tyb
second tanker with CABAL call sign today
CABAL01 USAF KC-135R Stratotanker nw from McGhee Tyson Airport-south of Knoxville, TN (Alcoa Tennessee Operations Plant located just east of this airport.)
SAM478 USAF G5 also departed JBA to the sw
SAM234 USAF C-40B continues sw and is likely heading to MacDill AFB
SoftBank Has Closed Most Of Its "Nasdaq Whale" Positions
Following our Thursday report identifying SoftBank as the primary - but not only - catalyst behind the bizarre moves in high beta tech names and the broader market over the past several weeks (confirmed later by the FT and WSJ) In History" with subsequent reports that SoftBank, or the "Nasdaq whale" as some now call it was sitting on "unbooked" profits of about $4 billion, the market was quick to punish SoftBank (9984.JT) which dropped on Friday then tumbled another 7% on Monday despite what the company has been proud to frequently remind its investors was the second biggest buyback authorization after Apple'''. There were two reasons cited for the drop: the first was the realization that "SoftBank’s behaviour as a company increasingly resembled that of a hedge fund, populated with former investment bankers with a massive appetite for risk." This realization was assisted by our weekend report which revealed the main players behind the Softbank trade, which was the brainchild of Abu Dhabi-based Akshay Naheta, a former Deutsche Bank prop trader who now heads SoftBank's new asset management team which invests in public equities, including all those tech companies that have soared in August on the massive gamma melt-up facilitated by concurrent call buying as described previously.
The second reason cited by the FT for today's tumble is that "retail investors, which make up 30 per cent of SoftBank’s shareholder registry, reacted particularly negatively to the company’s latest shift in investment strategy."
Which is understandable: while it is known that SoftBank has made a roughly 100% profit generating $4 billion in profits from the purchase of $4 billion in option premium, it was generally unknown if the bank can hold on to this profit, or in other words if it can book it before dealers move the market aggressively against SoftBank, potentially leading to all gains being wiped out and/or losses. Indeed, this is what the FT reported just this morning: While SoftBank’s huge derivatives bet on selected US stocks has worked for now, leaving the Japanese group with large, albeit as yet unrealised, profits, a continued pullback in equity markets could erode returns. Well, it appears that in keeping with its newly-found reputation of a hedge fund, and contrary to widespread speculation that the Japanese conglomerate is still on the hook, SoftBank has already unwound a majority of its public holdings. We know this thanks to a little-noticed conference call that took place in late August, days before we revealed SoftBank's role in the marketwide gamma grab. The call, which took place on August 26 and was held by Morgan Stanley's media sector specialist covering SoftBank and was first noticed by Thunderdome Capital, emphasized several things:
-The company's massive buyback: "We always said our stock was cheap, but our stock is the best thing out there right now. Biggest buyback in Japan history. Only Apple's buyback is bigger globally."
-The continued "successful" listing of SoftBank's private portfolio companies: "Already had 9 companies that have listed out of the Vision Fund this year. We're starting to take smaller stakes in companies so we can sell them more quickly and increase our IRR."
-Visiong Fund's liquidity position: "Still have $14 billion in cash in the Vision Fund, which is partially being used to pay the 7% preferred return, but also to invest more in other assets."
The statement refers to SoftBank's brand new investment management subsidiary which was first revealed in the company's Aug 11 earnings call….. and specifically to the portfolio of public investments which SoftBank unveiled recently (Cap#2) and then used various option strategies to turbocharge returns during the now infamous gamma meltup. It also means that for all intents and purposes, SoftBank is now out of most - if not all - of its public equity positions and "Nasdaq Whale" bets which were, as we reported last week, the primary catalyst for the market's tremendous rally.
Finally, recall that it was last August when former NY president Bill Dudley wrote an Op-Ed urging the Fed to crash the market to prevent another Trump re-election. Well, if his message resonated with the FOMC, what better time to unveil a hawkish shock than at the Sept FOMC meeting in 9 days - the last one before the presidential election. Because if there is one thing that - in Dudley's and Trump's view - could cripple his re-election chances, it is a market crash just weeks before Nov 3.
edited-moar
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/softbank-has-closed-most-its-nasdaq-whale-positions