Ending the Week with a Bang 💥

Remember Archegos Capital Management? You know, the firm that collapsed and tanked ViacomCBS and Discovery with it? Well, now it’s being investigated by the SEC for market manipulation. 🕵️‍♂️

The SEC is investigating Archegos’ trading activity to find out if the firm attempted to hide the size of its bets — it’s possible that the hedge fund bought multiple stakes in the same companies through different banks to avoid detection. 

Archegos’ impressive portfolio of over $100 billion was amassed with borrowed money. However, when the fund’s lenders finally got scared of Archegos’ tremendous leverage, they issued a margin call and started selling off the fund’s assets. 

Mike Weiss, Deputy chief Investment Officer at Weiss Advisers, commented on Archegos’ risky strategy: “Such stacking and mirroring of positions not only obscured portfolio clustering, but also created vulnerability to a domino effect whereby, even on a single-name basis, an involuntary liquidation would almost certainly have a cascading impact.”

Bill Hwang, former head of Archegos Capital Management, is reportedly lying low in New Jersey after losing $20 billion in 2 days earlier this year. 🙊

You’ve probably heard of TikTok challenges. But have you heard about the havoc they’re wreaking in U.S. schools?

Over the last year, challenges like devious licks (students steal and vandalize property) have spread like wildfire throughout schools in the U.S. But now, challenges like ‘slap a teacher’ have teachers at their breaking points. 

Bathrooms in schools throughout the country are flooded, vandalized, and wrecked. And teachers are finally speaking up — the President of the National Education Association, Becky Pringle, sent a letter to the CEOs of TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter in an effort to address the chaos. Pringle wrote:

“…online ‘trends’ and false information have spread like wildfire throughout social media platforms. From stealing school property and hitting school staff, to conspiracy theories on curriculum and coronavirus protocols – have helped create a culture of fear and violence with educators as targets.”

TikTok announced its intention to remove hashtags related to destructive behavior as the platform is in agreement with educators: “The rumored ‘slap a teacher’ dare is an insult to educators everywhere.”

After a year of lockdowns, both students and teachers alike are adjusting to being back in the classroom. And it’s apparently not going very well. 😬

A long-awaited vote on Boeing’s broadband satellite constellation is expected to take place in the next few days. ⭐

On Thursday, Jessica Rosenworcel, the Acting Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, advanced the proposal to a vote. According to Bloomberg, requests like these usually indicate strong odds for approval (because FCC chairs seldom advance votes that they don’t intend to vote ‘yes’ on.) 

Boeing has been working on a satellite constellation for broadband since 2016. For most of that time, Boeing’s proposal has been stuck in the “public comment” period. In the meantime, the company’s closest ideological competitor, SpaceX Starlink, has launched over 1,735 satellites. And Boeing isn’t expected to be the last company to get a piece of the satellite internet space: Amazon, OneWeb, and Airbus have proposed their own constellations. 💫 🚀

The proposed constellation will service the U.S., including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

$BA stock was down 0.05% today.

Bitcoin is often referred to as digital gold, but now the cryptocurrency is supposedly replacing real gold.

A recent report from JPMorgan says institutional investors are turning to Bitcoin, perceiving the crypto as a better hedge than gold. 📈 🚀

In the note, analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou pointed out“The recent rise of the Lightning Network and 2nd layer payments solutions helped by El Salvador’s bitcoin adoption” as one of the main causes driving Bitcoin adoption. 

The re-emergence of inflation concerns has forced investors to think about the usage of bitcoin as an inflation hedge, he said. Assurances by U.S. financial watchdogs saying that there is no intention to ban crypto has boosted confidence among investors, Panigirtzoglou added.

Moreover, since the beginning of 2021, more than $10 billion has flowed out of gold ETFs. In the same period of time, more than $20 billion has flowed into Bitcoin funds, according to the bank. Keep in mind, that doesn’t even include inflows on exchanges…

Bitcoin has climbed 86% this year (remaining firmly in bull territory, despite turbulence in the last few weeks.) 💚 Meanwhile, gold is down 7% YTD. So much for being an inflation hedge. 🙄

It’s no secret that biotech is one of the riskiest industries for investors. That’s because developing novel therapeutics produces very black or white outcomes. In other words, you’re wrong or you’re right.

On the bright side: investors can make quick cash when companies successfully bring drugs to market (or make strides in doing so.) As mentioned in the Tale of the Tape, ChemoCentryx appreciated a double today after the FDA approved its new drug for vasculitis. ChemoCentryx develops drugs for inflammatory/autoimmune diseases and cancer. Back in May, an FDA advisory panel voted 10-8 in support of approving the drug that just got approved. The spike put ChemoCentryx back on the map: 

However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in biotech world. After all, the overwhelming majority of therapeutics flunk in trials (or get rejected by regulators.)

Just take Allogene Therapeutics for example. They were slapped after the FDA put the company’s cancer drug study on hold. A report of “chromosomal abnormality“ in a single patient prompted a halt to the company’s gene therapy trial. Allogene’s gene therapy will remain suspended until the FDA concludes an investigation.

The company’s stock cratered, falling over 45.6% in the last five days. Get a load of this:

Like we said, black and white. High risk, high reward, and sometimes — highly entertaining. Pop into the boards for $CCXI and $ALLO to see more.