🐻The Bear Cave #28🐻

New Activist Reports, What to Read, and Tweets of the Week

Aug 24, 2020

Welcome to The Bear Cave — your weekly source of short-seller news. Feedback and sharing are always appreciated. If you are new, you can join our email list here.

This issue is a little shorter than usual because I spent time investigating Donald Trump Jr.’s ties to penny stocks that sell coronavirus equipment (read here). To compensate, next week’s issue will have a special idea.

New Activist Reports

Hindenburg Research published on GrowGeneration (NASDAQ: GRWG — $827 million), a roll-up of small mom and pop gardening shops. Hindenburg opined,

“GrowGeneration’s management team is one of the most questionable we have ever seen at a public company. Top executives have extensive ties to alleged pump & dump schemes, organized crime and various acts of fraud.”

Culper Research published an excellent report on Blink Charging (NASDAQ: BLNK — $215 million), an owner and operator of electric vehicle chargers. Culper claimed Blink dramatically overstated the size of its electric charging network and that in-person visits “revealed a plethora of neglected, abused, non-functional, or otherwise missing chargers.”

Mariner Research also published on Blink Charging. Blink said it “will defend itself vigorously against these false allegations and is also reviewing all legal options.” Shares fell 39% last week.

Spruce Point Capital issued a “Strong Sell Opinion” on Canadian waste management company GFL Environmental (NYSE: GFL — $6.31 billion).

Citron Research tweeted critically about Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG — $4.89 billion):

Citron Research @CitronResearch

$PLUG back to $7 as it is the Anti- Tesla. Why even look to short $TSLA when $PLUG is twice as expensive with a never profitable business.

What to Read

“Donald Trump Jr.’s Coronavirus Profiteering” (Edwin Dorsey)

“Two penny stocks paid Donald Trump Jr. consulting fees. They now sell coronavirus equipment.”

“Kodak’s $765 Million Moment: How It Happened—And How It Went Wrong” (WSJ)

“Peter Navarro, trade adviser, spearheaded the idea and used his sway to help Kodak navigate the bureaucracy—until the deal blew up”

“Going Public Circa 2020; Door #3: The SPAC” (Bill Gurley)

“SPACs may emerge as a legitimate third option for helping Silicon Valley companies efficiently and cost-effectively transition into the public markets.”