Here's what keeps bugging me about the whole $CLOV and @Chamath thing.
Now, I don't own Clover or, indeed, anything associated with Chamath, not because I had a positive/negative opinion of him - but because I've just never seen much associated with him that interested me.
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Now, I don't own Clover or, indeed, anything associated with Chamath, not because I had a positive/negative opinion of him - but because I've just never seen much associated with him that interested me.
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And I didn't have any opinion of @HindenburgRes either - indeed, I'd never heard of them before their $NKLA takedown.
I found their initial Nikola report credible and awaited the Nikola response which was...wanting. (And, as mentioned, Trevor was gone 10 days later).
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I found their initial Nikola report credible and awaited the Nikola response which was...wanting. (And, as mentioned, Trevor was gone 10 days later).
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So that built credibility for Hindenburg with me (I'm sure they care)...but it truly did. They did good, original, work, calling out fraudulent practice on the part of the company...and they were RIGHT.
That builds credibility.
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That builds credibility.
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Back to Clover...
So Hindenburg drops their report on Clover. Clover responds a day later; Chamath too responds later that same day.
From the Clover response...
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So Hindenburg drops their report on Clover. Clover responds a day later; Chamath too responds later that same day.
From the Clover response...
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"Importantly, the short seller firm did not contact Clover, and we had no knowledge of the short seller report prior to it being made publicly available. In our view, it belies a desperate attempt for publicity while sacrificing any regard for the truth."
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From Chamath's response:
"I wish that Hindenburg had contacted me or Clover. We would have been happy to sit down with them so they could have gotten to the truth and evaluated things firsthand. Instead, they chose to take the cheap path of screaming into the ether."
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"I wish that Hindenburg had contacted me or Clover. We would have been happy to sit down with them so they could have gotten to the truth and evaluated things firsthand. Instead, they chose to take the cheap path of screaming into the ether."
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You see it right? The coordinated blame-shifting?
Basically saying, "It's not what WE did that's at fault...it's on YOU because you didn't talk to us first."
It's a tactic deployed to avoid responsibility.
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Basically saying, "It's not what WE did that's at fault...it's on YOU because you didn't talk to us first."
It's a tactic deployed to avoid responsibility.
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It is a tactic deployed BECAUSE the blame-shifter KNOWs they're in the wrong.
So they have to seize the narrative.
As a somewhat silly example, consider a cheating spouse who, upon discovery, says to their partner, "Well, you got fat and don't listen to me."
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So they have to seize the narrative.
As a somewhat silly example, consider a cheating spouse who, upon discovery, says to their partner, "Well, you got fat and don't listen to me."
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Who among us says to the cheated-on spouse, "Well, the cheater has a good point - you DID get fat and you could listen more..."
(Note: If that IS your response, I don't want to know you).
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(Note: If that IS your response, I don't want to know you).
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Rather, kindhearted people; empathetic people say,
"Your size/attentiveness did not make your spouse cheat. Your spouse's shitty character and sense of entitlement made them cheat."
In other words, blame-shifting is an abusive tactic.
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"Your size/attentiveness did not make your spouse cheat. Your spouse's shitty character and sense of entitlement made them cheat."
In other words, blame-shifting is an abusive tactic.
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It's not dissimilar here with Clover. They were caught.
Caught.
Hindenburg uncovered an undisclosed DOJ investigation.
Clover/Chamath did not counter or disprove - hell, they didn't even deny.
Instead they try to shift the goalposts towards "not material".
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Caught.
Hindenburg uncovered an undisclosed DOJ investigation.
Clover/Chamath did not counter or disprove - hell, they didn't even deny.
Instead they try to shift the goalposts towards "not material".
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But that doesn't change the fact that:
1) Hindenburg was right; and
2) Clover is/was caught.
So too with the thin disclosure of the relationship between Seek Insurance and Clover.
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1) Hindenburg was right; and
2) Clover is/was caught.
So too with the thin disclosure of the relationship between Seek Insurance and Clover.
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Again,
1) Hindenburg was right; and
2) Clover was caught.
But again, "it's not our fault - Seek is a startup - it's on Version 1.0 of the webpage - wait until Version 2.0!"
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1) Hindenburg was right; and
2) Clover was caught.
But again, "it's not our fault - Seek is a startup - it's on Version 1.0 of the webpage - wait until Version 2.0!"
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Chamath then late-in-the-day Tweets out "Trust the process" and throws up a performance list of tickers he's publicly associated with.
This, of course, is yet another distraction tactic.
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This, of course, is yet another distraction tactic.
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I mean,
1) It's basically a more sophisticated form of yelling "Stock Price Bro!"; and
2) He's presenting OUTCOMES (week-, year- and investment-to-date performance) - while telling you to focus on PROCESS.
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1) It's basically a more sophisticated form of yelling "Stock Price Bro!"; and
2) He's presenting OUTCOMES (week-, year- and investment-to-date performance) - while telling you to focus on PROCESS.
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Google Outcome-oriented vs. process-oriented thinking for reasons why this is a problem...
...because no one with a crumby process ever had a good outcome, and no one with an excellent process every had a bad outcome, right?
But I'll tell you what I see...
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...because no one with a crumby process ever had a good outcome, and no one with an excellent process every had a bad outcome, right?
But I'll tell you what I see...
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The "process" I'm supposed to trust is one that fails to disclose what I consider to be meaningful information that investors should have. If it's "no big deal", then the market will discount it accordingly...
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...but by not disclosing, they're tacitly telling you that THEY know it could be considered a "big deal" and so they don't want to give the market the chance to so-evaluate.
And when it DOES come to light - they move to coordinated blame-shifting and distraction.
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And when it DOES come to light - they move to coordinated blame-shifting and distraction.
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I started off this thread by saying that I didn't really have an opinion on Chamath. I was certainly aware of him, but the type of investing he engages in doesn't overlap with the type I do very regularly.
But I AM forming an opinion...
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But I AM forming an opinion...
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...and that opinion is that there is willful misleading going on here. There is blame-shifting and distraction going on here.
I feel misled; lied to, if you will.
And people do not like to be lied to.
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I feel misled; lied to, if you will.
And people do not like to be lied to.
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This opinion will surely inform my future evaluation of Chamath-led/promoted investments; will inform my "process" if you will.
Like I said - no investment dollar dog in this fight...but I've learned something about the people involved on all sides.
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Like I said - no investment dollar dog in this fight...but I've learned something about the people involved on all sides.
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I've learned (or rather, had cemented for me) that Hindenburg does good research, uncovering heretofore unknown/concealed facts.
And I've learned that Clover and Chamath, when caught out, will blame-shift and distract.
These are all good things to know.
22/22
And I've learned that Clover and Chamath, when caught out, will blame-shift and distract.
These are all good things to know.
22/22
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