Representative Diana DeGette and Senator Herb Kohl ) decided that Avanir Pharmaceuticals was in need of an investigation of the pricing of a very recently approved FDA compound for the treatment of a neurological disorder. Given that the drug has barely been on the market for any length of time this is unusual. Even more interesting is the fact that Avanir Pharmaceuticals is one of the most heavily shorted stocks on the stock market. Basically the shorts placed bad bets that the FDA would not approve their neurological compound known as Neudexta. But the FDA did approve the drug and consequently the short selling hedge funds are facing the possibility of a successful drug resulting in a financially ruinous situation for themselves. This brings us to an interesting coincidence when we consider this sudden decision by Representative Waxman to investigate Avanir and their pricing structure as regards Nuedexta. Keep in mind that Nuedexta is so new a product that its prescription count is low and is just starting to become known within the neurological medical community. Even more interesting is the connection that Representative Waxman has to a political contributor of his, a legal firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld that happens to represent Short Selling Strategy Funds. On June 14, 2011 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld's Civic Action Committee will hold a fundraiser for none other than Representative Henry Waxman.
And so the circle closes. Avanir Pharmaceuticals spend many years and $200,000,000 to get Nuedexta approved under the FDA's safety and efficacy guidelines. Wall Street's Short Selling Hedge Funds place a ruinous financial bet against Avanir's success and here Congressman Henry Waxman and 3 like minded colleagues decide that Avanir needs to be investigated for trying to recoup its and its investor's costs ? This isn't right. When companies such as Avanir Pharmaceuticals are punished for innovation and following the rules no matter how costly the endeavour and then are denied an opportunity to recoup their costs and demonized beacuse they may actually at some future date turn a profit then one can soon see the day where no one can afford to take chances and succeed. That is what America is about after all - taking chances and succeeding !
I request that you and your colleagues on the House Committee on Ethics look into this matter.
Thank You”
Extract from Summer Street’s Conference Call
“We hosted a conference call with a manufacturing consultant to discuss the differences between GMP manufactured medicines and compounded drugs. Compounded drugs are requested on a named patient basis and are prepared that way. When done in hospital pharmacies,
there are inherently a lack of controls for sterility, stability, and potency. This situation may be more dangerous for injectable biologics than small molecules. Nevertheless, we are confident that there is inherit danger
for patients to compound generic versions of dextromethorphan and quinidine to match Nuedexta for PBA. We believe the congressmen who submitted an inquiry letter to Avanir about Nuedexta are uninformed
and have gone after the wrong product and company.
• Our consultant commented that the letter sent to AVNR was unreasonable and could be sent to every drug manufacturer. The two-page letter asks for confidential company information and correspondence that spans at least 10 years. This is nearly impossible to compile within a few weeks and is unreasonable, in our consultant’s view.
• Sterility is a key issue when deciding to compound.
• Other key issues include stability and potency. “
[And the list goes on]
~~~
You can write her too at healthblog@wsj.com
For Katherine Hobson
Katherine,
I'm a financial journalist in.......and read with interest your piece on the congressional investigation into the pricing of Avanir's Nuedexta.
Leaving aside the questions about whether AVNR has indeed priced the drug irresponsibly, I think another part of the story is why this investigation now and why this company?
AVNR is a small under the radar biotech which just happens to be one of the most heavily shorted stocks on NASDAQ. The stock is highly manipulated and very volatile.
Right before the story broke about the looming investigation, AVNR's stock price had raced higher on heavy volume and was close to breaking through a critical resistance area to the upside. Very good news about market acceptance of Nuedexta and prescription growth precipitated the upside move.
Then, boom, news of the letter from Waxman, et al hit the wire. As one covering analyst from Wedbush put it: The timing is "interesting".
I think it would be worth looking into how little known AVNR got on the radar of congress and whether some behind the scenes influence from the shorts was/is at play here. The shorts stand to lose a huge amount of money if the price of AVNR stock continues to move up (as it did today).
Thanks,
To: The Honorable Jo Bonner
Chairman, House Ethics Committee
1015 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Bonner:
Yesterday, three of your congress members, along with Senator Kohl, were signatories on a letter to Avanir Pharmaceuticals. In this letter your colleagues made misleading or false allegations that could have caused irreparable harm to this company. A Congressional investigation is not a small matter and your colleagues must evidence a clear understanding of its potential devastation to the reputation of individuals and companies.
I am an investor in Avanir and have been for over 30 years so I know the history of this company very well. They have worked diligently to develop a drug called Nuedexta which controls PBA (uncontrolled laughing or crying), a debilitating and isolating condition that can ruin a person’s life. After many years of work and millions of dollars of investment, the drug was finally approved by the FDA in November. Now, just as the company is beginning to reap some very small rewards, your colleagues have decided they know more about pricing the product than the management team that developed it.
These congress people and this senator are trying to cast this drug as too easy so it is therefore overpriced. If it was so simple why didn’t someone develop it many years ago? If it was so obvious why didn’t someone else spend millions on research and development costs before Avanir did? And those costs were incurred at the risk of never seeing a dime of return. How can these people function as protectors of the American way of life when they don’t even understand how it works?
Chairman Bonner, this event deserves some serious inquiry on the part of your committee. Congressman Waxman is keen to haul individuals and companies before his committees; it is high time he had to answer for his own transgressions. He, and your other involved members, should have to answer the questions: Who authored this letter? Who stood to gain from the doubt this letter would cast on Avanir? Are you aware of a single pharmacist who ever compounded the product developed by Avanir for $20? If you don’t, where did that number come from? If none of you wrote the letter why would you sign it without verifying its accuracy? Why was this company singled out?
These Congress people and this Senator are likely to have acted as unwitting pawns for investment interests as yet undiscovered. Your committee should have the gumption, the curiosity, the honorable intent to find out who was actually behind the letter’s origin. It was NOT a grandma in Detroit.
In the end, these members should be severely chastised for so blatantly disregarding their responsibility to act without prejudice in conducting the people’s business. We deserve much better than we received in this instance.
Thank you for considering this suggestion and the best of luck in all of your endeavors. You have a very difficult job, Chairman Bonner. If this is any example of what you have to police I’m guessing you don’t lack for something to do.
My very best,
Analyst Note
In research report, Wedbush writes, "On Tuesday after market close, the US Special Committee on Aging issued a press release detailing a hearing to be held regarding NUEDEXTA pricing. Response from AVNR has been requested by June 10, 2011; additional details about the inquiry are at http://aging.senate.gov/hearing_detail.cfm?id=332984&
We see no material impact on NUEDEXTA sales given this inquiry and view this as potentially a positive opportunity that will result in greater visibility of the product.
Any weakness in AVNR shares caused by this event would be a buying opportunity, in our opinion. The timing of this inquiry is “interesting”, in our opinion, considering the recent run up in the stock and high short interest in the name."
Waxman-hedge fund link? Judge for yourself...
Check out he bottom of page. Note the fund raiser on 6/14/11 and the Host - Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
http://www.opencongress.org/people/money/400425_Henry_Waxman
What is Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld?
http://www.akingump.com/investment-funds-litigation-practices/
Read the "Our Clients" section. It includes "short selling strategy funds".
I find this interesting, to say the least.
Beneficiaries: Henry Waxman
Since when does a steak cost thousands of dollars?????
Who is calling the kettle black? I can't even afford a cup of ice at these prices:
When: June 14, 2011
What: Dinner
Where: Charlie Palmer Steak
Host(s): Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Civic Action Committee, AT&T Inc Federal PAC
Beneficiaries: Henry Waxman
Contributions: $2,000 PAC; $1,000 Personal
Make Checks Payable To: Congressman Waxman Campaign Committee
When: September 30, 2010
What: Cocktail Reception
Where: Johnny's Half Shell
Beneficiaries: Henry Waxman
Contributions: $5,000 Co-Host; $2,500 PAC; $1,000 Individual
When: October 27, 2009
What: Cocktail Reception
Where: Charlie Palmer Steak
Beneficiaries: Henry Waxman
Contributions: $5,000 Co-Chair; $2,500 PAC; $1,000 Individual
Make Checks Payable To: Congressman Waxman Campaign Committee
When: June 23, 2009
What: Breakfast
Where: Charlie Palmer Steak
Host(s): Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Civic Action Committee
Beneficiaries: Henry Waxman
Contributions: $2,000 Sponsor; $1,000 Guest
Make Checks Payable To: Congressman Waxman Campaign Committee
When: September 18, 2008
What: Cocktail Reception
Where: Charlie Palmer Steak
Beneficiaries: Henry Waxman
Contributions: $5000 co-chair, $1000 guest
Make Checks Payable To: Congressman Waxman Campaign Committee
When: September 20, 2006
Where: Johnny's Half Shell
Beneficiaries: Henry Waxman
Contributions: $5,000 Co-Chair; $1,000 Guest
Make Checks Payable To: Congressman Waxman Campaign Committee
Short Lobby
Folks, I talked to an analyst. He said he's not worried about this at all and doesn't think they company is worried about it either. It's flat out a stupid step.
The analyst said it's all about script numbers and once the stock marches past $5 shorts have to think hard if they want to maintain their position or cover (covering is smarter as big funds qualify after $5).
I am convinced it's the short lobby that's behind the investigation.
Here are their fax numbers. Don't rely on email. Fax them your letters.
Representative Waxman
Senator Kohl
Here's my letter:
"Concerning your investigation of Avanir, I am afraid you may have fallen for the lobbying of big hedge funds who have shorted over 30 million shares of Avanir. The timing of the announcement perfectly coincides with a rally which would have caused these shorts 100's of millions of dollars in losses but instead they got a much needed relief. The allegation is utterly bogus and frivolous. Knowing what good men you are, I suspect the short sellers have tricked you into this.
I can assure you, this company has been working very hard, in the most difficult condition and with huge expenses, to bring their drug to market to help people who have no other treatment.
The only parties benefiting from your investigation are hedge funds who have short sold a quarter of the stock's float. Please be on the side of Main Street not Wall Street and drop your absolutely ridiculous investigation of Avanir.
Thank you"
Has Avanir Been Unjustly Targeted for a Congressional Pricing Inquiry?
May 25, 2011 3:06 PM | about stocks: AVNR
By Bert Wilkison
Shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals (AVNR) had recently risen by more than 20% over a two week span due to improving and increasingly impressive weekly prescription data for its flagship product, Nuedexta. Nuedexta is a drug used for the treatment of pseudobulbar affect, a disease which is characterized by involuntary, sudden, and frequent episodes of laughing and/or crying. It can dramatically alter its sufferers' qualtiy of life.
No sooner did Avanir begin to silence some of its critics (and some "journalists") by demonstrating success in the market than it received a most peculiar letter from the US Congress, specifically the Senate Special Committee on Aging. It was signed by Herb Kohl, Henry Waxman, Frank Pallone and Diana DeGette. In the letter, Avanir seems to be accused of charging too much for its recently FDA approved product.
Congress Batting For Short Hedge Funds
Good post Burt. I called the chair on behalf of the elderly myself at the number listed (202) 224-5364 and left a complaint. They are opening themselves up to investigation and lawsuits into why and how they specifically targeted AVNR.
This Congressional complaint is nothing more than a pat on the back to the hedgefunds and a slap in the face to the investors that have been following and tracking AVNR for years. If you count all the cash AVNR has burned on this pipeline pill, from start to finish, it is easily 100's of millions of dollars of RND. Then count advertising, salesmen/women, doctors, employees, lawyers, congressional complaint responses.
This is nothing more than a joke. I take a medication that costs roughly $1000 per monthly supply. Cost to me is about $80 a month, because i have insurance. If we are going to start counting pennies, lets ask apple how much it costs to make an IPOD or IPHONE that is manufactured in China? I can tell you that the medication i take, does not cost nearly the price that they are charging, it is all based off RND and patents. This senate subcommittee apparently thinks we live in China and are communists.
Final thoughts -- Lawsuits are going to start flying against hedge funds, shorts, the street and these jokers for being swayed by some squeaky wheels that are losing money based on manipulation of the stock market.
-Teddie
My letter to the crooked Congressman and those scums at The Street (Yes you Adam Feuerstein)
I am a shareholder of Avanir Pharmaceuticals and I have held and accumulated their shares over the past 3 years.
I am nothing but a retail investor using my retirement money to invest in something that hopefully will make me some money since I know you will never do anything to fix the Social Security system to allow me to receive one penny of that even though I have paid into that system for 25 years now and will pay into it for another 30 years so basically this is all I got to count on for my future.
I believe Avanir was doing something very valuable to help those with MS Pain, Diabetic Nueropathic Pain and of course their approval for Nuedexta to help treat PBA which is crucial for quality of living for patients with ALS, MS, Tramatic Brain Injury, etc.
Avanir did not ask for a government bailout to get the drug through the lengthy FDA approval process, they did not cause oil to go to $100 a barrel, they did not create the housing crisis, they did not cause gold to go to $1500 an ounce, and they did not cause food prices to go up because of $7 per bushel corn prices. Avanir invested their own money and the money of shareholders to get them to the point where they could market and sell the drug and now you want to come out and attempt to keep them from recouping their investment and making enough money to pay their employees and continue to invest in future research and drug approval to improve the quality of life for these patients.
Now that the drug is finally paying off for investors, our government, the same one that made Avanir wait an additional 4 years and spend millions on additional research to market this drug, is now saying they’re making too much money. Avanir isn't even making enough money from Nuedexta to pay for their yearly expenses. There is no way they will make enough to ever recoup the last 10 years of investment in getting to this stage of marketing and drug launch.
This inquiry is a waste of time and taxpayer money and I'm 100% positive there is something better you could be doing. I seriously wonder about its motivation since there are dozens of other pharmaceutical companies and large corporations who are gouging customers everyday but yet you choose a small company that has just now started to begin to work its way to just possible breaking even within maybe 18 months from now. Do you also question how much it costs Microsoft to make a DVD copy of Windows 7 but yet they charge alot more than that $1 dollar DVD.
I would love to know who brought this to your attention because that is who you should be investigating is their motive and the affect that had on the stock price.
I have worked at government facilities during my time in the military and my time as an electrical engineer doing work on military programs and if you are worried about waste start focusing on that because that is nothing more than middle class welfare. When I look around and people are sleeping and reading magazines during work hours and I'm the only one working it makes me wonder when the last time someone walked through these military depots and questioned these government workers and why they get paid $50,000 to $100,000 to do absolutely nothing. Of course you don't care about wasting taxpayers money you only care about creating an environment where small companies can't make a profit to recoup their investment and make money to do further research and bring new drugs to market.
Thank you for contributing to further market manipulation by hedge funds and those who have shorted this stock. You and your colleagues are exactly what is wrong with this country.
My new goal is to make sure you and your colleagues are not re-elected because there is no way this is what I want my government getting involved in when there are so many more pressing issues in the world and especially in the United States.
Note: I was a democrat until I saw this when I woke up this morning. I will never vote democrat again if this is what they want to pull against a company just trying to get back to even!
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I strongly believe that some big hedge fund guys or investors who are big time short on this stock have bribed some congressional people a few million dollars to target Avanir and are trying their best to derail this company's growth.
Ricky
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Something about this whole scenario just seems foul, doesn't it, Bert? Your article is well written, stating what some have thought, but would rather not say. Well done.
Sarge
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Nothing more than the obvious...tactic to allow short friends to cover. Wonder how many Wall Street "friends" the old boys in Washington are saving with this dog and pony stunt. They all have to go...
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The shorts must be somewhat surprised
A suspiciously timed and very rapidly publicized (uhmm) letter to Avanir from Congress, and they just get a 10% drop (from the top yesterday). Notice the volume has dried up... their big down day didn't happen... no chance to cover in the 3s as they expected. Not sure they have many bullets left
Don't forget we are massively owned by institutions. They have a few phone numbers in their rolodex too.
A lot going on behind the scenes here folks...
Even AF includes in his article:
"The timing of this inquiry is 'interesting', in our opinion, considering the recent run up in the stock and the high short interest in the name," Wade added.
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http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_(A_to_Z)/Stocks_A/threadview?m=tm&bn=27718&tid=229151&mid=229286&tof=37&rt=1&frt=2&off=1
Yes It is amazing... How powerful the shorts must be, to make a senate committee enquire about a small bio tech company.. CROOKS RULE!!
__________________________________________________________
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_(A_to_Z)/Stocks_A/threadview?m=tm&bn=27718&tid=229252&mid=229285&tof=31&frt=2
This is the e-mail I sent:
Dear Mr. Waxman,
I am a shareholder of Avanir Pharmaceuticals. I have held and accumulated their shares over the past 10 years.
You see, my stock in Avanir was originally going to be the cornerstone for my college account for my children. In 2002 I learned of what was to become Nuedexta. It was a combination of two older drugs. Avanir had combined 30 mg of Dextromethorphan with 30 mg of Quinidine. The drug was very effective at controlling emotional lability, where people cannot control whether they laughed or cried. The condition is suffered by MS, ALS, stroke and traumatic brain injury patients, among others. The efficacy of the combination was off the charts.
The company made a new drug application with the FDA. On Halloween, 2006, the FDA made its decision: the drug was “approvable”, but not approved. The FDA said there was a potential risk to heart patients because of the Quinidine component-specifically, it made the QTc interval too high. So the FDA told Avanir to go back to the drawing board. So Avanir did. They did a whole new Phase III trial of the drug, under two formulations: 30 mg Dex and 10 mg Q, and 20/10. Four long years later (during which I got to accumulate shares at 45 cents apiece), the drug was approved. Now, after all this time, it’s on the market. Patients with these terrible diseases are getting relief from this distressing condition. Sales are ramping up. Finally, I am making money on my investment. Of course one of my daughters is now out of college, but that’s the way it goes in the investment world sometimes.
Now, your office in its wisdom decides this drug is frankly, a ripoff. It’s a combination of two generic drugs! How hard can that be? How expensive can that be?
Many great ideas look simple in hindsight. This new medicine was the product of YEARS of trials. Now that the drug is finally paying off for investors, our government, the same one that made Avanir wait an additional 4 years and spend millions on additional research to market this drug, is now saying they’re making too much money.
This inquiry you’ve initiated is a waste of time and taxpayer money. I seriously wonder about its motivation. If you want to call me about this, I’ve got my number listed below.
Sarge
__________________________________________________________
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_(A_to_Z)/Stocks_A/threadview?m=tm&bn=27718&tid=229589&mid=229589&tof=27&frt=2
It was right at the point of breakout (see volume by price - and some powerful people with deep pockets were about to lose big.
So they called their friendly crook in congress and HURRIEDLY scrapped together this abortion of a letter, adding the other pharma to it as a smokescreen.
It can't have taken more than 2 hours to scrape together the crappy 'research', from S.A. etc. and to make a couple of meaningless bullet point questions - to which the answers are ALREADY mainly in the public domain anyhow.
What a crooked political environment you guys have over there.
And all they could do was precipitate a mere 7% retrace after a run up from 3.60. On anemic volume./
What a crock.
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http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_(A_to_Z)/Stocks_A/threadview?m=tm&bn=27718&tid=229612&mid=229612&tof=4&frt=2
The inquiry you’ve initiated as stated in your letter made public is based on erroneous information.
There is adequate public information to answer the questions you raised. The pointed focus on a small company, among one of the most highly shorted, that has played by the rules over many years and that is in a hard earned roll out phase of a large investment and meaningful accomplishment should be explained to the SEC or an investigative reporter willing to look at the facts and motivations. Hopefully an inquiry will illuminate your interest or ignorance in participating in attempting to sabotage an innovative company. If you waste the public trust on this you’ll prove no wrongdoing other than your own.
Focusing on this company with incorrect statements made public is unethical and appears intended to manipulate the stock price.
__________________________________________________________
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_(A_to_Z)/Stocks_A/threadview?m=tm&bn=27718&tid=229627&mid=229627&tof=31&frt=2
I sent the following letter to my congressman, for what it's worth.
Colin
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I am writing in regard to Avanir Pharmaceuticals' new drug, Neudexta.
First, my disclosure: I am a shareholder of Avanir. My stake is not large, but I have been through the ups and downs, including the FDA rejection, and thought that with the recent approval and the commencement of marketing I was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Now Senator Kohl and Representatives Waxman, Pallone, and DeGette have requested information from Avanir Pharmaceuticals about the pricing of their newly approved drug, Neudexta, implying that their price is exorbitant. I find this extremely inappropriate.
Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars developing drugs, navigating an arduous (and often ludicrous) FDA approval system, and marketing the drugs. This will not happen if they can't make a profit from their labors. Is congress willing to subsidize all pharmaceutical research? If not, they need to stay out of the pricing game.
Yes, the ingredients are cheap. The process to get them to those who need them is not. Avanir must recoup years of enormous losses and generate sufficient income to develop future drugs, including all of those attempts that will fail. Is there a serious effort underway to price drugs at the cost of their ingredients?
I understand and share the concern over high health costs, but it simply doesn't make sense to destroy the funding that produces new medicines. These companies get money in essentially two ways: selling stock and selling medicine. The former requires that the company be profitable, and the latter requires that companies price their products appropriately. That is, investors will not fund these companies if the companies can't make a profit, and the market will dictate an appropriate price without help from Congress. Forcing a low price hurts the company in both ways.
Finally, I note in passing that there are many more significant pharmaceutical companies with more expensive drugs that have been making huge profits for years. It makes me wonder why Avanir is the one under scrutiny. (I don’t believe those other companies should have their prices regulated by Congress, either.)
Please register my discontent with the committee. I recognize that I appear to have a bias (and probably do) since I invested in the company, but I believe in these principles regardless of my position with respect to the stock. That just happens to be how I came to know of the issue.
Thank you,
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http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_(A_to_Z)/Stocks_A/threadview?m=tm&bn=27718&tid=229647&mid=229669&tof=29&frt=2
And how about the money that will be expended by Avanir for future trials for pain and other uses? Where is that money going to come from? Congress? What a crew of idiots.
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http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_(A_to_Z)/Stocks_A/threadview?m=tm&bn=27718&tid=229845&mid=229845&tof=20&frt=2
Today Senator Kohl, Congresspersons Waxman, Pallone and DeGette were signatories on a letter addressed to Avanir Pharmaceuticals. In the letter, much of which was easily proven false, these individuals in essence proposed that they were better qualified to price Avanir's new FDA approved drug than the management team who developed it.
The most obvious question for a news agency would be....and I sincerely hope you press them until you get a real answer....WHO wrote/created this letter? Since a great deal of it is false no one is going to want to take credit. But if they won't take credit then why would they allow they're signature under a document that is both false and anathema to both the spirit and function of the free enterprise system?
Is this the proof we've been waiting for that the Democratic Party does not believe in Capitalism? If they propose to go after one small company that has worked tirelessly for many years, spent millions of dollars in development costs, created many new jobs to market the product, then who is next. Will they go after Borden for excessive milk prices? How about General Mills for cereal prices? Are they going to suggest wage controls next?
Beyond the issue of being dumb enough to sign a document they didn't understand, a larger question would be, who had enough influence with these members of congress to get them to use power and influence to harm a fledgling company with a superior product? Could it be a hedge fund that has taken a short position in this stock? The same hedge funds that marched the US economy into near oblivion? Is that who these congressmen and women are in bed with? And if they didn't have a personal interest in the stock manipulation that was obviously going on, how could they be dumb enough to be used in this manner.
This could be a tremendous story to develop. Roast those people because they are either incredibly gullible or complicit in a clear case of stock manipulation. You might also note that the stock took a late day tumble yesterday so it wouldn't be too difficult to surmise someone was aware that letter would be issued. It's the most obvious case of crooked or stupid politicians you could ever ask to investigate.
The last thing the American public wants is Congress trying to set prices. And they will be incensed by the stock manipulation value of this story. Also, when they try to weasle out of the corner by saying the drug is a combination of two common components you might be ready with examples of any number of patented items made up of common components. It's the vision and insight to combine them into something new and valuable that makes them patentable.
Thanks for listening. And when your station gets the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism I hope you remember me.
__________________________________________________________
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_(A_to_Z)/Stocks_A/threadview?m=tm&bn=27718&tid=230813&mid=230813&tof=20&frt=2
Sen. Herb Kohl and Reps. Henry Waxman, Frank Pallone and Diana DeGette, all Democrats, want Avanir to explain why, if those drug components were so inexpensive (they say, about $20 a month), the price of Nuedexta is $600. Adam Feuerstein at TheStreet.com actually says the price is more like $4,800 to $5,800 a year, depending on discounts, or between $400 and $483 a month.
I for one am appalled that Avanir’s Nuedexta product is being targeted by some of our members of congress. Not only is the letter poorly written, some of the information in it is completely false. Notably this sentence – “Doctors and patients were understandably upset at the news that this drug, once available for about $20, was now going to be $600. ” This drug was NEVER AVAILABLE FOR 20$.
What entity is behind this near slander? What is the motivation here for targeting a newly approved FDA drug that has enormous potential for improve quality of life?
Millions of dollars have been put into the clinical development and safety trials for this drug. This drug has so much to offer for patients with PBA, diabetes, ALS, Alzheimers, etc. Later this year Avanir plans to initiate phase two trials for a MS pain indication and more indications will surely come. The price of development and research costs money and Avanir has the right to correctly price their new drug according to what the market will pay.
__________________________________________________________
It Is especially important to give Martin a very harsh sentence. He has set himself up as Some sort of an Icon among the youth because he owns the only copy of a rap album. If you let him off the hook easily, he will wiggle his nose at you ?????????? and negatively influence people that his kind of behavior is acceptable, and that’ll further contribute to the decadence. It’ll also embolden other such miscreant on Wall Street who will think they can weasels their way out of Breaking the law
No jail means fraud is acceptable
__________________________________________________________ .
On or about February 1, 2011, the defendant MARTIN SHKRELI took a
large short sale position in Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. ("OREX") in MSMB Capital's brokerage
account at Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incorporated ("Merrill Lynch"). Specifically,
SHKRELI sold short over 32 million shares of OREX. Contrary to SHKRELI' s representations
to Merrill Lynch, MSMB Capital had failed to locate OREX shares to borrow in order to settle
MSMB Capital's short sales. As a result, MSMB Capital failed to settle a short position of over
11 million shares of OREX, which Merrill Lynch ultimately closed at a loss of over $7 million.
In addition to the losses in the Merrill Lynch account, MSMB Capital suffered over $1 million in
other trading losses in approximately February 2011. Based on these trading losses, the value of
assets in MSMB Capital's bank and brokerage accounts, not including the OREX losses at
Merrill Lynch, declined from more than $1.12 million on or about January 31, 2011 to $58,500
at the end of February 2011.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Why the hell is ML just trusting a hedge fund manager saying, yes we’ve located [the shorted shares] !!
__________________________________________________________ .
On September 9, 2010, Mr. Shkreli sent an email to an FDA official requesting to be included in an upcoming advisory committee panel on a drug which Shkreli absolutely had no expertise on, let alone the fact that he has no formal education or credentials in medicine, biology, etc. -- just a big ego who thinks without any qualifications he should sit on a FDA advisory panel!! Unbelievable, evil arrogance.
__________________________________________________________ .
After four years as an associate at Cramer Berkowitz, Shkreli worked as an analyst with Intrepid Capital Management and UBS Wealth Management, and an associate for Cramer Berkowitz.[12][when?] before starting his first hedge fund, Elea Capital Management, in approximately 2006.[13]
In September 2009, Shkreli launched MSMB Capital Management,[6][14] which takes its name after the initials of the two founding Portfolio Managers, Shkreli and Marek Biestek.[10][11]
EVIL
In 2011, Shkreli filed requests with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reject a new cancer diagnostic device from Navidea Biopharmaceuticals and an inhalable insulin therapy from MannKind Corporation while publicly short-selling both companies' stocks, the values of which dropped after Shkreli's interventions; the companies had difficulty launching the products as a result, although the FDA ultimately approved both therapies.[11][15]
The scum did the same things to Avanir, hurting us shareholders a lot, and lied about his contribution to charity from profit of short sale.
EVIL
Around 2008, Shkreli started a second hedge fund, MSMB, a name made from his initials and those of his business partner and childhood friend, Marek Biestek. They developed a reputation for shorting biotech companies and then using stock chat rooms and other aggressive tactics to savage them, to cause the stock to go down.
__________________________________________________________
15 January 2016
Subject:
USA v. Shkreli et al., CRIMINAL CASE # 1:15-cr-00637-KAM-1 (Filed 12/14/2015)
To (via Fedex):
Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto, United States District Judge, Eastern District of New York, United States Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Secretary:(718) 613-2180
Cc:
Honorable Robert M. Levy, United States Magistrate Judge, Eastern District of New York, United States Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Secretary: (718) 613-2340, Law Clerk: (718) 613-2340
United States Department of Justice
Eastern District of New York (EDNY), 271 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Mr. Robert L. Capers – United States Attorney
718-254-6023, Fax: 718-254-7499, robert.capers@usdoj.gov
Mr. Winston M. Paes – Chief, Business and Securities Fraud Section
718-254-6023, Fax: 718-254-7499, winston.paes@usdoj.gov (alternate: Mr. James Loonam, AUSA 718-254-7520)
Ms. Alixandra Eleis Smith – Assistant US Attorney
718-254-6370, Fax: 718-254-6076, alixandra.smith@usdoj.gov (alternate: Ms. Veronica Di Mattia 718-254-6043, Ms. Patricia Di Meglio 718-254-6226)
Federal Bureau of Investigation
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, D.C. 20535-0001. (202) 324-3000.
Mr. James B. Comey – Director, FBI
Mr. Diego Rodriguez – Assistant Director in Charge, FBI
Mr. Michael Harpster – Special Agents in Charge, FBI
Ms. Lilian Perez – Supervisory Special Agent, FBI
Mr. Christopher Delzotto, Mr. Michael Braconi – FBI agents
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549
Ms. Mary Jo White, Chair, SEC, (202) 551-2100, chairmancorres@sec.gov, fax: 202-772-9200
Mr. Andrew J. Ceresney, Director, Division of Enforcement, SEC (CeresneyA@sec.gov)
Mr. Andrew M. Calamari, Director, New York Regional Office, SEC (calamaria@sec.gov)
Mr. Sanjay Wadhwa, Supervisor, SEC (WadhwaS@sec.gov)
Mr. Gerald Gross, Mr. Eric Schmidt, Ms. Melissa Coppola, Mr. Paul Gizzi – SEC
Mr. Richard G. Ketchum, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, FINRA
1735 K Street, Washington DC, 20006, (301) 590-6500 richard.ketchum@finra.org
Dear Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto:
SUMMARY
Congratulations to the DOJ, SEC, FINRA, FBI, and others involved in bringing Martin Shkreli to justice. He’s a terrible person who deserves to get maximum sentence and no leniency.
CASES
There are two cases before you against Martin Shkreli, a civil and a criminal one. The criminal case was filed on 12/14/2015 for:
CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT FRAUD- MSMB CAPITAL SCHEME
CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT WIRE FRAUD- MSMB CAPITAL SCHEME
SECURITIES FRAUD- MSMB CAPITAL SCHEME
CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT SECURITIES FRAUD- MSMB HEALTHCARE SCHEME
CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT WIRE FRAUD- MSMB HEALTHCARE SCHEME
SECURITIES FRAUD- MSMB HEALTHCARE SCHEME
CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT WIRE FRAUD- RETROPHIN SCHEME
The Civil case was brought by the SEC which charged Shkreli with violating:
Sections 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933
Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Rules 10b-5 and 10b-21
Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940
Rule 206(4)-8
DISCUSSION
I am writing to humbly ask you to not have mercy on defendant Shkreli and impose the toughest conditions, restrictions, and penalties on him. I unfortunately came across Shkreli long before he became famous for his allegedly immoral act of pumping the price of a life-saving drug by more than 5000%, and for buying the only copy of a Rap album.
I was a victim in a short&distort scheme which Shkreli conducted, and he claims to have made a lot of money from it. The allegations in the cases at bar mention his naked-shorting shares of another company and lying to the broker about it. This tells you how corrupt the system is: any hedge fund manager can lie to a broker and have the broker sell property which he does not own and has not borrowed.
I speak on behalf of Main Street investors who are regularly defrauded by Wall Street’s rigged games. The aforementioned cases represent everything that is wrong on Wall Street: arrogance, greed, dishonesty, lies, fraud, and the attitude of being above the law.
I beg you to not have mercy on Martin Shkreli. For Wall Street miscreants paying a fine is the equivalent of a parking ticket – it’s business as usual afterwards. It was disappointing to hear that the SEC made a deal with Stevie Cohen, the billionaire hedge fund manager running SAC Capital. The only thing that sends the right signal is prison time.
Shkreli represents a huge crisis in morality. He was “schooled” at Jim Cramer’s hedge fund. Cramer is on record for saying “truth is your enemy” and that “you should not do anything remotely truthful when in hedge fund mode”. Main Street is regularly the victim of these lies – people who invest their hard-earned money do not have the same access to information, insider tips, clout, journalists and analysts who bat for big money, and bank accounts to compete with the miscreants who abuse those things.
We The People need the Judiciary to teach a lesson to these miscreants.
There are many many Shkrelis running wild on Wall Street. He just happened to get caught. By punishing him to the full extent of law you send a signal to the others, and diffuse his attempts to portray his actions as ok, cool, acceptable, normal.
On the other hand, if convicted, if you let him off the hook easy (lack of prison time) this will send a strong signal that his conduct is acceptable – that one can “get away with murder” on Wall Street and buy one’s way out.
Shkreli is an arrogant and unrepentant person who’s acted as though he’s above the law. Since being arrested and released on bail, he’s been trying to drum up public support by appealing to the younger section of society who are electronically well connected. DOJ needs to send the signal to the society that there’s nothing “cool” about being a miscreants, a criminal, a fraudster, if he’s convicted.
Thank you very much for your consideration to this message.
All the very best
<adr>
__________________________________________________________ .
14 December 2017
Subject:
USA v. Shkreli et al., CRIMINAL CASE # 1:15-cr-00637-KAM-1 (Filed 12/14/2015)
To: Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto, United States District Judge, Eastern District of New York, United States Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Secretary:(718) 613-2180
Cc: Ms. Alixandra Eleis Smith – US Attorney
718-254-6370, Fax: 718-254-6076, alixandra.smith@usdoj.gov
Dear Honorable Matsumoto:
As I have brought to your attention before, I am one of Shkreli’s victims. I know others too in the same shoes as me where that crook engaged in deceptive and highly immoral activities to enrich himself at the cost of us little people.
That crook has no respect for truth whatsoever. We are so happy you put him behind bars, and we encourage you to please give him the MAXIMUM sentence allowed by law. Otherwise, being the evil man he is, he will influence the society that crime pays off.
Thanks for being as harsh on him as possible. It will also send a very important and badly needed sign to other criminal entities including some on Wall Street that justice will catch up with you.
Many Thanks & Best regards
__________________________________________________________ .
Subject:
USA v. Shkreli et al., CRIMINAL CASE # 1:15-cr-00637-KAM-1 (Filed 12/14/2015)
Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto, United States District Judge, Eastern District of New York, United States Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Secretary:(718) 613-2180 Fax: (718) 613-2185.
Dear Honorable Matsumoto:
I am still having nightmares from the pain that Martin Shkreli put us through by his fraud. Please give him a very harsh sentence. He should rot in prison. 20 years will set a great example in society that malicious, intentional fraud doesn't pay.
Many thanks. Looking forward to hearing your tough sentencing of that crook.
Kind Regards
__________________________________________________________ .
Subject:
USA v. Shkreli et al., CRIMINAL CASE # 1:15-cr-00637-KAM-1 (Filed 12/14/2015)
08 September 2017
To: Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto, United States District Judge, Eastern District of New York, United States Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Secretary:(718) 613-2180 Fax: (718) 613-2185.
Cc: Ms. Alixandra Eleis Smith – US Attorney
718-254-6370, Fax: 718-254-6076, alixandra.smith@usdoj.gov
Dear Honorable Matsumoto:
Please refer to my letter of 15 Jan 2016, reprinted for you convenience below.
Martin Shkreli is an evil person who has intentionally harmed many people. I was one of his many victims and I know other victims who are too afraid to speak out. I lost a lot of money because of that crook. He lied through his teeth after he shorted a stock I owned and used his media connections such as Seeking Alpha to propagate his lies and misinformation. I can provide you any details necessary. He made a lot of money on this trade, as he boasted about in a subsequent article after he covered his short position. During that time, which spanned over a year, many investors suffered due to his hurting the company and its stock by his malicious actions.
He further promised to donate a large portion of his gain to charity, which he never did. I had correspondence with him about he subject.
Lastly, he is corrupting minds of young people on social media. It’s important that he is imprisoned for the maximum sentence of 20 years, to send a signal to a) the investment community b) young people that such criminal, evil, dishonest, arrogant behavior has no place in our great society which is founded on values which Shkreli opposes.
Many thanks for your consideration and sentencing that criminal to the maximum sentence, and immediately revoking his bail as the prosecutor has demanded.
Best regards
__________________________________________________________ .
GREAT NEWS. Martin Shkreli got a 7 year prison sentence. Can't tell you how good this feels after what that scum did to biotech investors which his deception, lies, and fraud. I had a number of direct interactions with the crook, and called him out on his lies.
I discussed Avanir with him. The scum shorted Avanir in the 4's and engaged in the most ridiculous "short & distort" by publishing impressive sounding but wrong bearish arguments on May 31, 2011. One of my analyst friends told me his arguments were lies (around IP value), and she was right. But at the time, the scum promised to give a big portion of his gains to charity and that he could be held accountable. He made a ton of money on that trade when he covered in the 2's and I called him out on the charity donation he promised. Zilch. He said he has to call reporters and have a big media blitz and blah blah and that was something that never happened.
Among his other achievements which are not officially reflected in the prosecutor's case is his short & distort on MNKD.
I was so happy to hear he got his ass kicked with OREX.
Later on he went cyber and engaged in promoting his persona which had nothing to offer to the world than a big ego. Keep in mind he was trained by Kramer who is on record for saying truth is your enemy when you're in hedge fund mode. That truth zapped Shkreli in the back and put the sucker behind bars. Sigh of relief.
__________________________________________________________ .
December 17, 2015 ·
FINALLY, WALL STREET SCUM ARRESTED FOR FRAUD & RUNNING A PONZI SCHEME
FBI, SEC & DOJ finally caught up with a very evil hedge fund manager who'd hurt many investors, and allegedly defrauded many.
Martin Shkreli shorted and distorted biotech stocks and has recently been in news as the most hated man in America. He was finally arrested today on securities fraud charges. Hallelujah!
I came across him when he shorted AVNR and distorted the strength of their intellectual property by misinformation -- typical "short & distort". He made a ton of money off that immoral act and promised to give a big chunk to charity and last time I checked he still hadn't done it.
Of course he was proven dead wrong. The company's patents were rock solid as a couple of analysts I respect thought... Shkreli shorted the stock at around 4 and covered at around 2 -- later the company was bought for around 17/share.
Shkreli is so self-obsessed that he's uploading videos of himself sleeping all night, on youtube. Who in their right mind would spend hours watching someone sleep?! LOL...
Recently he became famous for increasing the price of a life saving medicine from $13.50 to $700. Scum!
Here are some letters that I wrote to regulators that mention him.
Finally he's caught. His arrogance and disrespect for law has made him tweet the way after his arrest that the charges are bogus. Well, these are easy cases because the trade confirmations and fund transfers all leave records. Plus, it seems like some insiders are cooperating with law enforcement.
It's part of Wall Street's corruption to deny charges, whilst, pleading guilty will get him a much lower sentence but I doubt he's humble and wise enough to go that route. On the other hand, I don't think he's stupid enough to want to go to trial because given his track record I wouldn't be surprised at getting maximum sentence.
He embodies everything that's wrong on Wall Street: greed, corruption, lies, arrogance, and thinking you're above the law.
__________________________________________________________ .
It's gotten better. SAC Capital doesn't exist any more and a few years ago nobody thought that empire of Stevie Cohen would ever vanish. I've spoken with SEC and FINRA and helped them investigate some miscreants. There are too many of them out there and so they try to go after the biggest ones and hope that slapping them would teach the smaller fish to behave. Here's the results of one investigation. This one made reverse conversions stop!!
Just in: SEC is suing him for fraud as well (civil suite). So the scum is now under investigation by both Department of Justice and Securities & Exchange Commission. SEC is after him for the past 5 years, lying to investors, etc.
One of my letters about that scum had a visit from The Associated Press, New York today.
A reporter who met him said he looks pale and looks like a vampire. One can't be too healthy when living a life of lies, deceit, cheating other people, fraud, and thinking one is above the law. He embodies everything that is wrong on Wall Street with the worship of money, as the new god.
Talk about Karma, the scumbag had a $7M loss on OREX. That's more than double the his undeserved gain in AVNR which he made through misinformation and damaging many investors. I wouldn't touch OREX with a 10 foot pole because Contrave has very heavy side effects.
Basically the FEDs have got an evil punk by his private parts and I hope, given how bad this person is, they send him behind bars.
The scum posted a video of him hanging up when FBI special agent. His ex-boss Jim Cramer, who should also be behind bars, tore up a SEC subpoena, on TV! Cramer is on record for saying truth is the enemy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMuEis3byY4 What lowlives these guys are. Add to the list Adam Feuerstein who works for Cramer's organization, TheStreet.com -- he's on record for publishing falsehoods as facts -- these scums have no reservation putting convenience ahead of truth!
__________________________________________________________ .
3 March 2018
Subject:
USA v. Shkreli et al., CRIMINAL CASE # 1:15-cr-00637-KAM-1 (Filed 12/14/2015)
To:
Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto, United States District Judge, Eastern District of New York, United States Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Secretary:(718) 613-2180, Fax: (718) 613-2185
Cc:
Ms. Alixandra Eleis Smith – Assistant US Attorney
718-254-6370, Fax: 718-254-6076, alixandra.smith@usdoj.gov
Dear Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto:
Please do not believe Martin Shkreli. He would say anything to get a lower sentence. Reading the lines he wrote to you, and knowing him from the past, and what a crooked liar he is, I humbly recommend that you do not believe him. It takes a lot more than a few months in jail to change this bad person who’s consistently acted as he’s above the law. He needs a humiliating long sentence to truly teach him a lesson.
The “I should have known better” in his letter probably refers to “getting caught” and not “acting morally”. The roots of immoral behavior, having no respect for truth, having no care about hurting other humans, is so deep rooted in this evil person’s mind, that a short prison sentence is not enough to correct that.
Also, please consider the kind of message a short sentence would sent to other crooks and people he inspires: that you can get defraud people, cheat, lie, steal, do everything illegal and immoral, and away with a 2 year prison sentence.
Please give this bad person maximum sentence allowed by law. He’s hurt many people you’ve never seen in the court, people like me, and others I know whom he damaged by his immoral behaviors.
Many thanks and kind regards
~~~~~~
SEC Sympathy For Short Sellers
by Reza Ganjavi
For comments on s7-31-08/s73108 by other people, please see: http://www.404.gov/comments/s7-31-08/s73108.shtml
-----------------------------------------
It's about time
26 Nov 2008: "WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)-... the Securities and Exchange Commission reported late Tuesday that the International Organization of Securities Commissions is setting up three task forces. One group will look at "naked" shorting, the practice of selling shares without arranging to borrow the securities up front.... A third panel will look at regulation of hedge funds. The SEC may seek to require that fund managers register with the agency and open up their books to periodic examinations by staffers."
-----------------------------------------
Reply to Senator Diane Feinstein's Letter
UPDATE:
3 Dec 2008
Dear Senator Feinstein:
Thanks a lot for your thoughtful response.
Please note:
a) Do not wait for legislation to come to you. Make one. Demand that the SEC bring about the changes necessary. Many short sellers are out to destroy good companies. Beacon Power for example, is a leader in clean technology, emission-free energy-storage. A short seller, in light of the stock manipulation wrote:
"New multi year low is here. What a joy to be short seller. I loving to see this junk going down the tubes." And he's also on record for spreading lies about the company. They're out to destroy good important companies which in turns means destroying the future of innovation and the economy.
b) Until the SEC (1) imposes a requirement that prior to a executing a short sale, a seller must have a legally enforceable right to deliver by the delivery date the shares that are to be shorted (like has been done in Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland, etc.), (2) enable transparency by requiring timely disclosure of true volume of all failures-to-deliver (including those that occur “ex-clearing”), (3) makes permanent its interim hard-delivery requirement, and (4) actually enforces these rules, naked short selling will continue to wreak havoc on our financial markets.
So there is a lot of work needs to be done to repair 8 years of negligence and letting crooks run wild.
Rules by themselves are not enough if they won't get enforced. SEC has had a hands-off approach and that has helped destroy financial markets. Urgent action is needed now.
Thanks and regards
Reza Ganjavi
Jul 2009
"Bernard Madoff, the financier convicted for Wall Street's biggest investment fraud, was surprised his $65 billion Ponzi scheme was not uncovered sooner
"There were several times that I met with the SEC and thought 'they got me,' The Securities and Exchange Commission is now conducting an in-depth review of how they missed the fraud,
---------
Dah!! Sleep at the wheel is one way of putting it. Or where they?
Check out this video "Rep. Ackerman on Madoff Fraud" (on Nancy Pelosi's channel): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOKSkaQoF_I
Problem of Naked Shorting; Corruption in US Financial System (as of Oct 2008)
October 2008
by Reza Ganjavi
If you don't know what shorting and naked shorting in the context of the stock market is, please Google the subjects.
The SEC’s charter is to protect the investors against abusive behavior but it has done very little so far. It has not brought a single case against illegal naked shorting.
Chairman Cox has said: “Illegal naked short selling is specially a threat to smaller public companies whose relatively thin market capitalization can be more easily manipulated.”
Chairman Cox: “The extreme abuses that are reflected in securities being chronically listed on Reg Sho’s threshold security list for months and years at a time is ample evidence that there is also fraud in the market that needs to be arrested.”
A couple of months ago when the financial turmoil heated up, the SEC temporarily banned naked short selling for 19 financial companies. Not all companies but just 19.
Richard Baker, a former representative and member of House Financial Services Committee who is now the CEO of “Managed Funds Association” which is the main US trade association for the hedge fund industry complained about this ban in an interview with Bloomberg with some arguments such as: “we don’t know what the SEC is trying to fix”. Really? Nothing is broken right?
And Mr. Bush’s SEC, as it stands today, has failed to properly police Wall Street. Want a good examople? Take a look at the naked short list.
Take a look at: “Deutsche Bank Sold Massive Amounts of Phantom Stock” story.
There are so many examples. There is so much corruption on Wall Street and such a cleanup job to do. Hopefully in the administration will clean up this mess.
When a hedge fund pays over $100M per year in commissions it has clout. When SEC doesn't act, things get worse. SEC is supposed to be policing Wall Street. Wall Street has not and will not police itself.
Secretary Hank Paulson: “Naked short selling is wrong anywhere. Any investor, before they sell short, should line up the stock, and that goes without saying.”
~~~
Allegation: SEC officials provided confidential information to former colleagues working on Wall Street.
Interestingly enough the Washington Post reported today that :
"Senate investigators are looking into allegations that the head of SEC’s enforcement division, Linda Thomsen, gave information about investigations into Bear Stearns to the general counsel of J.P. Morgan Chase."
Senator Charles Grassly wrote a letter to the SEC requesting feedback on this allegation and wrote:
"Such conduct would reinforce the appearance that Enforcement decisions, and disclosures of information about them, are sometimes based not on the merits, but rather on access to senior officials by influential representatives of power brokers on Wall Street."
There we go.
Speaking of Linda Thomsen, I wrote a hot letter to her last night and copied the SEC commissioners and some members of the congress. I was and am completely fed up with the fact that SEC enforcement division has not brought a case against any naked shorting abuses.
Here's the letter: <>
Reprinted with permission.
In the late 1800s, American financier Daniel Drew refined the art of selling counterfeit shares. Drew's biographer wrote, "There is no limit to the amount of blank shares a printing press can turn out. White paper is cheap... printer's ink is also cheap." Today, it is possible to counterfeit shares electronically — and it happens with such frightening regularity and impunity that Drew would be proud.
In modern stock markets, stock ownership has been separated from stock certificates through a process known as "dematerialization." As a result, when investors buy or sell stock, they are actually trading "security entitlements" — not actual stock certificates.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Market Regulation Director Erik Sirri explains: "The beneficial owner's [i.e., the investor's] ownership cannot be tracked to a specific share... [T]hey own a bundle of rights defined by federal and state law and by their contract with the broker. ... That's news to a lot of people." News indeed.
Brokers in U.S. equity markets receive commissions when buyers pay for shares, not when sellers deliver those shares. Thus, incentives to deliver share are so weakened that some brokers and large institutional customers (e.g., hedge funds) regularly use loopholes to avoid delivering shares at all. The result is a "failure-to-deliver" (FTD).
FTDs can be caused in several ways, but they commonly result from short sales in which the seller does not borrow or even locate the stock he sells (the infamous "naked" short sales). Regardless of how an FTD occurs, for each share not delivered the system creates a "phantom" entitlement the market treats as a real share. These "phantom shares" are supposed to be temporary in duration and few in number. Loopholes, however, are exploited on such a scale, and phantom shares are so persistent, they are corrupting the U.S. equity markets in three ways.
(1) Phantom shares warp corporate governance by inflating the number of voting shares. Bob Drummond (Bloomberg Markets) reported in April 2006, "The results of high-stakes company decisions may hinge on the invisible influence of millions of votes [i.e., phantom shares] that shouldn't be counted." In an analysis of 341 corporate votes in 2005 by the Securities Transfer Association, there was evidence of overvoting in all 341 cases.
(2) Phantom shares distort share prices by flooding the market with excess supply. In July 2006, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said "abusive naked short sales ... can be used as a tool to drive down a company's stock price to the detriment of all of its investors." The creation and sale of phantom shares has become a common means to manipulate share prices in U.S. equity markets.
(3) Phantom shares create systemic risk. According to the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. (DTCC), on any given day "fails to deliver and receive amount to about $6 billion daily ... or about 1½ percent of the dollar volume." Bradley Abelow, a former DTCC director, says FTDs within the settlement system "occur as a matter of course with great regularity," and calls them "endemic." The stock market has turned into a game of "musical chairs" where claims of ownership exceed shares issued. What happens when the music stops?
In a weak attempt to curb abusive naked short selling and reduce outstanding FTDs, the SEC implemented Regulation SHO in January 2005. Regulation SHO requires the stock exchanges to publish daily a list of "threshold securities" — companies that through no fault of their own have FTDs in excess of 0.5 percent of their outstanding shares. More than 6,000 companies have appeared on these Threshold Lists — many for hundreds of consecutive trading days. For these companies, Regulation SHO does not work.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) data received from the SEC reveal that FTDs have been as high as 10 percent of the average daily trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. FOIA data also reveal that, for many companies, FTDs are a significant portion of their total shares outstanding — in at least one case more than 45 percent.
Economists, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, members of Congress, public companies, and hundreds of informed investors have urged the SEC to adopt a G.O.L.D. standard: G, eliminate Regulation SHO's Grandfather clause; O, eliminate Regulation SHO's Options market maker exception; L, require short-sellers to Locate and borrow shares before selling them; and D, require the exchanges to Disclose fully and promptly the aggregate FTDs for every Threshold List company.
To its credit, the SEC is working to fix two significant loopholes in Regulation SHO by eliminating the grandfather clause (final phase-in on Dec. 3, 2007) and by proposing to eliminate the options market maker exception (proposed, but not yet adopted).
However, these half-measures will not stop the creation of phantom shares. Will the SEC finish the job? That remains to be seen. According to a recent Senate Judiciary Committee report, the SEC is riddled with conflicts of interest that prevent it from properly policing brokers who are guilty of securities crimes. If the SEC does not act to protect investors, it falls to Congress to adopt the G.O.L.D. standard and bring an end to market distortion caused by phantom shares.
There are many cases against banks (including Swiss banks) who have been convicted of fraud and other criminal actions. Nobody seems to care as it is business as usual for some banks to break the law and just pay the price, like a parking ticket. Of course it brings bad publicity but they have enough money to buy the best publicists and fix their image. Here's one example of many many:
In what a federal judge called “a brazen fraud,” the bank was found liable for bad mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Bank of America to pay $1.27 billion in damages over shoddy mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac just before the housing crisis.