Apes, our saga is gettin' juicier than Minute Maid! Who's thirsty?
I hope that you enjoy my educational "AMC Timeline." My goal is to compile and clearly explain the chronology of events in recent AMC stock history in order to:
- provide a permanent point of historical reference for "all things AMC stock";
- educate new and veteran apes alike on exactly how we got to this point;
- paint a picture as to why/when/how shorts and hedge funds are getting increasingly desperate;
- show that all happenings along the way thus far are squarely in apes' favor, slowly contributing to—and virtually guaranteeing—our moon landing;
- give existing AMC apes the confidence that they need to buy and hodl more AMC bananas;
- give potential AMC apes the confidence that they need to become first-time investors in glorious AMC shares . . . and hodl them sumbiches with kung-fu gorilla grip!
Learn, enjoy, and spread the word!
NOTE: If you think that something is missing from the timeline, please send me a message. I'll gladly add it!
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March 18, 2020:
Due to COVID-19, AMC CEO Adam Aron officially announces the temporary (but, ultimately, much-longer-than-expected) closure of all AMC theaters nationwide. The resulting loss of income was so extreme that the company was "a couple of weeks away" from bankruptcy multiple times before the squeeze on January 27, 2021 (per AMC CEO, Adam Aron in his April 14, 2021 interview with Trey's Trades).
https://www.amctheatres.com/covid-19-update
December 17, 2020:
SEC states that Robinhood misled its customers about how it was paid by Wall Street firms to pass along customers' trading data and that the start-up had made money at the expense of its customers. Robinhood agrees to pay a $65 million fine to settle the charges, without admitting or denying guilt.
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-321
January 26, 2021:
AMC secures $917M in new capital to avoid bankruptcy through at least the end of 2021, the breaking news of which was the catalyst for the squeeze the following day
January 27, 2021:
1- The first AMC squeeze took place. The stock price jumped 310% overnight, from $4.96 at the close on January 26 to $20.34 at the open on January 27. (The price briefly reached almost $25 in pre-market on January 27.)
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- Robinhood screwed apes by restricting apes' ability to buy shares of AMC. Only selling was allowed, which directly benefitted hedge funds by tanking the share price. That is arguably the main reason why Vlad was dragged before the House to testify. Robinhood also implemented a 100% margin requirement for equity in AMC and GME.
https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/stock-market-news-012721/h_f037344e14a037160cc724607ff72da0
January 28, 2021:
1- Robinhood blocks apes from buying shares of AMC, GME, and other stocks
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- Robinhood (followed by other lemming brokers) institutes stricter, 100% margin collateral requirements
February 18, 2021:
Robinhood CEO (Vlad Tenev) testifies about Robinhood's January 27-28 fuckery against AMC and GME apes during a House Financial Services Committee hearing
Video:
https://www.nytimes.com/video/business/100000007612057/robinhood-ceo-gamestop-hearing.html
Text presentation:
February 26, 2021:
In a ridiculously intense, back-and-forth battle between apes and HF turds that literally wasn't decided until the finals seconds of trading, Apes emerged victorious by securing a closing price of $8.01 after rallying from $7.90 within only 4 minutes remaining. Finishing the day above $8.00 was very significant because it forced shorts and hedge fund pantywaists to have to purchase hundreds of thousands of shares via options contracts. The figure of "$8.01" has since become a rallying cry for the AMC ape movement.
March 3, 2021:
Per AMC's proxy statement, ". . . 63,096,124 shares (including 3,732,625 treasury shares) of the total number of shares of Common Stock currently authorized remain available for issuance or may be reserved for issuance prior to any amendment to increase the authorized shares of Common Stock."
(Ape Translation: Adam Aron clarified in his April 14, 2021 interview with Trey's Trades that 20 million of those 63 million shares are accounted for. Still, that leaves AMC with 43M already-approved shares available to introduce to the market WITHOUT apes' permission. So, if apes approve the 500M new shares, that will make Aron much more inclined to actually use those 43M already-approved shares that are CURRENTLY the only bullets in his holster. Just because he vowed to not use any of the 500M new shares in 2021 doesn't mean he won't use any of the 43M. In fact, getting the 500M new shares gives Aron much more freedom and ability to dilute with those 43M already-approved shares. That's why my vote is "NO." After we moon, Aron can dilute to his heart's content, and at a much higher price per share, too!)
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1411579/000104746921000518/a2243000zpre14a.htm
March 7, 2021:
SEC requests public comments (until April 8) on proposed Rule NSCC-2021-801 (i.e., "the straw that will break the hedge funds' backs")
https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nscc-2021-801/srnscc2021801.htm
March 16, 2021:
SEC approves Rule DTC-2021-003
https://www.dtcc.com/legal/sec-rule-filings
March 26, 2021 (Friday):
Credit Suisse, Nomura, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley forced hedge fund Archegos to liquidate $20 billion in assets (most notably, shares/swaps of Discovery Channel and ViacomCBS, which caused the PPS of each stock to plummet)
March 29, 2021:
1- SEC approves FICC-2021-002
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- SEC approves DTC-2021-004
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- SEC approves NSCC-2021-004
re: "To address the risks of (a) uncovered losses or liquidity shortfalls resulting from the default of one or more of its Members, and (b) losses arising from non-default events, such as damage to NSCC’s physical assets, a cyber-attack, or custody and investment losses, and the strategy for implementation of such tools."
March 30, 2021:
Susquehanna International Group, LLP ("SIG") and Richard J. McDonald formally oppose the OCC's new "Skin-in-the-Game" rule (OCC-2021-0003)
https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-occ-2021-003/srocc2021003-8561059-230781.pdf
April 1, 2021:
Heath Tarbert (Ex-Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission) joins Citadel Securities as "Chief Legal Officer" only 27 days after leaving the CFTC
"[It's] the latest in a long list of hires [away] from US regulators by [Citadel CEO, Ken] Griffin."
https://www.ft.com/content/dc1d1ddd-4940-4a58-a2de-0ba434927505
April 4, 2021:
"Godzilla v. Kong" sets pandemic and pre-pandemic records, disproving shorts' FUD that "people will never go to AMC theaters again"
https://www.reddit.com/r/amcstock/comments/mkarix/applestoapples_godzilla_vs_kong_just_beat_the/
April 5, 2021:
"B. Riley Financial" upgrades AMC and raises price target from $7 to $13
April 6, 2021:
Trey gets death threats
April 7, 2021:
1- SEC approves "Skin-in-the-Game" rule (OCC-2021-801)
https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/occ/2021/34-91491.pdf
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- Trey's Trades interview with Jordan Belfort
(Let's just pretend that it never happened, OK? Link intentionally excluded.)
April 8, 2021:
1- New SEC filing confirms plaintiffs' assertion that "Apex, along with over 30 other brokerages, trading firms and/or clearing firms, including Morgan Stanley, E*Trade, Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab, Robinhood, Barclays, Citadel and DTCC engaged in a coordinated conspiracy in violation of anti-trust laws to prevent retail customers from operating and trading freely in a conspiracy to allow certain of the other defendants, primarily hedge funds, to stop losing money on short sale positions in GameStop, AMC and certain other securities."
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001834518/000119312521109685/d121216ds4.htm
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- Matt Kohrs gets banned by Youtube
https://twitter.com/matt_kohrs/status/1380144656596541440?lang=en
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- SEC warns SPACs to cut the dirty shit
https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/spacs-ipos-liability-risk-under-securities-laws
https://news.yahoo.com/sec-wall-street-spacs-aren-192916403.html
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- SEC's Chief of the Office of the Whistleblower, Jane Norberg, to Leave Agency
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2021-59
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- Last day to submit your comments to the SEC in support of the approval of Rule NSCC-2021-801! Rule NSCC-2021-801 is the proverbial "nail in the coffin" that reeeeeeeeeeeally has the hedge funders shitting their fancy little britches. A decision will be imminent after April 8. The SEC is currently deliberating whether to approve this SUPER CRITICAL Rule SR-NSCC-2021-801, which would allow the NSCC to assess the risk of members (i.e., hedge funds) on a daily basis and also demand a higher Secondary Liquidity Deposit (SLD) on a daily basis if a member risks defaulting. If approved, this rule will force hedge funds and market makers to pay more if they are "playing too risky." It will also allow the DTCC to liquidate a member’s positions if those positions jeopardize the NSCC’s ability to complete that day’s trades. Furthermore, the arguably most important aspect of Rule NSCC-2021-801 is that hedge funds would no longer be able to take advantage of an inexplicable lack of scrutiny to hide naked shorting, FTD shares, dark pool trades, ladder attacks, trading amongst themselves to artificially lower the price per share, etc. They will no longer have 30 days to "get their affairs in order," either. Transparency could be our newest and greatest weapon!
April 9, 2021:
Melvin Capital hedge fund announces amusingly catastrophic losses of 49% and billions of dollars in the first quarter of 2021
April 10, 2021:
Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) begins its "convenient," unsustainable pump in what many argue is a calculated effort by hedge funds to fool apes into dumping AMC shares
https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/DOGE-USD
April 12, 2021:
1- "Better Markets" files an amicus brief (lawsuit) against Citadel to prevent Citadel from succeeding in stopping the SEC's plan to implement a new type of order ("Delimit Order") developed by IEX. This new "delimit order" would essentially prevent Citadel and other hedge funds from engaging in high-frequency trading and stock price manipulation via the use of sophisticated equipment and non-public information that give them a huge, unfair advantage over retail investors in the marketplace.
https://bettermarkets.com/resources/better-markets-amicus-brief-citadel-v-sec
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- April 12, 2021:
Steve Cohen (manager of Point72 Asset Management hedge fund) sells penthouse for a massive 74% price cut
April 13, 2021:
1- Arclight and Pacific Theatres permanently closing in California, boosting AMC's future business and value
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- "Roensch Capital" predicts the squeeze
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgjAldrX1aE
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- Hedge funds start to "spoof" shares:
https://www.reddit.com/r/amcstock/comments/mq6612/you_mfers_they_started_with_spoofing_now/
April 14, 2021:
1- Gary Gensler, notorious supporter of "the little guy," confirmed 53-45 by Senate to lead the SEC as Wall Street’s top regulator; plans to investigate SPACs and market manipulation by hedge funds (particularly in relation to Gamestop and AMC)
"The GameStop saga has led congressional Democrats to ask the SEC to reexamine the practice of payment for order flow, whereby stock brokers are paid to direct customer orders to market makers, as well as features in trading apps that critics say exemplify the use of so-called gamification techniques to encourage harmful overuse of those apps by retail investors. . . . The blowup of Archegos, meanwhile, could encourage Gensler to propose new rules for institutional investors that require the disclosure of short positions in stocks as well as derivative positions that mimic stock ownership."
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/senate-confirms-gary-gensler-as-sec-chairman-11618417804
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- Phenomenal 97% buyers and only 3% sellers for the day (at market close)!
https://www.reddit.com/r/amcstock/comments/mqzp71/97_buyers_vs_3_sellers_with_almost_100/
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- Adam Aron interview with Trey's Trades!
Notable Adam Aron quotes from the interview, in sequential order:
- "I am in this for the long haul [as CEO], 5-10 more years."
- "I am a fellow shareholder."
- "Long-term, I am a bull. I own over 3,000,000 shares of AMC stock."
- "I want to continue growing the company each year moving forward."
- "Our main goal is to increase shareholder value."
- "Our company is under attack by short sellers."
- "I haven't sold a single share in 5 years, and don't plan to. I am a believer in this company."
- "The last time we authorized 500,000,000 shares, we didn't use any shares [32,000,000] until 3.5 years later! We didn't use shares again [300,000,000] until 3.5 years after that! Each time, AMC's stock price rose 200%-300%."
- "Flooding the market with 500,000,000 shares woud be crazy and foolish."
- "If AMC shareholders authorize the 500,000,000 shares, we will pledge in writing that we will not issue a single share in calendar year 2021!"
- "I'm tired of playing defense. I want to play offense."
- "We would only use shares to acquire other theater chains to instantly increase value for shareholders. Or to buy back debt at a significant discount to increase value. Or to entice landlords to accept stock NOW (at a discount) instead of waiting on cash over the course of 24-36 months."
- "If you don't vote at all, your vote will be counted as a "No" by default.
- "You own AMC. This is YOUR company!"
- "I will give you one prediction: 50 years from now, analysts will be claiming that XYZ is going to put AMC out of business. Why [will AMC still be here]? Because there is something magical about going to the movie theater! . . . Watching at home just doesn't have the same impact."
- "Going to the movie theater is a cheap date. The average movie ticket in the U.S. is about $10. Where else can you go to be entertained for 2-3 hours for only $10? You can't!"
- "In 2019, the movie theater industry sold 7 times as many tickets as the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS combined!"
- "I think that AMC's best days are still to come."
- "I say to those people who are betting against us: I don't think it's a good idea to bet against movie theaters. It's certainly not a good idea to bet against AMC. And I'd like to think that it's not a good idea to bet against Adam Aron, either."
April 15:
J.P. Morgan sells a record $13 billion in bonds to raise cash
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/morgan-stanley-joins-bank-bond-115538870.html
April 16:
1- A massive 57,000 contracts expire at $10.00!
https://www.reddit.com/r/amcstock/comments/mqs0oo/why_has_nobody_mentioned_the_57000_contracts_that/
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- SEC approves FICC-2021-001
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- SEC approves DTC-2021-002
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- SEC approves NSCC-2021-003
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- Goldman Sachs sells $6 billion in bonds to raise cash
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/morgan-stanley-joins-bank-bond-115538870.html
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- One day after J.P. Morgan sold a record $13 billion in bonds to raise cash, Bank of American breaks the record by borrowing $15 billion through the sale of its own bonds.
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- Citigroup is expected to announce its own bond sale soon
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/morgan-stanley-joins-bank-bond-115538870.html
April 17 (Saturday):
1- Gary Gensler sworn in as SEC Chairman, where he will serve as Joe Biden's enforcer, the "top cop on Wall Street." It’s very telling that he was quickly sworn in on a Saturday, which had not happened since 1973 (recession) and 2008 (recession) in order to address fraud. This is a clear indication that Biden and the SEC are preparing to take similar, emergency action against fraudulent actors and market manipulators.
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- Bitcoin dropped 15%, as institutions are likely selling Bitcoin to raise the massive collateral that they now require—starting on April 22—to fully insure their lenders, including apes. (See "April 22" below.)
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- Is somebody in a hurry? LMAO! Lights in Citadel's corporate building suggest that employees worked feverishly at all hours throughout the weekend, including Sunday. Hmmm . . . . Desperate much? The stock market was closed, but guess what was open for trading: Bitcoin. I suppose that it could be a total coincidence that Bitcoin dropped 15% on Saturday, but I doubt it. The more likely scenario is that Citadel and other hedge funds caused Bitcoin to plummet by selling Bitcoin to raise a small portion of the collateral that they will need to at least partially insure the lent/borrowed synthetic shares that they overleveraged, as required on or before April 22. (See "April 22" below.)
April 19:
- Morgan Stanley sells $6 billion in unsecured bonds to raise cash.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/morgan-stanley-joins-bank-bond-115538870.html
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- Infinity Q liquidates its hedge fund amid ramped-up U.S. regulatory probe into hedge fund valuation practices
April 20:
1- Date by which the share count—which will expose the number of synthetic shares—must be completed, which is 14 days before the shareholder meeting on May 4.
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- DTC-2021-007 proposed
". . . market transparency to accurately determine the number of shares loaned, identify proper share ownership, and calculate the risk associated with share loans (all of which is currently self-reported) to prevent over-leveraging in the future."
https://www.dtcc.com/-/media/Files/Downloads/legal/rule-filings/2021/DTC/SR-DTC-2021-007.pdf
April 21:
1- AMC reaches all-time high in short interest at 23.5%
(Keep in mind that the short interest was only 11% before AMC's first squeeze on January 27! Plus, there are far more apes now.)
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- AMC reaches all-time record highs of 152,000,000 shares on loan 100% utilization
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- Borrow fee skyrockets to 26.7%
https://amc.crazyawesomecompany.com/
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- Shredding trucks appear outside of Citadel headquarters
"Iron Mountain: Secure Destruction Your Can Trust"
https://twitter.com/KongPosting/status/1384959402965340163
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- Charles Schwab raises margin requirement for shorting AMC to 300%!
https://www.schwab.com/margin-updates
April 22 (Thursday):
HUGE!
Rule 15c3-3(b)(3) goes into effect. It "requires broker-dealers entering into agreements with their customers (e.g., apes) who lend the broker-dealers fully-paid or excess margin securities to provide the securities lenders (e.g., apes) with collateral that fully secures the loans."
(Apish: "You overleveraged bastards must now have the cash or collateral ON-HAND to fully cover every share that you borrow/lend, including unrealized losses! And, if you fuckers need to borrow more each day, you must also sufficiently increase your cash-on-hand and collateral to be able to FULLY COVER each day. Yeah, it's not yet an official law or regulation, but we're going to enforce it on your asses starting April 22.")
https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/staff-fully-paid-lending
https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/occ/2021/34-91445.pdf
April 23 (Friday):
1- Hedge funds have 3 business days to eliminate (i.e., purchase) ALL synthetic shares that they shorted, or those shares become "FTD" (failed to deliver). The purchase deadline is April 28.
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- Notable movies (average of 2.5 per month) releasing in AMC theaters from April 23, 2021 through April, 2022 (in order of premier date):
- Mortal Kombat
- Cruella
- A Quiet Place Part II
- Peter Rabbit 2: the Runaway
- Black Widow
- Space Jam 2
- Cinderella
- Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins
- Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
- Suicide Squad
- Paw Patrol
- Candyman
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage
- Dune
- Eternals
- Ghostbusters: Afterlife
- Top Gun: Maverick
- Resident Evil
- West Side Story
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- The Matrix 4
- Sherlock Holmes 3
- Sing 2
- Scream
- Morbius
- Uncharted
- The Batman
- Doctor Strange 2
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
April 28 (Wednesday):
As established on April 23, unpurchased synthetic shares go into default. Per SEC rules, hedge funds now have 21 days to purchase those FTD shares.
May 4 (Tuesday):
Shareholder meeting (2:00 PM, Central Time), including vote to approve or deny the option (not the obligation) for AMC to authorize 500 million new shares for unforeseen purposes (under no set timeframe or shares-per-release)
May 19 (Wednesday):
As established on April 28, May 19 is the final deadline for hedge funds to purchase all FTD synthetic shares. If not, all of their assets can go into forced liquidation. We could be looking at Archegos x 100. (Apish: "Liquidation is moon rocket fuel.")
May 26-27, 2021 (Wed-Thurs):
Big bank CEOs to testify before Senate Banking Committee (SBC) and House Financial Services Committee (HFSC)
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/548490-big-bank-ceos-to-testify-before-congress-in-may
Why Hedge Funds Are Screwed:
If the price goes down, apes will eagerly buy more and continue to increase the retail ownership percentage of the company, which is currently 88%+. If the price stays flat, hedge funds will continue to pay an increasingly higher interest rate, which is currently a whopping 26.7%. If the price goes up, hedge funds will have to cover and risk starting the virtually assured squeeze! Bottom line: all roads lead to inevitable oblivion for hedge funds.
