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Might want to check out SPFR - Jaws Spitfire which is a recent SPAC who brought public VELO3D.

VELO is in the business of manufacturing 3D printers that print in metal with extreme precision. I noticed this company in the ARK daily trade emails. After a bit of research and I found that SpaceXis one of their biggest customers. SpaceX went from purchasing 1 system 3 years ago to now having 23 systems. It appears that VELO3D printers help produce parts for Raptor engines. Also appears that SpaceX invested in this company.

Current Market Cap is $432M. Seems to me that this company could 10X within 5 years. Of course this is highly speculative. Not advice.

Thanks JRP3 for noting my typo! Fixed it.
 
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Might want to check out SPFR - Jaws Spitfire which is a recent SPAC who brought public VELO3D.

VELO is in the business of manufacturing 3D printers that print in metal with extreme precision. I noticed this company in the ARK daily trade emails. After a bit of research and I found that SpaceXis one of their biggest customers. SpaceX went from purchasing 1 system 3 years ago to now having 23 systems. It appears that VELO3D printers help produce parts for Raptor engines. Also appears that SpaceX invested in this company.

Current Market Cap is $432M. Seems to me that this company could 10X within 5 years. Of course this is highly speculative. Not advice.

Thanks JRP3 for noting my typo! Fixed it.
Correction - the $432M market cap accounts for 21% of the company. The SPAC structure complicates this one. Still an interesting Co.
 
Near sure thing IF you want (and can) short: just in from Hindenburg Research (of Nikola fame, they were the first to officially puncture with substantiating evidence that buffoon's balloon).
DraftKings: A $21 Billion SPAC Betting It Can Hide Its Black Market Operations

Not advice - and I'm not in a position to do this play, unfortunately ;( but happy to share.
For the record:
1623762922445.png


And I guess it (would have) pays to keep alert for early morning emails

1623763778737.png

DraftKings: A $21 Billion SPAC Betting It Can Hide Its Black Market Operations​



(NASDAQ:DKNG)
  • DraftKings has been considered one of the more successful deals in a recent wave of SPAC transactions marred by scandal and bad actors. Its stock is up ~398% from its announcement price.
  • The company went public in a 3-way merger between (1) DraftKings, (2) its SPAC sponsor, and (3) a Bulgaria-based gaming technology company called SBTech.
  • SBTech accounted for ~25% of total revenue at the SPAC consummation and was the only positive contributor to operating income, providing both financial stability and technology to the deal.
  • Unbeknownst to investors, DraftKings’ merger with SBTech also brings exposure to extensive dealings in black-market gaming, money laundering and organized crime.
  • Based on conversations with multiple former employees, a review of SEC & international filings, and inspection of back-end infrastructure at illicit international gaming websites, we show that SBTech has a long and ongoing record of operating in black markets.
  • We estimate that roughly 50% of SBTech’s revenue continues to come from markets where gambling is banned, based on an analysis of DraftKings’ SEC filings, conversations with former employees, and supporting documents.
  • As one former employee told us, DraftKings’ subsidiary SBTech has "sold to plenty of mobs", a sharp contrast to the clean image of DraftKings’ brand-conscious partners, including the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, UFC and PGA, and the company’s recent hire of supermodel Gisele Bundchen to advise on governance issues.
  • Prior to the SPAC merger, SBTech seems to have made a concerted effort to distance itself from its black-market dealings. Illicit customer relationships were shuffled into a newly formed “distributor” entity called BTi/CoreTech, with ~50 SBTech employees shifted across town to the new entity.
  • The CEO selected to run BTi/CoreTech was formerly an executive of a 'binary options' gambling firm raided by the FBI and subsequently charged by the SEC for deceiving U.S. investors out of over $100 million.
  • Former SBTech employees called BTi/CoreTech a “front”, and said the split preserved SBTech’s (and now DraftKings’) illicit business while shielding the public company from scrutiny. For all practical purposes, it appears that BTi/CoreTech functions as DraftKings’ undisclosed illegal gaming division.
  • We identified numerous black market clients of DraftKings’ “front” entity, through searches on social media and back-end web infrastructure. For example, an Asia-focused site tied to a triad kingpin at the center of a Swiss money laundering investigation advertises its use of BTi/CoreTech technology.
  • In 2019, Vietnamese authorities arrested 22 individuals involved in a “massive illegal online sports betting ring" linked to BTi/CoreTech's platform.
  • Contrary to representations made to Oregon’s state lottery, a former employee told us SBTech had extensive operations in Iran, violating local laws in a market subject to heavy U.S. sanctions. We were told SBTech knowingly operated there for 4-5 years with the founder directly overseeing the operation.
  • Around the time of the DraftKings deal, SBTech’s founder spun off another gaming entity that also operated in markets where gambling was banned, transferring it to his brother. The brand was behind a “massive Chinese operation”, according to a former employee, contrary to representations made to Oregon’s state lottery.
  • The brand continues to operate in China despite the strict local rules prohibiting online gambling, according to our review of web infrastructure for multiple China-facing gambling sites. DraftKings continues to transact with the entity, according to SEC filings.
  • DraftKings trades at a ~26x last twelve months (LTM) sales multiple and a ~20x estimated 2021 sales multiple despite (i) no expectation of earnings for years, (ii) intense competition, and (iii) regulatory risk. The company posted net losses of $844 million in 2020 and $346 million last quarter.
  • Insiders have dumped over $1.4 billion in stock since the company went public a little over a year ago, with SBTech’s founder leading the pack, having personally sold ~$568 million in shares.
  • Despite a rocky track record prior to taking DraftKings public, the company’s SPAC sponsors ultimately received 9.3 million shares, worth around $114 million at the time, in exchange for a token $25 thousand contribution.
  • We spoke with several industry experts and competitors who questioned the viability of DraftKings’ model of aggressively burning cash on promotion and marketing to acquire customers in the near term, despite a lack of evidence of long-term customer brand loyalty.
  • We think DraftKings has systematically skirted the law and taken elaborate steps to obfuscate its black market operations. These violations appear to be continuing to this day, all while insiders aggressively cash out amidst the market froth.
Initial Disclosure: After extensive research, we have taken a short position in shares of DraftKings, Inc. This report represents our opinion, and we encourage every reader to do their own due diligence. Please see our full disclaimer at the bottom of the report.
 
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Near sure thing IF you want (and can) short: just in from Hindenburg Research (of Nikola fame, they were the first to officially puncture with substantiating evidence that buffoon's balloon).
DraftKings: A $21 Billion SPAC Betting It Can Hide Its Black Market Operations

Not advice - and I'm not in a position to do this play, unfortunately ;( but happy to share.
For the record:
View attachment 673565

And I guess it (would have) pays to keep alert for early morning emails

View attachment 673568

DraftKings: A $21 Billion SPAC Betting It Can Hide Its Black Market Operations​



(NASDAQ:DKNG)
  • DraftKings has been considered one of the more successful deals in a recent wave of SPAC transactions marred by scandal and bad actors. Its stock is up ~398% from its announcement price.

  • The company went public in a 3-way merger between (1) DraftKings, (2) its SPAC sponsor, and (3) a Bulgaria-based gaming technology company called SBTech.

  • SBTech accounted for ~25% of total revenue at the SPAC consummation and was the only positive contributor to operating income, providing both financial stability and technology to the deal.

  • Unbeknownst to investors, DraftKings’ merger with SBTech also brings exposure to extensive dealings in black-market gaming, money laundering and organized crime.

  • Based on conversations with multiple former employees, a review of SEC & international filings, and inspection of back-end infrastructure at illicit international gaming websites, we show that SBTech has a long and ongoing record of operating in black markets.

  • We estimate that roughly 50% of SBTech’s revenue continues to come from markets where gambling is banned, based on an analysis of DraftKings’ SEC filings, conversations with former employees, and supporting documents.

  • As one former employee told us, DraftKings’ subsidiary SBTech has "sold to plenty of mobs", a sharp contrast to the clean image of DraftKings’ brand-conscious partners, including the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, UFC and PGA, and the company’s recent hire of supermodel Gisele Bundchen to advise on governance issues.

  • Prior to the SPAC merger, SBTech seems to have made a concerted effort to distance itself from its black-market dealings. Illicit customer relationships were shuffled into a newly formed “distributor” entity called BTi/CoreTech, with ~50 SBTech employees shifted across town to the new entity.

  • The CEO selected to run BTi/CoreTech was formerly an executive of a 'binary options' gambling firm raided by the FBI and subsequently charged by the SEC for deceiving U.S. investors out of over $100 million.

  • Former SBTech employees called BTi/CoreTech a “front”, and said the split preserved SBTech’s (and now DraftKings’) illicit business while shielding the public company from scrutiny. For all practical purposes, it appears that BTi/CoreTech functions as DraftKings’ undisclosed illegal gaming division.

  • We identified numerous black market clients of DraftKings’ “front” entity, through searches on social media and back-end web infrastructure. For example, an Asia-focused site tied to a triad kingpin at the center of a Swiss money laundering investigation advertises its use of BTi/CoreTech technology.

  • In 2019, Vietnamese authorities arrested 22 individuals involved in a “massive illegal online sports betting ring" linked to BTi/CoreTech's platform.

  • Contrary to representations made to Oregon’s state lottery, a former employee told us SBTech had extensive operations in Iran, violating local laws in a market subject to heavy U.S. sanctions. We were told SBTech knowingly operated there for 4-5 years with the founder directly overseeing the operation.

  • Around the time of the DraftKings deal, SBTech’s founder spun off another gaming entity that also operated in markets where gambling was banned, transferring it to his brother. The brand was behind a “massive Chinese operation”, according to a former employee, contrary to representations made to Oregon’s state lottery.

  • The brand continues to operate in China despite the strict local rules prohibiting online gambling, according to our review of web infrastructure for multiple China-facing gambling sites. DraftKings continues to transact with the entity, according to SEC filings.

  • DraftKings trades at a ~26x last twelve months (LTM) sales multiple and a ~20x estimated 2021 sales multiple despite (i) no expectation of earnings for years, (ii) intense competition, and (iii) regulatory risk. The company posted net losses of $844 million in 2020 and $346 million last quarter.

  • Insiders have dumped over $1.4 billion in stock since the company went public a little over a year ago, with SBTech’s founder leading the pack, having personally sold ~$568 million in shares.

  • Despite a rocky track record prior to taking DraftKings public, the company’s SPAC sponsors ultimately received 9.3 million shares, worth around $114 million at the time, in exchange for a token $25 thousand contribution.

  • We spoke with several industry experts and competitors who questioned the viability of DraftKings’ model of aggressively burning cash on promotion and marketing to acquire customers in the near term, despite a lack of evidence of long-term customer brand loyalty.

  • We think DraftKings has systematically skirted the law and taken elaborate steps to obfuscate its black market operations. These violations appear to be continuing to this day, all while insiders aggressively cash out amidst the market froth.
Initial Disclosure: After extensive research, we have taken a short position in shares of DraftKings, Inc. This report represents our opinion, and we encourage every reader to do their own due diligence. Please see our full disclaimer at the bottom of the report.
Should we conclude either this is FUD or ARK isn't doing enough research? Is this the type of thing the ARK team should have been able to uncover or, is understandable for an investment firm to miss this type of thing?
 
Near sure thing IF you want (and can) short: just in from Hindenburg Research (of Nikola fame, they were the first to officially puncture with substantiating evidence that buffoon's balloon).
DraftKings: A $21 Billion SPAC Betting It Can Hide Its Black Market Operations

Not advice - and I'm not in a position to do this play, unfortunately ;( but happy to share.
For the record:
View attachment 673565

And I guess it (would have) pays to keep alert for early morning emails

View attachment 673568

DraftKings: A $21 Billion SPAC Betting It Can Hide Its Black Market Operations​



(NASDAQ:DKNG)
  • DraftKings has been considered one of the more successful deals in a recent wave of SPAC transactions marred by scandal and bad actors. Its stock is up ~398% from its announcement price.

  • The company went public in a 3-way merger between (1) DraftKings, (2) its SPAC sponsor, and (3) a Bulgaria-based gaming technology company called SBTech.

  • SBTech accounted for ~25% of total revenue at the SPAC consummation and was the only positive contributor to operating income, providing both financial stability and technology to the deal.

  • Unbeknownst to investors, DraftKings’ merger with SBTech also brings exposure to extensive dealings in black-market gaming, money laundering and organized crime.

  • Based on conversations with multiple former employees, a review of SEC & international filings, and inspection of back-end infrastructure at illicit international gaming websites, we show that SBTech has a long and ongoing record of operating in black markets.

  • We estimate that roughly 50% of SBTech’s revenue continues to come from markets where gambling is banned, based on an analysis of DraftKings’ SEC filings, conversations with former employees, and supporting documents.

  • As one former employee told us, DraftKings’ subsidiary SBTech has "sold to plenty of mobs", a sharp contrast to the clean image of DraftKings’ brand-conscious partners, including the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, UFC and PGA, and the company’s recent hire of supermodel Gisele Bundchen to advise on governance issues.

  • Prior to the SPAC merger, SBTech seems to have made a concerted effort to distance itself from its black-market dealings. Illicit customer relationships were shuffled into a newly formed “distributor” entity called BTi/CoreTech, with ~50 SBTech employees shifted across town to the new entity.

  • The CEO selected to run BTi/CoreTech was formerly an executive of a 'binary options' gambling firm raided by the FBI and subsequently charged by the SEC for deceiving U.S. investors out of over $100 million.

  • Former SBTech employees called BTi/CoreTech a “front”, and said the split preserved SBTech’s (and now DraftKings’) illicit business while shielding the public company from scrutiny. For all practical purposes, it appears that BTi/CoreTech functions as DraftKings’ undisclosed illegal gaming division.

  • We identified numerous black market clients of DraftKings’ “front” entity, through searches on social media and back-end web infrastructure. For example, an Asia-focused site tied to a triad kingpin at the center of a Swiss money laundering investigation advertises its use of BTi/CoreTech technology.

  • In 2019, Vietnamese authorities arrested 22 individuals involved in a “massive illegal online sports betting ring" linked to BTi/CoreTech's platform.

  • Contrary to representations made to Oregon’s state lottery, a former employee told us SBTech had extensive operations in Iran, violating local laws in a market subject to heavy U.S. sanctions. We were told SBTech knowingly operated there for 4-5 years with the founder directly overseeing the operation.

  • Around the time of the DraftKings deal, SBTech’s founder spun off another gaming entity that also operated in markets where gambling was banned, transferring it to his brother. The brand was behind a “massive Chinese operation”, according to a former employee, contrary to representations made to Oregon’s state lottery.

  • The brand continues to operate in China despite the strict local rules prohibiting online gambling, according to our review of web infrastructure for multiple China-facing gambling sites. DraftKings continues to transact with the entity, according to SEC filings.

  • DraftKings trades at a ~26x last twelve months (LTM) sales multiple and a ~20x estimated 2021 sales multiple despite (i) no expectation of earnings for years, (ii) intense competition, and (iii) regulatory risk. The company posted net losses of $844 million in 2020 and $346 million last quarter.

  • Insiders have dumped over $1.4 billion in stock since the company went public a little over a year ago, with SBTech’s founder leading the pack, having personally sold ~$568 million in shares.

  • Despite a rocky track record prior to taking DraftKings public, the company’s SPAC sponsors ultimately received 9.3 million shares, worth around $114 million at the time, in exchange for a token $25 thousand contribution.

  • We spoke with several industry experts and competitors who questioned the viability of DraftKings’ model of aggressively burning cash on promotion and marketing to acquire customers in the near term, despite a lack of evidence of long-term customer brand loyalty.

  • We think DraftKings has systematically skirted the law and taken elaborate steps to obfuscate its black market operations. These violations appear to be continuing to this day, all while insiders aggressively cash out amidst the market froth.
Initial Disclosure: After extensive research, we have taken a short position in shares of DraftKings, Inc. This report represents our opinion, and we encourage every reader to do their own due diligence. Please see our full disclaimer at the bottom of the report.

ARK is invested in this? Ugh. Maybe time for me to look at ARK a little bit closer.

As for this report, I don’t know. A lot of what they wrote above is about what the merger company did years ago, and might not be reflective of current operations. There is a lot of supposition there, not a lot of hard facts.
 
Should we conclude either this is FUD or ARK isn't doing enough research? Is this the type of thing the ARK team should have been able to uncover or, is understandable for an investment firm to miss this type of thing?
ARK invested in DKNG? pfft that would be sloppy research/ drinking the kool aid of the DKNG PR (to their defense, as Hindenburg points out, DNKG did hide as much as possible their dark side) - unless ARK has a "money has no odor" type of approach, which I thought wasn't their thing. If ARK indeed does own DKNG, let's see how fast they dispose of it.

Hindenburg Research specializes in uncovering precisely these types of shenanigans. Definitely not FUD. They also dissed Lucid air, tho they didn't take a position, and I think history will prove them right.
I see in the AM action that IF I had the funds AND a quick finger, I could've made an easy 5-6% in pre market sell/ cover ;D
Note that this is not necessarily a "sure thing" medium or even long term: look at NKLA !

@Cosmacelf: well the selling by major owners is a hard fact. What is unknown and definitely a "soft" fact is expecting the SEC or other legal powers bringing some sort of action against DKNG. Even tho our major banks are way more guilty of grand larceny and even when caught never paid but a token penalty amount, the fact that DKNG is an "outsider" to Wall St makes them an excellent target to show that the SEC "has teeth" - remember the ABACUS scandal/ joke (the SEC goes after a tiny Chinatown S&L for normal mortgage bad deals and ignores the TBTF banksters, LOL).

PS. SP action update - super short term shorts taking profits ? 5% in a couple hours time for little risk is nothing to sneeze at

1623766280991.png
 
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ARK invested in DKNG? pfft that would be sloppy research/ drinking the kool aid of the DKNG PR (to their defense, as Hindenburg points out, DNKG did hide as much as possible their dark side) - unless ARK has a "money has no odor" type of approach, which I thought wasn't their thing. If ARK indeed does own DKNG, let's see how fast they dispose of it.
It does appear that three of their ETFs hold some, though only a total a little over half a billion across them:
1623766254595.png
 

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@Cosmacelf: well the selling by major owners is a hard fact.

Good point. Any IPO (whether by SPAC or traditional) where the non-financial types (like a founder!) sells significant shares during the IPO or soon after is a red flag. If they sell $5M worth, no biggie, but $500M isn't good.

Having said that, I did exactly that when the company I founded went public back in 2000. I sold my entire stake over the course of about a year from when the lockout expired. Partly because by doing that I would have made enough money to set me for life (that's the: "at some point in time, you've made enough money" argument), and partly because the new management treated me like crap, like firing me from the company before it went public (typical VC, get rid of the founder move). Kinda left a bad taste in my mouth, so it was a big screw you. In the end, though, the company was always strong, and while the new management had zero imagination, they were competent managers and eventually more than doubled the market cap as the dot bomb market sell off petered out.

Still a red flag though :)
 
SHMP Natural Shrimp tank farming. They've been working on this for 15 or so years and seem to have improved filtration technology. Penny stock that hasn't done much but there seems to be some more interest around it recently. For some reason Yahoo doesn't show the stock price history beyond last year but other sources do.
 
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Reactions: Buckminster
SHMP Natural Shrimp tank farming. They've been working on this for 15 or so years and seem to have improved filtration technology. Penny stock that hasn't done much but there seems to be some more interest around it recently. For some reason Yahoo doesn't show the stock price history beyond last year but other sources do.

Hah ha - +10% today - did you move the market this morning, ready to pump and dump ;D

Joke aside, wondering what's the reason for that bump. Maybe some folks realized there is indeed a good chance of a move up, considering demand and all activity was slowed by the plandemic, but now due to rebound.
Also more direct online sales .. and it's a high value item. Raising shrimps live was a black art thing some Chinese entrepreneurs cracked some time (decades) ago. But probably not in the cleanest/ natural organic clean way I would trust for anything but occasional consumption.

I also don't like to buy shrimps, since they are mostly harvested by slave (criminal labor) or raised in polluting tanks, like salmon. Then again maybe most people don't care and the only upscale market is the only real target market.
 
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Reactions: CorneliusXX
Hah ha - +10% today - did you move the market this morning, ready to pump and dump ;D
I wish, actually bought in today after the bump. Buddy of mine mentioned it the other day and I didn't dig into it until now. This might have been what moved it
 
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SHMP Natural Shrimp tank farming. They've been working on this for 15 or so years and seem to have improved filtration technology. Penny stock that hasn't done much but there seems to be some more interest around it recently. For some reason Yahoo doesn't show the stock price history beyond last year but other sources do.

Are Forest and Bubba involved?
 
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Reactions: bkp_duke
ARK invested in DKNG? pfft that would be sloppy research/ drinking the kool aid of the DKNG PR (to their defense, as Hindenburg points out, DNKG did hide as much as possible their dark side) - unless ARK has a "money has no odor" type of approach, which I thought wasn't their thing. If ARK indeed does own DKNG, let's see how fast they dispose of it.

Hindenburg Research specializes in uncovering precisely these types of shenanigans. Definitely not FUD. They also dissed Lucid air, tho they didn't take a position, and I think history will prove them right.
I see in the AM action that IF I had the funds AND a quick finger, I could've made an easy 5-6% in pre market sell/ cover ;D
Note that this is not necessarily a "sure thing" medium or even long term: look at NKLA !

@Cosmacelf: well the selling by major owners is a hard fact. What is unknown and definitely a "soft" fact is expecting the SEC or other legal powers bringing some sort of action against DKNG. Even tho our major banks are way more guilty of grand larceny and even when caught never paid but a token penalty amount, the fact that DKNG is an "outsider" to Wall St makes them an excellent target to show that the SEC "has teeth" - remember the ABACUS scandal/ joke (the SEC goes after a tiny Chinatown S&L for normal mortgage bad deals and ignores the TBTF banksters, LOL).

PS. SP action update - super short term shorts taking profits ? 5% in a couple hours time for little risk is nothing to sneeze at

View attachment 673576

Philosophically I don't like shorting stocks, but if anyone deserves it these guys do (if the information is correct). I never figured out how to short stocks, but I'm tempted to learn...
 
Looks as if the Proterra warrants are good until 6/15/2026 and are priced at $11.50.
They might become exerciseable in Sept unless the company redeems them I guess, which seems as if it would tank the stock.
 
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Reactions: juanmedina
Relevant posts from a few months ago

The warrants cost $11.50 to exercise. If CCIV is at $10, the warrants have no intrinsic value (maybe some time value). CCIV would have be above $11.50 to make exercising the warrants useful.

Warrants wouldn’t go to zero. It is like a $11.50 LEAP with an expiration in 2025. They would be worth $0.75 at minimum I think if the SP dropped to $10. It’s like if TSLA dropped to $100 - a 2025 $115 LEAP would be worth way more then zero.

The lowest the CCIV warrant ever traded was $0.93. So with some loss of time value, I would expect a floor would be $0.75-0.80 for them.
 
Any idea why it converted to two different tickers, PTRA and PTRAW? I see both in my account now. I guess we got some warrants along with stock, I don't remember that ever happening before for any stock I've owned.

I didn't get any warrants, just the Proterra stock. I only had 100 shares of Arclight. Proterra went up a little today.
 
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