The Bear Cave #308
New Activist Reports, Recent Resignations, and Tweets of the Week
Welcome to The Bear Cave! Our last premium articles were “Problems at Pattern Group (PTRN)”, “Problems at Serve Robotics (SERV)”, and “The Best Stock Research Tools for 2026.” Our next special investigation for paid readers comes out this Thursday, January 15.
New Activist Reports
BMF Reports published on TROOPS Inc (NASDAQ: TROO — $589 million), a Hong Kong-based financial company that claims to use artificial intelligence, big data, and blockchain technology. BMF raised concerns about “circular share transactions, opaque buybacks, insider-linked entities, and unresolved legal liabilities in Hong Kong.” BMF wrote, in part,
“In June 2025, the Hong Kong High Court issued a final judgment holding TROO and key subsidiaries jointly and severally liable for over $52 million. The company has not disclosed any credible plan to satisfy this judgment and continues to engage in capital expenditures and share repurchases that contradict its financial reality.
At best, TROO is a broken business with inflated books. At worst, it’s a public-market shell with engineered financials.”
BMF predicted an 80–90% near-term decline “as liquidity tightens and market participants reassess the company’s true financial condition.”
Deep Credit Research, an anonymous blog, published another article on Better Home & Finance (NASDAQ: BETR — $626 million), a tech-focused mortgage origination company. Deep Credit Research raised concerns about the recent CFO departure and potential liquidity issues at the company. In November, Deep Credit Research predicted Better would “continuously issue new equity just to maintain its current level of mortgage lending.”
Recent Resignations
Notable executive departures disclosed in the past week include:
CFO of Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR — $6.03 billion) “will be departing to pursue new business opportunities” after just one year. In November 2024, the company’s CEO was “terminated other than for cause” after eight years, departed the board, and received “severance compensation [of] approximately $5.6 million.” In September 2024, Healthcare Realty Trust’s CFO was also “terminated other than for cause” after eight and a half years. The medical outpatient REIT is audited by BDO USA.
CFO of Green Plains (NASDAQ: GPRE — $738 million) departed with immediate effect after a little over one year. The ethanol fuel producer has had six different CFOs in the last ten years.
CFO of Apogee Enterprises (NASDAQ: APOG — $761 million) departed with immediate effect after nearly three years “to pursue another professional opportunity.” The company has had four CFOs in the last ten years. In October, the company’s CEO resigned and departed the board, and in June, the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer resigned after just ten months.
Mr. Cosmo Feilding-Mellen, board member of AtaiBeckley (NASDAQ: ATAI — $1.36 billion), resigned with immediate effect after just two months.
General Counsel of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE: KREF — $521 million) resigned with immediate effect after a little over one year.
Chief Operating Officer of KKR (NYSE: KKR — $120 billion) “will be stepping down from his role effective immediately” after four years.
Data for this section is provided by VerityData from VerityPlatform.com
Recent Stock Promotion Campaigns
Notable paid stock promotion campaigns disclosed in the last week include:
HIVE Digital Technologies (NASDAQ: HIVE — $741 million) paid for several promotional articles from Proactive Investors.
Diginex (NASDAQ: DGNX — $625 million) paid for a promotional email campaign.
Vuzix (NASDAQ: VUZI — $265 million), a frequent client of paid promotion services, paid for multiple promotional email campaigns.
SBC Medical Group Holdings (NASDAQ: SBC — $455 million) paid for sponsored research from Zacks SCR and was previously promoted on sponsored YouTube channels.
Data from StockPromotionTracker.com
News of the Week
“The $12BN Loyalty Programme Assailed from All Sides” (Nosey Parker Substack)
An independent journalist investigates allegations of misconduct and technical failures in Alaska Airlines' (NYSE: ALK — $5.80 billion) loyalty program. The author disclosed a short position and wrote, in part:
“Individually, the accounting discontinuity, balance sheet movements, and escalating public accounts of loyalty point thefts would each warrant explanation.
Taken together, they raise a more serious possibility: Alaska’s loyalty programme may no longer operate as a closed, fully controlled, auditable system…”
“‘Bullshit’ — The New Way Health Giants Hide Billions” (Hunterbrook Media)
“Our multinational investigation reveals how CVS, UnitedHealth, and Cigna created new subsidiaries to divert billions of dollars from health plans and patients.
All three tried to keep it secret. None answered repeated questions. CVS sued to stop evidence getting out. Cigna called the police on a reporter…”
“Journalism-Powered Hedge Fund Finds Good News Can Be Profitable” (WSJ)
“Hunterbrook Capital gained 23% in in the first nine months of 2025…”
“New York Attorney General Demands Instacart Share Information on Price Testing” (WSJ)
“Demand follows a report that the app’s users were charged different prices for identical products from the same stores…”
“The Broker Business” (Militia Capital Q4 Investor Letter)
“2025 Results Militia Capital: +64.3%, net of .5%/year management fee and 25% perform. fee over the S&P 500 return…”
Tweets of the Week
Until Thursday,
The Bear Cave