Citadel allegedly reloaded Shorts on GME before Robinhood put restrictions | Hacker News Reader

Citadel allegedly reloaded Shorts on GME before Robinhood put restrictions

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165 pointsvthallam31 comments

If I learned anything from watching Billions is that the fix is usually in and it is between the guys with lots and lots of money.

What an amazing inside trade -- knowing or forcing the Robinhood App to restrict the large majority of WallStreetBets from buying, and then shorting the hell out of it.

And they will probably get away with it too, which I also learned from watching Billions.

> learned from watching Billions

You know, it's a TV show, not a graduate level course on capital markets.

It's not a documentary?

While it’s true that it’s a TV show, one of the aspects that makes it interesting is that the many immoral and self serving actions taken by the two main characters are often inspired by real life controversies or cases of financial crime or political corruption. With an attempt at splitting them into the two camps of “corruption outside the system” and “corruption within the system” personified by the two feuding main characters.

I think a lot of it is how things are. Of course a lot of it is over the top for dramatic purposes and everything in the show happens to the same set of characters as is needed in a drama... But the fundamentals I think are spot on.

Absolutely not, this is fucking insane. Ken Griffin is going to jail.

I can't wait for inevitable Billions episode about Gamestop. Dollar Bill is probably going to lose it :)

If you think about it, they basically stopped buying for the top 4 most mentioned stocks on WSB - https://stonks.news/wsb/summary/

There might be another layer to this story. Citadel securities is one of the major market makers that handles orders for Robin hood. I'm guessing they most likely were given a heads up. Granted the hedge fund is separate from the market making business but who knows right

Yeah even if one POD at Citadel (hedge fund segment) was short GME or increased GME short before Robinhood GME stop there will be many fingers pointed.

How about confirming your "tip" is true before further inflaming people with rhetoric about jail and warfare?

Justin mentions it is a tip and puts his reputation on the line to get the news out. How about having some balls to put your name on what you believe to be true?

Apparently his reputation is shot. His "news" is disinformation.

https://blog.robinhood.com/news/2021/1/28/an-update-on-marke...

It is class warfare though... Only the elites are allowed to win here. How else can you describe that other than class warfare?

Only if it's true. Right now it's some guy on twitter quoting his unnamed friend...

Halting buy orders on stocks that the Wall Street powerhouses are betting will go down seems like enough for me... Refueling your shorts is the icing on the cake.

I agree about halting stock orders. That's dodgy as fuck.

As for re-shorting, my issue is there is no evidence of that so far. The fact its "some guy on twitter's anon mate" makes me think it's total bs.

The elites will be fine regardless, they understand what they're doing and will just exit positions with losses if the they determine the risk is too high.

You know who want be fine? The idiot retail investors who actually use robinhood as a broker, lose all their money and can't pay rent because they lost it all gambling on something they didn't understand.

It won't be the elites holding the worthless stock when it inevitable crashes to 0.

Your concern is not needed.

> You know who want be fine? The idiot retail investors who actually use robinhood as a broker, lose all their money and can't pay rent because they lost it all gambling on something they didn't understand.

Well, then, I guess we taxpayers should bail them out, the same way we bailed out the banks in 2008.

You might not like it, but at least it would be fair.

I'm not on the side of the banks. The problem is people think they're hurting hedge funds, but the reality is the ones who will end up hurt most are the people who can't afford to take the losses.

Can the hedge funds afford to take the losses?

everybody involved knows how this ends, save your paternalistic condescension

Do you honestly think the majority of people who use Robinhood as a broker actually understand how short positions work and why they're driving the price higher?

It's clear price manipulation and it's exposing people to substantial risk they don't understand.

> Do you honestly think the majority of people who use Robinhood as a broker actually understand how short positions work and why they're driving the price higher?

yes, that is the entire reason that this situation began and the reason that people are excited about it! basic market dynamics are not some occulted mystery that only licensed brokers are privy to.

>The Redditors at r/WallStreetBets are now busting open the territory of finance. It doesn't take long for the average person to understand the language of finance if it is explained clearly... and professional investors are going to be pissed about it [...] So expect professional investors to hold the amateurs in contempt. Not because they are losing money. But because they have constructed an identity out of finance being exclusive & high status. They won't want to be associated with unwashed masses & will resist it

Citadel should not be able to prevent Robinhood from trading $GME. Robinhood routes trades to many other counterparties, detailed here:

https://cdn.robinhood.com/assets/robinhood/legal/RHS%20SEC%2... from https://robinhood.com/us/en/about/legal/

Justin's "tip" was incorrect and he's spreading disinformation.

"To be clear, this was a risk-management decision, and was not made on the direction of the market makers we route to." - Robinhood[0]

[0]https://blog.robinhood.com/news/2021/1/28/an-update-on-marke...

Unless there's some transparency and investigation of the matter, it's harder to believe than it is for them to say it.

There will be investigation undoubtedly. So who's got more skin in the game?

Is it Robinhood with an official press release stating their decision didn't come from their market-maker, Citadel, and if this isn't true would face repercussions in court?

Or is it Justin, who like the rest of twitter-verse, if wrong, faces zero repercussions?

[Citations needed.]

This would be significant, important news if true. Without confirmation, it's just fanning the flames.

while I have some sympathy for the "letting retail traders coordinate to cause havoc in the market probably isn't the best thing" argument...

lol fuck these guys, this apparently couldn't have happened to nicer people

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