By admin | 05/10/2024
The Post:
03:31:42 pm $BBBYBed Bath & Beyond: RC Ventures LLC Files to Sell 9,450,100 Shares
Summary:
The Hammerstone team was the first news outlet by a whopping 10 minutes (a lifetime on Wall Street!) to relay the biggest headline of the month, Ryan Cohen’s investment vehicle, RC Ventures had filed a Form 144 with the SEC signifying his “intent” to sell some or all of his 9.45M share stake in the troubled retailer Bed Bath & Beyond ($BBBY). The headline was big news, let me repeat, it was BIG NEWS, double-take news. Hammerstone alerted our community within seconds of Cohen’s Form 144 filing and multiple minutes before any other news outlet on the street saw the original Bloomberg headline. Hammerstone followed the story from beginning to end over 2 eventful days, ensuring that the Hammerstone community of traders were immediately alerted to any and everything regarding BBBY and Ryan Cohen.
Subscriber Comments:
“Nice alert, you were first anywhere on $BBBY.”
“Congrats on the BBBY again, if I were you guys I’d screenshot that and pin it to your Twitter account as your advertising for the next year.”
The Case Study: Ryan Cohen, Bed Bath & Beyond & a Look into Why Subscribers Have Come to Rely & Trust Hammerstone as their Breaking Financial news source
Our apologies for this rather long case study, it leads one through the events of surrounding billionaire investor Ryan Cohen’s filed “intent” and reported sale of his entire 9.8% stake in Bed Bath & Beyond as reported by Hammerstone Markets’ scrolling financial news feed.
As stocks entered their last 30 minutes of regular trading on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, at 3:30 pm, a seemingly unimportant headline flashed across Wall Street trader’ Bloomberg terminals and it was ignored, unnoticed and unseen by just about everyone except for the team at Hammerstone Markets and our incredible community of traders.
The headline was posted in the Hammerstone Feed within one minute. The news was shocking because Bed Bath & Beyond shares had gained over 100% that week and over +400% since August 1st. Chewy founder and Gamestop Chairman of the Board Ryan Cohen, through his RC Ventures LLC investment vehicle, had purchased 9.45M shares of BBBY in March and led his loyal followers on Wall Street Bets (known as “apes”) into the trade alongside him.
What made the headline so unbelievable was that on Tuesday, Cohen had let leak that he owned a large out-of-the-money bullish options position in $BBBY. Additionally, he also re-filed his original March ownership Form 13D. Both actions worked the “apes” into a speculative buying frenzy, taking BBBY shares above $29 on both Tuesday and Wednesday; a long way from sub-$5 prices just two weeks prior. The manic buying spree shown by the meme-investors rivaled their original short squeezes in early 2021.
However, the rally came to a shrieking halt at 3:31pm on Wednesday, Hammerstone caught the headline and immediately posted it to our news feed up to 7 minutes before the rest of the street and before other news outlets had any idea what was going on.
The post in the Hammerstone Feed:
03:31:42 pm $BBBYBed Bath & Beyond: RC Ventures LLC Files to Sell 9,450,100 Shares
Four minutes later Hammerstone was able to add more context to the first headline as the team frantically searched for the actual Form 144 document. A Form 144 filing with the SEC informs the regulator that the investor has the “intent” to sell his shares. While difficult to short because of the scarcity of shares to borrow, Hammerstone subscribers had almost a 10-minute window to short or exit $BBBY positions while the shares remained stagnant before heading sharply lower as the rest of the street finally caught up to Hammerstone.
The next Hammerstone Feed post added more context to the headline showing it came from a subscription service called EZ-Insider:
03:35:46 pm $BBBY –more- Bed Bath & Beyond: RC Ventures LLC Files to Sell 9,450,100 Shares -Form 144 filed at the Securities and Exchange Commission on 08/16/22 Approximate Date of Sale: 08/16/22
-RC Ventures LLC, BENEFICIAL OWNER, of PO BOX 25250, PMB 30427, Miami, FL 33102, has filed to sell 9,450,100 shares of Bed Bath & Beyond [BBBY] through JP Morgan Securities LLC. – per EZ-Insider/Washington Service
Hammerstone continued to keep our community in the loop as we looked for a link to Cohen’s Form 144, Bloomberg had not published any further headlines since their original 3:30 post.
Hammerstone continues offering information on $BBBY:
3:43:14 pm $BBBY– We’re looking for link to the actual Form 144 pasted above – will add when found — grabbed original headline from [major news outlet] BBBY company news
03:50:32 pm$BBBY continues to pare gains late day +14%
3:53:19 pm $BBBY – Looks like so far Washington Service is the only source suggesting he filed to sell FWIW(144 is still MIA)
03:56:35 pm$BBBY– a lot of confusion on the street as to the Form 144 that Ryan Cohen filed… [major news outlet] ran the story from a filing service called Washington Service
After an intense search by the Hammerstone team and our community, Hammerstone was able to locate and post a copy of the filing, adding a link for our subscribers, and again beating the street with the actual Form 144.
03:57:17 pm $BBBY – Link to the Form 144 –https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/886158/000092189522002496/sc13da313351002_08182022.htm
Hammerstone continued post levels and news on Cohen’s intent to sell news as the story began its transition from Wall Street newswires to main street news outlets after the closing bell. Trading above $26 at the time of Hammerstone’s first post, $BBBY shares moved lower by 15% by 4pm’s close of regular trading and dropping another 15% in afterhours near $18 by 5pm.
04:03:52 pm $BBBY -5% post mkt as more headlines circulate on filing
04:13:44 pm$BBBY -14% after hours
04:47:54 pm$BBBY – Yahoo (among most news services) picks up the story: Ryan Cohen files to sell entire position in Bed Bath & Beyondhttps://finance.yahoo.com/news/ryan-cohen-bed-bath-beyond-august-17-202557136.html
05:42:35 pm$BBBY -16.90% in AH’s has rebounded from earlier -20% lows in AHs, last sale $19.25, shrs had ticked as high as $30 in the pre-mkt today
August 17 Chart showing the time of Hammerstone’s first post:
Thursday, August 18: The next morning the Hammerstone team was back at it relaying street research and a now in hindsight innocent 8-K filing from BBBY’s management, showing they had no idea that Cohen was already exiting his position.
06:55:36 am $BBBY– Downgrading to UNDERPERFORM: Key Support Leg Removed @ Wedbush
07:24:55 am$BBBYfiles an 8-K https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/886158/000138713122008865/0001387131-22-008865-index.htm
07:25:28 am$BBBYBed bath working with lenders on strengthening balance sheet; will provide more info end of this month
07:26:14 am$BBBYFull 8-K statement: On August 17, 2022, in response to certain media inquiries, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. made the following statement:
“We were pleased to have reached a constructive agreement with RC Ventures in March and are committed to maximizing value for all shareholders. We are continuing to execute on our priorities to enhance liquidity, make strategic changes and improve operations to win back customers, and drive cost efficiencies; all to restore our company to its heritage as the best destination for the home, for all stakeholders. Specifically, we have been working expeditiously over the past several weeks with external financial advisors and lenders on strengthening our balance sheet, and the Company will provide more information in an update at the end of this month.”
07:31:48 am$BBBY– RC Ventures Files to Sell, Fundamentals Remain Challenged, Reit. Underweight rating & $2 PT @ KEYB
08:36:37 am$BBY – Net open interest change in BBBY options: (+77k Calls, +190k Puts)
09:06:16 am$BBBY – pre-mkt lows -19%
10:04:36 am$BBBY – new lows -23%
01:16:48 pm$BBBY -21% (another BBBY analyst note, published shortly after the opening): Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., BBBY: As Shares (Yet Again) Decouple from Economic Reality, Profit Taking Warranted, Reiterate Underweight & $3 PT @ Wells Fargo
Finally, after the close, the question that the street had been arguing about for over 24 hours was answered: Ryan Cohen had sold his BBBY position. The Form 8-K filed showed the question with a resounding YES, Cohen and RC Ventures had sold everything, stocks, and options. The 8-K filing was immediately posted in the Hammerstone Feed showed that the “apes” worst fears were correct, RC Ventures had sold out of its entire stock and options position on August 16th and 17th.
The second bombshell:
04:18:06 pm$BBBY R C Venture LLC says it has no stake in Bed Bath & Beyond Inc as of August 16, 2022 – per SEC filing.
04:18:10 pm$BBBY Link: Bed Bath & Beyond holder RC Ventures cut stake to 0% https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1822844/000092189522002496/0000921895-22-002496-index.htm
04:20:48 pm$BBBY -12% post mkt
04:27:38 pm$BBBY now -21% post mkt
04:38:58 pm$BBBY lows -28%
04:48:36 pm$BBBY – Ryan Cohen says sold 5 mln shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc on August 16 at an average price ranging from $18.6848 per share to $26.2713 per share
04:50:56 pm$BBBY – extends loss in extended trade, last down 36%
05:26:48 pm$BBBY – BBBY hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis to help it address a debt load that’s become unmanageable amid a sales slump, according to a person with knowledge of the decision – per BBRG Law
Kirkland, typically known for its dominance in restructuring and bankruptcy situations, was tapped to help the retailer navigate options for raising new money, refinancing existing debt, or both, according to the person, who asked not to be named discussing private company plans.
05:29:50 $BBBY – Bed Bath & Beyond Reports In Form4 Filing CFO Gustavo Arnal Sells 55,013 Shares At Average Price Of $25.52/Share, sales were made on 8/16
August 17-18 Chart:
Those were 2 breathtaking days in the meme-stock saga surrounding Bed Bath & Beyond, Ryan Cohen, the “apes” and traders of all stripes. By the spring of 2023 Bed Bath & Beyond saw its share price vaporize, bankruptcy declared, and Overstock purchase its trademarks.
August 17, 2022 stands out as an shining example of what the team at Hammerstone bring to the table every day – finding, hunting and digging out breaking news to help our community make trading decisions or provide that information to their clientele. Our goal is to make our community better traders, investors, and brokers. Hammerstone takes pride that our subscribers are the most informed financial community day in and day out.
