First edit:
Fuck this thing blew up. in all my years of redditing I have never been overwhelmed with wholesomeness like today. Thank you moderators for pinning this post - I will keep updating this on the regular! Before I go, if anyone wants further information going back before 25th January, here's a chronology of events from pre-squeeze till 4th February written by yours truly.
Valentines Day 14/02 edit:
Thank you all for your positive feedback and for literally all the awards. In all my life I never got platinum, let alone Argentium, and then Ternion!!!
I had a few celebratory drinks last night and I woke up totally shitfaced. It's valentine's day and I will be spending the day with the gf (who as some of you noticed from my page-article, we are expecting by the end of the month and she is right about to pop so she needs extra care and attention). I will be reading all the comments during the day, every time the gf turns her head a bit from me. I'm saving the comments with links to DDs so that I can add them later on.
I urge each and every one of you to read the new section 'HOW CAN YOU HELP ME WITH THIS THREAD'
Again thank you for everything and stay positive! Make sure to let the ones who care about you know that you care about them too today! Happy Valentines Day!
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It took me a very long time to collect and create abstracts, but I finally finished. I'm totally exhausted but quite proud of myself for bringing you everything you need to know so far in one thread.
I would love for this thread to be stickied, and if it does I plan to continue to update the same thread every day. If it does not I will continue posting updated versions every day. I also have my own website where I will keep updating this list.

Please help spread this around - knowledge is power. If you have a link to more DD leave a comment!

Please note that all Dates and Times posted are Central European Times (CET)
Obligatory: This is not financial advice. I am a smooth-brained holder of GME 🚀💎🤲 We like the stock!
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Doing your part

The Congress hearing will be streamed online on the 18th of February. Please email your representatives before this day.
What else can I do?
Make sure that you are not allowing shorts to borrow your shares to short-sell them!
​

How Can You Help Me and This Thread

First of all, THANK YOU. If you really want to help me and our brothers, here's what you can do:

1. Read and provide criticism, help me make better summaries and one-liners for the links to make it as readable as possible (think: ELI5)
2. Share this post to everyone you know - link this thread in WSB threads as comments so that we can educate the ignorant. We can link it in a way such as this: " Here’s a link to the motherload of DD for our favorite stonk " Empower others with knowledge
3. Look for any DD I have missed, old and new, especially in OG WSB from before the coup - send them to me as links in comments AND AS CHAT MESSAGES. I am going through all messages and I will update later today
4. We need to find a way to archive all the DD links from WSB so that if the mods of WSB catch on, we can have a backup of the threads before they delete them!
5. Collect more information on the coup, such as the info that was present from wallstreetbetstest and u/zjz posts. The retaliation messages, proof of removals of threads, bans for no reason ...etc.
6. Collect fake media articles that we can disprove so that I can compile a full list of bullshit media providers and articles
7. Let me know how I can better organize this thread.
8. and finally, don't forget to REPORT SHILLS. I would love to become a moderator and be able to investigate and ban shills myself. I applied but I don't think it will happen for now.

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Backdated posts added later in edits:

• 11-02 03:00
• Added the Chronology of events from pre-squeeze to 4th February.
• 09-02 12:45
• 22-01 13:55

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The List of DD Begins Here:

13-02 18:10 Shills on reddit being paid up to $650/week.

• More proof of shills
• More proof of shills
• More proof of shills

13-02 17:45 Level 2 data shows that at certain moments during trading days we may be just a few thousand shares away from hitting the high asks.
13-02 15:51 Citadel may have a long position in TSLA and will probably have to sell if it comes to liquidity when having to cover shorts (or bail out HFs again).
13-02 15:50 Intensive thesis on the Congress hearing this Thursday 18th Feb, investigating DTCC and Brokers for their complicity in enabling naked shorting, and likely collusion to shut down trading on the 28th Jan. You can help out by contacting representatives with the points mentioned in the thread.

• On Thursday you can watch the live stream here.

13-02 07:50 IV changes in options indicate that a $50 support level is established with a possible $50-72 channel. Analysing option prices shows that another run-up is coming.
13-02 06:30 At this point, if manipulators pushed the price down too hard it would have taken more shares off the market through puts, reducing the liquidity further, making it harder for the HFs.

• Price target prediction end of next week 19th Feb @ $58-59, with peaks above $60 to issue further Calls (to get paid the premium) then hold it below this line.
• The following week 26th Feb will end below $70 as there is a large off-set of calls vs Puts at this strike price, and a gain from 50-70 in two weeks will bring in more retail investors again.

13-02 05:15 We are currently in a liquidity crisis and shorts cannot cover in such an environment. Manipulators fought hard to keep it below $55, which was the strike price that would have hurt them the most.

• Tool to analyse the max pain price.

13-02 04:50 Prediction that during the Congress hearing this Thursday 18th Feb, GME trading may get halted until the hearing is over. DFV will hopefully explain all the fuckery that has happened so far, and the web of lies will begin to unravel. This would bring back retail investor interest and push the price back up.
13-02 04:00 A ranting reminder that any time someone is being an aggressive bully, they are operating from a place of vulnerability. Once you know this it’s easy to spot the chink in their armour that they’re trying to compensate for. We have the power.
13-02 03:00 GME is only where it is now because of manipulation. More importantly, if you think that HFs and the manipulators are planning to give up and ‘settle’ to cover at $50 you are wrong. They’re continually doubling down and won’t rest until they bring GME down to $0.
​
12-02 22:50 WSB Warzone - Since the most discussed ticker was GME, the post was deleted.
12-02 17:10 Compilation of Due Diligence

• The surge up to $480 was likely not short-squeezing, but reducing liquidity along with massive retail investment along with Gamma squeeze covering naked options.
• HFs liquidated significant positions of major holdings causing red days to have cash for covering positions.
• Shills, bots and crooked mods have infested WSB to spread FUD and delete posts and users fighting the good fight.
• Massive amount of $800 Calls expiring March 19th, along with massive amount of Puts for TSLA - as GME spiked TSLA tanks
• We will likely not see a massive squeeze, but a slow cover similar to TSLA short squeeze.

12-02 08:20 Shorting halted by most Brokers

• In fact iBorrowDesk only saw a 100k share movement from the 1.4M shares available to borrow all through the trading day.

12-02 07:00 FTDs: HFs naked short positions opened after 1st Feb (after the FINRA report data) and not before so that they do not get accounted for in the latest FINRA report. These new positions will have to be covered by 24th Feb if they do not want them to be shown in the next report.
12-02 02:00 Data assimilation (extractions from FINRA and Yahoo Finance) showing December 2020’s short positions that are in the red, and probably are not covered by now at significant losses (the real bagholders).

• Shorts were betting that GME wouldn’t pass $20.

​
11-02 16:40 GameStop Executives held the line and did not sell any shares at peak, even though they had the option to.
11-02 16:00 Why we don’t need a squeeze to win, Ryan Cohen’s changes to the company operation will blow up the company’s value.
11-02 15:00 Implied Volatility surges, particularly for $800 Calls expiring Feb 26th, indicating higher volatility in the days to come.
11-02 14:45 Calculations showing that:

• ~40M shares held by retail investors (~80%)
• ~54M shares held by institutions (~113%)
• ~48M shares as float (this is probably incorrect as Morningstar reports a float of 27M)
• GME detained at 193% total
• Real short interest at 138% (if Morningstar is correct, the SI would actually be 248%)

11-02 12:30 ETFs went on a buying spree, reducing float, and diamond handing.

• Link contains breakdowns of institutional shares held and changes

11-02 05:10 A list of potential upcoming changes to company operations that will make the stock much more interesting for retail investors.
11-03 03:50 A reminder from an older investor to always stick to your original plan and not get distracted by some shiny object. If you find something and ten people tell you that it’s worthless, then it isn’t.
11-02 03:00 The state of WSB since the moderator coup
11-02 01:35 Shorts could have covered on the upswing on the 10th Feb, then released fake news on Fidelity selling their shares then started short-selling and short-laddering to drop the price again.

• They start pumping weed stocks as a distraction on WSB.
• GME is inversely following SPY - liquidation.

11-02 01:10 A comparison of Short Interest data from providers.
​
10-02 08:30 Shorts have most probably been buying $800 Calls to make it seem like they ‘cancel out’ their short positions.
10-02 08:20 Figures, calculations and logic showing that the Short Interest is higher than anything reported.
10-02 07:50 An overview of what happened so far, with psychology and reasoning of HFs along the way.
10-02 06:15 DD on possibilities of covering and outlook of potential outcomes.
10-02 06:10 Crunching Finra’s SI report shows that SI is over 117%, and that there were 112% more shares shorted than were actually available to purchase on 27th January. It’s possible that between 1/13-17 about 7M shorts were covered, but they had to have continued to short like crazy since then to push the price down.
10-02 05:20 Naked shorting was probably aided by DTCC who probably shut down buying to stop the squeeze to avoid a scandal. Shorts likely hid their open positions via a loophole which generated synthetic longs. If this is correct there is a large amount of counterfeit shares floating in the market.
10-02 04:22 Finra reports 78% SI, while institutions own 206% (144M shares) of all outstanding shares. This could mean that actual SI is around 150%.
10-02 03:00 Finra releases SI data: 78.5%
​
09-02 20:00 A compilation of manipulative tactics and logical fallacies to help you identify when they are being attempted against you.
09-02 12:45 Biden administration cannot allow itself to lose trust at the beginning at the term, and HFs Brokers WS and the media may be in a worse position than we thought.
09-02 08:45 Cramer exposed - video from 2006 shows how himself (when he managed an HF) and other HFs manipulate markets.
09-02 08:20 Shares being bought around $270 after hours.
09-02 02:00 Proof that FINTEL are altering short data, with replies from CEO.

• More Proof.
• Further proof.

​
08-02 17:00 Shorts may provide fake data to FINRA for a relatively small fine which could help save them millions-billions.
08-02 14:15 Compilation of DD showing that nothing has changed no matter what the media is saying.
08-02 09:50 They are losing $2B ever 2.5 days
08-02 01:45 Why to buy GME regardless of a squeeze. The future of GameStop is bright.
​
07-02 16:45 Hypothesis that Melvin is just a tool for larger hedge fund to take over Citadel and take trillions from them.
07-02 16:40 Evidence shows the HFs likely use a loophole trick to appear as if they covered their shorts using synthetic longs generated from options.
07-02 13:30 A very useful spreadsheet to track and analyse stocks
07-02 03:45 There is no mathematical way shorts covered for Jan 13, 22, or 25 as is being reported by SI data providers - they are lying.
​
06-02 22:00 The interstellar yo-yo theory: every 13 days (settlement days) stock price increases and pushes back by selling more synthetic long positions (fake shares into the market), FTDs increase
06-02 18:20 Institutions hold 177% of float, proving the existence of a huge amount of synthetic longs.
​
05-02 23:40 HFs want you to think that they repositioned and covered their shorts, but calculations show that this was impossible and the conditions were not ideal to do this without incurring massive losses.
05-02 19:30 GME and AMC graph comparison, showing the exact same movement.
​
02-02 23:30 Analysis of 265,000 rows of SEC data shows massive amount of FTDs compared to the rest of the market - likely that it is a result of massive illegal share counterfeiting by shorts.
02-02 05:30 The market may collapse due to the creation of a massive number of preexisting synthetic longs that were bought and held. To fix it, market makers decided to make more, but their cure is also a poison they can't stop taking.
02-02 04:00 Melvin claims to have closed out their positions, but used an illegal loophole to make it seem like they have.
​
01-02 23:20 Short Interest appears to have fallen but in truth is being shoved under the rug of option traders.
01-02 20:45 A list of misinformation articles inducing FUD
01-02 20:30 Following the crumbs: How GME is exposing illegal activity
01-02 17:15 Psychological warfare - FUD and manipulated dips along with further short-selling to make you believe that you’ve missed the peak.
01-02 10:20 Evidence of massive naked short selling fraud.
01-02 02:30 Public data suggest massive securities fraud creating more shares than exist, and that retail investors may hold more than 100% of all outstanding shares.
​
31-01 09:10 Wall Street is freaking out because they are about to get caught doing extremely illegal shit that may implode the whole system - fake shares in the float.
25-01 23:30 Today’s co-ordinated attack: let the price run up only to jack up margin requirements, then dumped.
22-01 13:55 Make sure that you are not helping shorts borrow your shares and short sell by opting out with your broker! Some brokers settings are by default, so you have to change it yourself.
​
A chronology of events pre-squeeze till 4th February written by yours truly.

Second time posting this. Made it last night but other than a collab between CGC and APHA, news about the merger seems to be the same this morning.
This is my first DD so please bare with me in case I set something up wrong; I'm happy to edit if so but this took me a while to gather.
I just joined this sub about two weeks ago amidst the GME hype. I've been investing for a few years now ever since the Tilray IPO at $17. Bought, sold, and reinvested consistently (pulling out my principal each time) right up through the almost $300 peak and backed out. I left Tilray alone for a while until recently when the news regarding the merger with Aphria started popping up because I actually love Aphria and I've owned it for a while now, so I wanted to post some DD regarding the merger. Hope this helps some of you.
For the business: Reverse merger is taking place where Aphria is absorbing Tilray and will own 63% of the company, continuing to use the name Tilray due to better brand recognition and its nearly eponymous representation of the cannabis market. Aphria has a strong presence in Germany which is the only European country with medical marijuana, so Aphria has an advantage in that sector for if/when other European nations start following suit. With both Aphria's and Tilray's international relations along with slowly migrating into the US they may grow into the largest cannabis company worldwide just in terms of revenue.
Over the previous 12 months, Aphria put up $443 million USD in revenue compared to Canopy Growth's $377m USD. Tilray has put up $201m USD in the last 12 months, and which combined with Aphria is $644m USD, or markedly higher than the $377m USD posted by the "industry standard," Canopy Growth. (I don't hate on Canopy as a company whatsoever I just think they're overvalued and their stock should not be in the $40s).
Stats from the merger indicated a $685 million annual revenue, adjusted for combined sales, and the company itself, named Tilray, will have a roughly $3.5 billion valuation.
Also, many forget that Tilray has a business partnership with Anheuser-Busch and Aphria owns the craft beer company SweetWater. (Which, personally, is fucking delicious.)
For the shareholder: Each Aphria share will convert to 0.8381 shares of Tilray. As of today (Monday, 02/08/21) the closing price of Tilray was $30.09 and the price of Aphria was $18.98. In accordance to the 1 : .8381 conversion rate, the implied price of Aphria is $25.22, which has a 33% upside compared to the current share price.
I don't know the current borrowing rates (if anyone does please feel free to comment), but in January of 2019 the shorting cost for Tilray was above 900% and has been known to remain very high on this stock, as after it's $300 rally a couple years ago it became a favorite among the shorts. There is a way in which to capitalize on the merger by being long on Aphria and short Tilray, but the 30% profit may be outweighed by the crazy high costs of borrowing.
The two biggest risks appear to be the possibility that Aphria shares will crash days before the merger, or that that Tilray has simply been overvalued this entire time and its share price will fall. (The strategy is listed in the sources here https://seekingalpha.com/article/4404265-tilray-aphria-30-merger-arbitrage-is-tough-to-play & here https://seekingalpha.com/article/4401101-aphria-and-tilray-option-strategy-enhances-returns-and-mitigates-losses but you can only open the articles once without a subscription
For everyone: The general consensus on both stocks is bullish, however, more focus is placed on buying into Tilray than Aphria, seemingly just due to the belief that people may jump ship days before Aphria shares are converted into Tilray (even though Aphria still owns the operation). The company will also have easy access into the United States as our president restructures drug scheduling, so moving forward, I feel that Tilray is going to be a strong global competitor in the cannabis industry for some time
I try not to go balls deep on anything that has a lot of hype on it, but Tilray made me BANK right when I first started investing a few months before Canada legalized so I may be biased. However, as objectively as I can be, I do think this merger is both a very strong short and long option.
I don't really know if it's a necessary disclaimer or a joke but I'm gonna go ahead and say no, none of this is financial advice.
My positions: 100 APHA @ $11.13, 2 TSLA @ $408.66, 3 GME @ $165, 10 AMC @ $17.04, 100 SNDL @ $1.13, 100 22 RIGL @ $4.40
Calls: APHA $20 2/19, TLRY $37 2/19, SENS $4 2/19, CRBP $3 2/19, RIGL $5 2/19
I'm transferring both my RH and TDA accounts over to Fidelity so all my stocks are in different places atm, otherwise I'd post a picture.
Sources: https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/02/02/duplicatedoes-the-united-nations-decision-on-canna/(Jan 7, 2021)
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4404265-tilray-aphria-30-merger-arbitrage-is-tough-to-play(Feb 8, 2021)
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4401101-aphria-and-tilra
y-option-strategy-enhances-returns-and-mitigates-losses(Jan 26, 2021)
https://aphriainc.com/aphria-and-tilray-combine-to-create-largest-global-cannabis-company/?source=content_type%3Areact%7Cfirst_level_url%3Aarticle%7Csection%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link(Dec 16, 2020)
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/the-aphria-tilray-merger-shows-just-how-overpriced-canopy-growth-is-2021-01-07(Jan 7, 2021)
https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/02/03/could-tilray-be-a-millionaire-maker-stock/(Feb 3, 2021)
​
Edit: Fixed conversion rate typo from incorrect: 1: .08381 to 1 : .8381 (Thank you u/Stunna2018)
Edit 2: Added the following list below of supporting info for legalizing marijuana nationwide.
A trio of U.S. senators has given investors the green light to invest in marijuana stocks, an endorsement that suggests the volatile sector might finally blossom into something as acceptable and regulated as alcohol.
More details will emerge when Sens. Cory Booker (D., N.J.), Ron Wyden, (D., Ore.), and Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) introduce legislation to legalize and tax marijuana.
"In the early part of this year, we will release a unified discussion draft on comprehensive reform to ensure restorative justice, protect public health and implement responsible taxes and regulations," they announced Feb. 1 in a joint statement.
The marijuana sector has, naturally, advanced higher. The sector proxy, the ETFMG Alternative Harvest exchange- traded fund , has seemingly entered a new, higher trading range. The ETF holds 35 stocks, including Aphria(APHA) , Canopy Growth(CGC) , and GW Pharmaceuticals(GWPH) . The fund has about $1.4 billion under management, which makes it the largest ETF that targets the global cannabis industry.
In anticipation of the pending legislation, and in an attempt to harness the momentum of other investors, aggressive investors can consider buying ETFMG Alternative Harvest. The ETF is trading near a record high, but an options strategy can potentially reshape the price.
With the ETF at $27.82, investors can sell the March $25 put option for $1.90 and buy the March $29 call option for about $2.80. The "risk reversal" -- selling a put and buying a call with a higher strike price but similar expiration -- positions investors for agreeing to buy the ETF at $25 and for participating in gains above $29.
If the ETF is at $35 at March expiration, the call is worth $6.
The trade's risk is predicated on the pending legislation. The trade obligates investors to buy the stock at $23, or to cover the put or roll the position, if the stock price is below the strike price at expiration. For that reason, only do this trade if you have the resources and willingness to buy the ETF at a lower price and a belief in marijuana's pending legalization. If something happens in Washington that derails marijuana legalization efforts, the trade falls apart.
Still, the trade is a good way for investors to gain exposure to the legalization of marijuana, which seems like a good bet as federal government contends with massive deficits caused by the 2007-09 financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ETF was chosen over component stocks to potentially reduce the investment risk that is inherent in picking stocks in an unusual sector with companies that have a history of extraordinary price volatility.
During the past 52 weeks, the ETF has ranged from $8.81 to $27.90. The fund gained about 45% over the past year and is up some 67% this year. The percentage returns seem stellar, but it is important to remember that the fund has advanced off a low price, and that many of the components weren't much better situated. The sector could be facing a critical moment, and this trade puts investors into the center of the industry with a strategy that can be reset as each month passes. Email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Edit 3: Tilray short interest now at 51% https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/cannabis-stocks-why-tlry-cgc-apha-acb-and-sndl-are-climbing-today-1030061480
Edit 4: Thank you all for the awards, especially the tendies but go spend that money on pot/stocks!!

When I was a student at a major university in the late 80's, I was failing several classes miserably. I had completely screwed up in 2 of my 6 classes and I needed to make a plan of how not to flunk out.
For one class, I decided to dedicate all my spare time in correcting where I went wrong and fix it by acing the final exam. The other class , which was much more technical, required that I come up with a plan. Keep in mind, that I was a total goody-two shoes kid who felt like they were in a desperate situation. Failing out of college was not something I could allow to happen. Desperate times, desperate measures.
The class that I needed to pass was a science/engineering class that I had not bothered to go to. So i went to the very last Thursday class to figure out my plan. One thing the professor did say was that if you had a 93 or higher average in the class you could opt out of the final exam that was happening in 1 week. I had a 64 average so I had to take the exam. How was I going to ace this exam? My grades were too low to get pulled up enough. The only way to fix this was to get my grades changed. So I came up with a "Hail Mary" plan. One that involved a few rules to be broken, and by rules, I mean laws.
The science building were the class was given would close for the weekend. This meant that the professors' offices were locked and most of the labs were locked as well. You could still get into the main parts of the building but you had to talk to a security person if it was after hours. (There wasn't digital badges and shit like that back then.)
So here was my plan. On Friday afternoon after most classes were over, I scoped out the whole building. It was a u-shaped building that was 3 stories tall. I had to find a way in. Luckily, I found one of the 1st floor labs on the inside of the "u" had large horizontal windows that could be unlocked and would allow for someone to crawl through. Even better, one of the labs windows were obscured by a small fenced in area that housed some of the electrical and HVAC units. Large bushes lined the fence as well. So while I was there I went into the lab and unlocked a window to allow myself a place to enter the building. The door of the lab was propped open and I unpropped it and let it close. It locked. Good to know! It also reduced the chances of someone relocking the window.
I also scoped out the professor's office. It was open but he was was not there. It was very small with no windows. Just enough room for a desk, his chair and a a couple of other chairs. His office door was an all metal door painted beige except for a small center window in the middle. The window had a wire screen built into the glass held in place by a simple screwed on frame. There were lots of manilla envelopes and schedules etc on the door as well. This would be a challenge but I had formed my plan.
At around 3:30 in the morning I arrived back at the building with my backpack and a plan to break into th building. I had a hammer, pliers, a roll of tape and some screwdrivers that I had scrounged and I was nervous as hell. I made way through the bushes and climbed over the fence. I checked the window and it was still unlocked. I pulled myself up through the window and into the dark lab. Remembering that the lab doors would lock behind you, I slowly opened the lab door and placed some tape on the lock to stop it from locking. I was expecting a quiet building but instead was greeted by the loud sound of machinery running. Another lab was conducting an all night test or something and at least 3 upper level students were there overseeing the project. In a way that was good because my presence wouldn't necessarily be noticeable by others. I would find out later that it would also cover any noises I made.
I made my way to the professor's office door which was in a more out of the way part of the building. The office was located right by one of the stair wells so I could hear anyone coming down the stairs and also, if someone happened to start coming from the other way I could use the stairs for a quick exit. I pulled out the screw driver to start unscrewing the frame around the glass window in his door and soon realized that the screws were covered in decades of paint. Not good. What I thought was going to be a 2 minute job turned into a 45 minute job. I went into what I would call "Fuck it mode" and just went to town on this window frame. I had a few starts and stops but no one came by. I got the frame off and tried to pry the glass out of the frame. It was sealed in with paint. Getting the glass out took a monumental amount of slow prying and steady effort. After 30 minutes of scraping and gentle pressure I had the glass pane out.
I slowly reached in and turned the lock to unlock the door. I grabbed a large manilla folder on the outside of door and repositioned it over the window, a perfect cover for the now mauled up window. I slide into the office and looked for something to cover the window that would block light. The desk calendar worked well and a few pieces of tape held it up well. Then I turned the lights on to survey the scene.
I was now presented with a desk a chair and small slim table behind the desk. Of all the ways my plan could go wrong, my biggest fear was that the professor may have taken all of his grades home with him. A quick look into the large flat file on his desk and I had his full hand-written grade register in my hands and the pen he used for recording grades was tucked right inside. He taught 6 classes that semester and I only needed to change one grade, my grade, however, now that I had seen how banged up the paint was on the glass window frame, I knew I had to alter the plan. I searched through the gradebook and found all of my grades and saw I had several in the 70s and some lower 60's grades. I had done SOME work in the class. I thought it over for a few seconds and started executing Plan B.
I went through every single class he had and began randomly changing anything in the 60's to read as in the 80s. Then I went through and change all the 70's I found to read as 90s. I realized that the changed grades wouldn't stand up under close scrutiny so I had to create a "herd immunity' of changed grades. I noticed a few bad students in some of his classes and made some extra efforts at changing their grades. A zero? Now an 88. This was taking awhile. With 6 classes and 50 students or so in each class, and about 10 grades per student, there was about 3000 grades in this register. I changed at least 1500 of those grades. Of course my grades were changed as well. Lots of numbers in the 90s. I closed the grade book and placed it back in the drawer exactly as I had found it but I hear a little "Plink!" sound. I pulled on the drawer and realized it was now locked but wasn't before. OK, So maybe he'll think he locked it. No big deal.
My mind began to wonder of what the aftermath of this might be. Would this work? Would I be able to get away with not taking the exam by creating this academic chaos? About this time was when I noticed the IBM PC on his back table. Hmmm. Did he record his grades on a hand written register and his PC? IF he had a backup of the grades, all of this would be for nothing. Also, I couldn't reference all the changed grades a the drawer was now locked. I booted up his IBM PC XT and saw that it had two 3.5 disk drives. There's 5 disks by the computer. What to do?
I load each disk in the drive and type "DEL *.* " and nuke them all. I hadn't planned on this but then "Fuck It Mode". So let's review the plan, change so many grades that he would have to take an impossible amount of time to deconstruct the chaos and simply give out good grades or at least better grades as needed. No one particular student would be identifiable as a culprit because there were plenty who had a motivation to change the grades. This was as good of an idea as i could come up with.
After having distributed all the good grades to all the good boys and girls I gathered my tools and planned my exit strategy. The back of his door had a few items taped to it as well so i replaced the glass and frame and covered it with another manilla folder. I wrote a poorly written not on a post it that said. "Sorry mop handle cracked the glass. Replaced glass. - maintenance".
I then split, got passed the grad student running the machine, slipped out the window and never went back . Didn't show up for the final exam either because you know, higher than a (edited) 90 93 average and all....
​
Waited 45 long days that summer to get my grades. Got a 90 in the class. Yeah... okay no complaints.
There had to be some other people who got their grades and were happier as well.
Never suffered any consequences on this either but it was the most stressful night of my life.
I haven't done shit like this ever again.
TL/DR Read the title.
********** Okay Here's some follow up to messages & comments **************\*
So I'm 50 years old now, and I wrote this on a slow last hour of work on a Thursday because I had been reminded of it when reading a different Reddit post. I wrote the post in about 15-20 minutes.
A few have asked about the grading discrepancy of 90 vs 93. Now that this memory has taken up a little bit more of my brain space the past 24 hours, what I recall was that the requirement to not have to take the exam was having an A average. We were on a 7 point scale then so that would have been 93 and up.
I had changed my grades in the grade book first to meet this requirement (again, the whole time in adrenalin freak out mode) but once I had written over my numbers it was obvious that I was the only one with adjusted grades. I had hoped I could make th e numbers look more convincing. I also realize the self-incriminating factor of just my grades being changed and for self-preservation, started changing them all. It took forever. When I left the building, the the sky was starting to get light for the sunrise. I stated that I arrived at 3:30 am, that was a guess. I wasn't concerned with what time it was was just wanting to get in and get out as soon as I had resolved my grade problem.
The thing I failed to convey in the post was that fact I didn't take the exam but when I received my grades I got a 90 (which is a B on the 7 point scale). This didn't match up to not taking the exam because you should need an A to not take it. So technically, I should have complained and said, "Hey where's my A?" since I did not take the exam.
So I thought this might have been a dragnet where all students got a maximum B grade and then this would allow them to find legit A students who would complain and possibly flush out an illegitimate C or D students who might ask about their better than expected grade.
That's why I wrote "no complaints".
State of mind
Not an excuse in any way, but I had a parent pass away my first year at college. There wasn't a lot of counseling back then, just a hand on the shoulder and condolences. I don't remember even hearing the word "depression" uttered except in psychology class. Mental health was not freely discussed unless someone had big problems. I was probably on the cusp of what was then called a "nervous breakdown". I had come from a small town, and had expected to escape my one horse town and breeze through college, one of the smart kids ya know. But I had to let my only dream die. I had lost my Dad, my academic career, my escape and my identity at 19. I know plenty had it worse but it felt really bad. I had to eat a lot of humble pie and at first it sucked, but not long after I felt free of the burden of being in the wrong place, pursuing the wrong thing and I started smiling again.
Aftermath
I changed schools that summer and also change my field of study. Something about experiencing the absolute "guilt of failure" of the first school really made me driven at my new school. It was also a much smaller school and had less distractions. I thrived, made straight As and loved learning the new subject matter.
I'll describe my field as "Design" as that's nice and vague. I've been doing that since graduation successfully and have my own company and employees. I'm not world famous or anything but I would bet most of you have had an interaction with something I have designed.
This school had been my favorite college sports team my whole childhood and was my single plan as a college student. That died because of this. I had not set foot on that large campus since the day I left many years ago, until this past summer when my son went to go tour. I had to hide the awful feeling I had as we walked by the building where this happened. Just this low sense of ancient dread from a past life staring at me as I walked by, my son unaware and instead excited to be there.
The professor in this story works for the same university, He had done other things and came back. He's got patents and a PhD and is an expert in the field. Here's a potentially crummy part. He got his PhD within a year of this incident so I really hope I didn't destroy any of his research when deleting the computer disks. I've thought about anonymously sending him this reddit link or even *67 calling him to see what the true aftermath was but this seems like a bad idea and would likely just bum me out.
Doubters
My post has several people who doubt the veracity of my post and I get it, it is the internet. But the story is true and if there's any untruth is in the specific number details. Did I wait exactly 45 days for my grades that summer, fuck if I know, I know I did count them back then because I was waiting for grades that would make or break me. But 40-45-65 I don't remember.
Did i change that many grades. I swear, I changed as many as I could. 79 now 99, 66 now 86. That's what happened. I distinctly remember feeling the need to do more and more because every time I stopped I would see one more I could change and that meant I was safer from being discovered. There's another, change it. And another. And more was better because each one was another step at covering my tracks.
Response -
This post got a lot of positive responses, good karma etc. It's misplaced. I didn't do this out of a spirit of goodness. I gave others good grades to mask my fraudulent attempt at bettering my academic standing. I went home after this and passed out sleeping for most of the day. i still had to study for the exam I was trying to ace legitimately and then after that, for weeks afterward I was always wondering, I wonder what happened? And waited on my grades to arrive.
Several professors have expressed their disdain at this and yeah, I can see why. obviously. It was a long time ago. I've pondered a way to make things right and correct this wrong I created. I'm open to suggestions. Something about being 50 makes you want to correct mistakes that can be corrected.
Bottom line
I'm glad if you thought this story from my youth was entertaining. I'm not proud of this. I've never told another soul this story. Who would?
The lesson here might be: If it feels like work, dread, like you don't belong; be honest with yourself. There is likely a direction that you will thrive in and this may not be it.
I got one of my biggest screw ups out of the way at age 19, some people have theirs much later.
I'm a happy person now. Life is good. It's all worth it.

First edit:
Fuck this thing blew up. in all my years of redditing I have never been overwhelmed with wholesomeness like today. Thank you moderators for pinning this post - I will keep updating this on the regular! Before I go, if anyone wants further information going back before 25th January, here's a chronology of events from pre-squeeze till 4th February written by yours truly.
Valentines Day 14/02 edit:
Thank you all for your positive feedback and for literally all the awards. In all my life I never got platinum, let alone Argentium, and then Ternion!!!
I had a few celebratory drinks last night and I woke up totally shitfaced. It's valentine's day and I will be spending the day with the gf (who as some of you noticed from my page-article, we are expecting by the end of the month and she is right about to pop so she needs extra care and attention). I will be reading all the comments during the day, every time the gf turns her head a bit from me. I'm saving the comments with links to DDs so that I can add them later on.
I urge each and every one of you to read the new section 'HOW CAN YOU HELP ME WITH THIS THREAD'
Again thank you for everything and stay positive! Make sure to let the ones who care about you know that you care about them too today! Happy Valentines Day!
______________________________________________
It took me a very long time to collect and create abstracts, but I finally finished. I'm totally exhausted but quite proud of myself for bringing you everything you need to know so far in one thread.
I would love for this thread to be stickied, and if it does I plan to continue to update the same thread every day. If it does not I will continue posting updated versions every day. I also have my own website where I will keep updating this list.

Please help spread this around - knowledge is power. If you have a link to more DD leave a comment!

Please note that all Dates and Times posted are Central European Times (CET)
Obligatory: This is not financial advice. I am a smooth-brained holder of GME 🚀💎🤲 We like the stock!
______________________________________________

Doing your part

The Congress hearing will be streamed online on the 18th of February. Please email your representatives before this day.
What else can I do?
Make sure that you are not allowing shorts to borrow your shares to short-sell them!
​

How Can You Help Me and This Thread

First of all, THANK YOU. If you really want to help me and our brothers, here's what you can do:

1. Read and provide criticism, help me make better summaries and one-liners for the links to make it as readable as possible (think: ELI5)
2. Share this post to everyone you know - link this thread in WSB threads as comments so that we can educate the ignorant. We can link it in a way such as this: " Here’s a link to the motherload of DD for our favorite stonk " Empower others with knowledge
3. Look for any DD I have missed, old and new, especially in OG WSB from before the coup - send them to me as links in comments AND AS CHAT MESSAGES. I am going through all messages and I will update later today
4. We need to find a way to archive all the DD links from WSB so that if the mods of WSB catch on, we can have a backup of the threads before they delete them!
5. Collect more information on the coup, such as the info that was present from wallstreetbetstest and u/zjz posts. The retaliation messages, proof of removals of threads, bans for no reason ...etc.
6. Collect fake media articles that we can disprove so that I can compile a full list of bullshit media providers and articles
7. Let me know how I can better organize this thread.
8. and finally, don't forget to REPORT SHILLS. I would love to become a moderator and be able to investigate and ban shills myself. I applied but I don't think it will happen for now.

______________________________________________
Backdated posts added later in edits:

• 11-02 03:00
• Added the Chronology of events from pre-squeeze to 4th February.
• 09-02 12:45
• 22-01 13:55

______________________________________________

The List of DD Begins Here:

13-02 18:10 Shills on reddit being paid up to $650/week.

• More proof of shills
• More proof of shills
• More proof of shills

13-02 17:45 Level 2 data shows that at certain moments during trading days we may be just a few thousand shares away from hitting the high asks.
13-02 15:51 Citadel may have a long position in TSLA and will probably have to sell if it comes to liquidity when having to cover shorts (or bail out HFs again).
13-02 15:50 Intensive thesis on the Congress hearing this Thursday 18th Feb, investigating DTCC and Brokers for their complicity in enabling naked shorting, and likely collusion to shut down trading on the 28th Jan. You can help out by contacting representatives with the points mentioned in the thread.

• On Thursday you can watch the live stream here.

13-02 07:50 IV changes in options indicate that a $50 support level is established with a possible $50-72 channel. Analysing option prices shows that another run-up is coming.
13-02 06:30 At this point, if manipulators pushed the price down too hard it would have taken more shares off the market through puts, reducing the liquidity further, making it harder for the HFs.

• Price target prediction end of next week 19th Feb @ $58-59, with peaks above $60 to issue further Calls (to get paid the premium) then hold it below this line.
• The following week 26th Feb will end below $70 as there is a large off-set of calls vs Puts at this strike price, and a gain from 50-70 in two weeks will bring in more retail investors again.

13-02 05:15 We are currently in a liquidity crisis and shorts cannot cover in such an environment. Manipulators fought hard to keep it below $55, which was the strike price that would have hurt them the most.

• Tool to analyse the max pain price.

13-02 04:50 Prediction that during the Congress hearing this Thursday 18th Feb, GME trading may get halted until the hearing is over. DFV will hopefully explain all the fuckery that has happened so far, and the web of lies will begin to unravel. This would bring back retail investor interest and push the price back up.
13-02 04:00 A ranting reminder that any time someone is being an aggressive bully, they are operating from a place of vulnerability. Once you know this it’s easy to spot the chink in their armour that they’re trying to compensate for. We have the power.
13-02 03:00 GME is only where it is now because of manipulation. More importantly, if you think that HFs and the manipulators are planning to give up and ‘settle’ to cover at $50 you are wrong. They’re continually doubling down and won’t rest until they bring GME down to $0.
​
12-02 22:50 WSB Warzone - Since the most discussed ticker was GME, the post was deleted.
12-02 17:10 Compilation of Due Diligence

• The surge up to $480 was likely not short-squeezing, but reducing liquidity along with massive retail investment along with Gamma squeeze covering naked options.
• HFs liquidated significant positions of major holdings causing red days to have cash for covering positions.
• Shills, bots and crooked mods have infested WSB to spread FUD and delete posts and users fighting the good fight.
• Massive amount of $800 Calls expiring March 19th, along with massive amount of Puts for TSLA - as GME spiked TSLA tanks
• We will likely not see a massive squeeze, but a slow cover similar to TSLA short squeeze.

12-02 08:20 Shorting halted by most Brokers

• In fact iBorrowDesk only saw a 100k share movement from the 1.4M shares available to borrow all through the trading day.

12-02 07:00 FTDs: HFs naked short positions opened after 1st Feb (after the FINRA report data) and not before so that they do not get accounted for in the latest FINRA report. These new positions will have to be covered by 24th Feb if they do not want them to be shown in the next report.
12-02 02:00 Data assimilation (extractions from FINRA and Yahoo Finance) showing December 2020’s short positions that are in the red, and probably are not covered by now at significant losses (the real bagholders).

• Shorts were betting that GME wouldn’t pass $20.

​
11-02 16:40 GameStop Executives held the line and did not sell any shares at peak, even though they had the option to.
11-02 16:00 Why we don’t need a squeeze to win, Ryan Cohen’s changes to the company operation will blow up the company’s value.
11-02 15:00 Implied Volatility surges, particularly for $800 Calls expiring Feb 26th, indicating higher volatility in the days to come.
11-02 14:45 Calculations showing that:

• ~40M shares held by retail investors (~80%)
• ~54M shares held by institutions (~113%)
• ~48M shares as float (this is probably incorrect as Morningstar reports a float of 27M)
• GME detained at 193% total
• Real short interest at 138% (if Morningstar is correct, the SI would actually be 248%)

11-02 12:30 ETFs went on a buying spree, reducing float, and diamond handing.

• Link contains breakdowns of institutional shares held and changes

11-02 05:10 A list of potential upcoming changes to company operations that will make the stock much more interesting for retail investors.
11-03 03:50 A reminder from an older investor to always stick to your original plan and not get distracted by some shiny object. If you find something and ten people tell you that it’s worthless, then it isn’t.
11-02 03:00 The state of WSB since the moderator coup
11-02 01:35 Shorts could have covered on the upswing on the 10th Feb, then released fake news on Fidelity selling their shares then started short-selling and short-laddering to drop the price again.

• They start pumping weed stocks as a distraction on WSB.
• GME is inversely following SPY - liquidation.

11-02 01:10 A comparison of Short Interest data from providers.
​
10-02 08:30 Shorts have most probably been buying $800 Calls to make it seem like they ‘cancel out’ their short positions.
10-02 08:20 Figures, calculations and logic showing that the Short Interest is higher than anything reported.
10-02 07:50 An overview of what happened so far, with psychology and reasoning of HFs along the way.
10-02 06:15 DD on possibilities of covering and outlook of potential outcomes.
10-02 06:10 Crunching Finra’s SI report shows that SI is over 117%, and that there were 112% more shares shorted than were actually available to purchase on 27th January. It’s possible that between 1/13-17 about 7M shorts were covered, but they had to have continued to short like crazy since then to push the price down.
10-02 05:20 Naked shorting was probably aided by DTCC who probably shut down buying to stop the squeeze to avoid a scandal. Shorts likely hid their open positions via a loophole which generated synthetic longs. If this is correct there is a large amount of counterfeit shares floating in the market.
10-02 04:22 Finra reports 78% SI, while institutions own 206% (144M shares) of all outstanding shares. This could mean that actual SI is around 150%.
10-02 03:00 Finra releases SI data: 78.5%
​
09-02 20:00 A compilation of manipulative tactics and logical fallacies to help you identify when they are being attempted against you.
09-02 12:45 Biden administration cannot allow itself to lose trust at the beginning at the term, and HFs Brokers WS and the media may be in a worse position than we thought.
09-02 08:45 Cramer exposed - video from 2006 shows how himself (when he managed an HF) and other HFs manipulate markets.
09-02 08:20 Shares being bought around $270 after hours.
09-02 02:00 Proof that FINTEL are altering short data, with replies from CEO.

• More Proof.
• Further proof.

​
08-02 17:00 Shorts may provide fake data to FINRA for a relatively small fine which could help save them millions-billions.
08-02 14:15 Compilation of DD showing that nothing has changed no matter what the media is saying.
08-02 09:50 They are losing $2B ever 2.5 days
08-02 01:45 Why to buy GME regardless of a squeeze. The future of GameStop is bright.
​
07-02 16:45 Hypothesis that Melvin is just a tool for larger hedge fund to take over Citadel and take trillions from them.
07-02 16:40 Evidence shows the HFs likely use a loophole trick to appear as if they covered their shorts using synthetic longs generated from options.
07-02 13:30 A very useful spreadsheet to track and analyse stocks
07-02 03:45 There is no mathematical way shorts covered for Jan 13, 22, or 25 as is being reported by SI data providers - they are lying.
​
06-02 22:00 The interstellar yo-yo theory: every 13 days (settlement days) stock price increases and pushes back by selling more synthetic long positions (fake shares into the market), FTDs increase
06-02 18:20 Institutions hold 177% of float, proving the existence of a huge amount of synthetic longs.
​
05-02 23:40 HFs want you to think that they repositioned and covered their shorts, but calculations show that this was impossible and the conditions were not ideal to do this without incurring massive losses.
05-02 19:30 GME and AMC graph comparison, showing the exact same movement.
​
02-02 23:30 Analysis of 265,000 rows of SEC data shows massive amount of FTDs compared to the rest of the market - likely that it is a result of massive illegal share counterfeiting by shorts.
02-02 05:30 The market may collapse due to the creation of a massive number of preexisting synthetic longs that were bought and held. To fix it, market makers decided to make more, but their cure is also a poison they can't stop taking.
02-02 04:00 Melvin claims to have closed out their positions, but used an illegal loophole to make it seem like they have.
​
01-02 23:20 Short Interest appears to have fallen but in truth is being shoved under the rug of option traders.
01-02 20:45 A list of misinformation articles inducing FUD
01-02 20:30 Following the crumbs: How GME is exposing illegal activity
01-02 17:15 Psychological warfare - FUD and manipulated dips along with further short-selling to make you believe that you’ve missed the peak.
01-02 10:20 Evidence of massive naked short selling fraud.
01-02 02:30 Public data suggest massive securities fraud creating more shares than exist, and that retail investors may hold more than 100% of all outstanding shares.
​
31-01 09:10 Wall Street is freaking out because they are about to get caught doing extremely illegal shit that may implode the whole system - fake shares in the float.
25-01 23:30 Today’s co-ordinated attack: let the price run up only to jack up margin requirements, then dumped.
22-01 13:55 Make sure that you are not helping shorts borrow your shares and short sell by opting out with your broker! Some brokers settings are by default, so you have to change it yourself.
​
A chronology of events pre-squeeze till 4th February written by yours truly.

tl;dr at the bottom
so me n the homies live in the middle of got damn nowhere
we ain’t got neighbors, stores, paved roads, love, or affection
what we do have is cornfields, cows that moo back on occasion, and the most important
substances
homie hits my line he’s like yo
i’m like yo
he’s all like we gonna have a group trip in one of the local cities (local meaning 3 hours away)
i’m like ok bet
so we’ve got me, trees, dr corn, jellyboy, cowman, kelgen, and horsemeat (not their real names)
our favorite thing to do during the summer was get far away from the cornfields as possible as to prevent ourselves from literally going fuckin mad
so everyone but horsemeat (our DD) popped a tab and we were on our way
tab kicks in after about 45 minutes and by time we get to the city we’re completely off our ass
we park at one of the empty lots and we all grab our longboards
we’re zoomin down these hills, and skating on roads without potholes and random obstructions was an experience not many of us were used too, safe to say we’re havin a blast
we find this massive hill and we’re all standing on top of it looking down in awe deciding if this is really a good idea
it’s pretty dark out at this point and we can’t see where the end of the hill leads, and i’m all for doing crazy shit but none of us had helmets and i didn’t want this to become a nightmare
i look over to the group and just as i’m about to tell them to find another hill, cowman puts his board down
fuck
cowmans flying down this hill and we’re all watching in awe
cowman doesn’t know how to power slide
cowman can’t slow down
cowman is going too fast for his own good and next thing we hear is him yelling
FUCKFUCKFUCKFU-
and he slams into the curb at the end of the hill
oh, damn
we decide we’re not skating down the hill after him so we start making our way down on foot hoping little cowman isn’t dead
we get to the bottom of the hill and he’s still conscious, thankfully, he just claims his leg was in a lot of pain
all good, cowman is alive
we’re all sitting there acknowledging what just happened when we hear a voice from behind
took quite a fall there bud
who the fuck was that i thought and upon looking back i saw the man
tall, extremely skinny, ripped clothes, scabs all over, track marks, missing teeth and speech that slowed down and sped up
being in a small town, these kinds of drug users weren’t anything new to us, but seeing as though we didn’t have anything on us, there was nothing to be worried about
cowman was a little confused so i decided to speak up
what’s up
oh, not much, said mr crack, was watching you guys skeet around here and just came to see if your ol buddy was okay
yeah man he’s all good, appreciate that
and then we kinda stare at eachother awkwardly for a few seconds when he drops the line
you guys wanna hangout?
i mean, yeah fuck it why not
so now we’re walking around talkin to this guy about how he lost his job and fell into the slippery slope of addiction
seeing as though we’re all drug users we don’t hoist any judgement toward mr crack
it was then he stops in his tracks
we all abruptly stop as well, waiting to hear mr cracks next words of wisdom
you guys wanna play hide and go seek?
we all looked at eachother and then cowman started giggling, which was the spark to a wildfire of laughter amongst all of us
hell yeah dude let’s play
okay kiddos here’s the rules, no going past that building, he said pointing with his finger, and no going past that lake, pointing the other direction
fucking bet
we decide that since mr crack came up with the idea, he would choose the seeker
he chose himself
ok i guess
so we’re getting ready to go hide when he says stop
we all look in admiration toward our new crack jesus
it’s hide and seek tag, and if i tag you, you’re on my team, if one man prevails, he is not claimed as the victor unless he has been standing for more than 20 minutes
dope
now initially i was going to hide with jellyboy, but seeing as though he could just as easily become my enemy, i decide i’m a lone wolf
i set a timer on my phone for 20 minutes, let everyone else know i had the timer ready, and it was time to hide
my years of hide and seek as a young fetus boy are about to pay off as i pull off my signature trick
when he begins to count, i start running, fast running, as to give off the impression that i will be nearing the border of our little play area
nearing the border i was not
hooked a left behind this building and stopped running, this was perfect
i saw a ladder going to this little matinence balcony thing but it was too high to reach
mr crack jesus’ voice was piercing through the air as i heard
12
11
10
9
i was running out of time, i had to find a way up
scanning the area, i found myself looking at a dumpster
a dumpster with wheels
fucking jackpot, and right as i got this dumpster to the bottom of the ladder, the final words of mr crack ring in my ears
ready or not, im fuckin comin
oh but i am ready mr crack
and to finish my thought, i see dr corn run around the same building that i had found the dumpster, he’s desperate for a spot to hide
finding nothing, he turns back, still not seeing me, and right as he gets to the edge of the building, mr crack appears
i hold my breath
dr corn tries to pull a sneak move but it is to no avail, as he becomes the first member tagged
dr corn down
jellyboy, trees, cowman, kelgen, horsemeat and me are still in it for the W
seeing as though they hadn’t laid their eyes upon me, i make the decision to stay on this ladder
a few minutes go by and i can hear yelling, just barely in ear shot
got your ass now boy!
FUCK
it’s cowmans voice
cowman has been claimed
an instant later i see trees come across my building, he sees me
praying to god that he isn’t tagged, i look him back
he puts a finger up to his mouth as to say “don’t say a got damn word” and he’s running away
i need a new spot
i get down off the ladder and i see trees turn another corner, followed by him yelling
OH SHIT WAIT
trees has been claimed
trees, cowman, and dr corn are predators
jellyboy, horsemeat, kelgen and me are the prey
and i don’t intend to lose
i come across a main road, and going against my instinct of caution i decide to cross it
i step onto the main road and on the other side, i see dr corn
fuck
just as i’m about to turn running, i see kelgen run out on the same road, in between me and dr corn
perfect
using the moment for my escape, i dip into one of the alleys, wondering if kelgen was going to follow
follow he did not
kelgen was not fast enough, and now he is down
i decide to go down toward the lake and see if i can find any survivors
i see horsemeat
the only one of us who wasn’t tripping balls
behind him i see jellyboy come around a corner and start making his way toward horsemeat
the gangs all here, i think, but based on jellyboys face i realize what’s happening
he’s going after horsemeat
just as horsemeat turns around he is tagged, i use this as my escape
i’m running through alleys, trying to survive as long as possible
i hear yelling, footsteps, the occasional “go look that way” and it’s all to my advantage
i am silent as a mouse
i’ve ran through the left side of the main road, and they have been searching through the buildings on the right side
they would come left soon
it was time for me to cross the main road
i decide to count to 3 and make a break for it
3..
2..
1..
and i’m off
i get two steps into the main road and that’s when i hear his voice
THERE, LOOK
when i turn my head im met with a sight that is engraved into my memory
jellyboy and dr corn in the back, kelgen and trees infront of them, horsemeat and cowman next up, and in the front is crack jesus
they are in a pyramid formation, all pointing at me
they are running after me screaming war cries and for a moment i felt as though i was a cowboy on the american frontier, being chased down by indians that are beyond pissed off that i just stole their native land
i’m paralyzed in fear
i decide it’s time to come up with a plan, a plan which requires me to think, something i was not much good at
i realize i can kick in wizard mode
wizard mode is malfunctioning and my brain is still as dysfunctional as it was 4 seconds ago
fuck, they’re getting closer
just as i’m about to give up and accept my fate i realize something
im wearing my brooks running shoes
it was as though i was blessed by u/joeeposts the shoe salesman and just like that i was running faster than i’ve ever run before
the predators notice that i’m wearing brooks running shoes and now they realize their mistake
i will outrun them
they split up, some going to the buildings on the left side, some the right, and now the only person left on the main road was mr crack
he was still screaming war cries
now that i’ve been blessed by my brooks running shoes and the holy words of u/joeeposts the shoe salesman i decide i am not afraid of mr crack
i embrace his advances (in a cool way not sexually)
i run toward him as well, reciprocating his war cries
we get up to eachother and i put a foot forward on the left, mr crack tries matching my movements to catch me, just as i planned
in an instant i withdrawal my foot advancement and use the momentum to spin my body around mr cracks outreached hand, metaphorically destroying his ankles
mr crack falls to the ground
a small price to pay for salvation
dr corn and jellyboy were witness to this magic event and now they’re coming at me from either side
the power of the brooks running shoes is still coursing through every vein in my body and i decide to turn around and run back toward mr crack, who is still on the ground, probably wishing he was wearing brooks running shoes
i get to him and leap over his outstretched body, the minute i hit the ground i pivot my right foot and just like that i’m full sprinting down the alley
i see the ladder i was on previously, dumpster still conveniently under it
i get to the top of the ladder and just as i get to the matinence balcony i see horsemeat
i hold my breath
he looks left
he looks right
and then his eyes met mine, he was ready
“OVER HERE, HES ON THE BALCONY”
my time was nearing
before i knew it i was above all of them, they’re all looking up at me and for a moment i feel like i’m Glenn from the walking dead
RICK GRIMES PLEASE COME SAVE ME i yell aloud, which had them in a fit of laughter which bought me just enough time
mr crack was climbing the ladder rapidly and just as i was about to accept my fate
beep beep beep beep beep
the timer went off
the fucking timer, i had forgotten all about it
the looks on their faces were all the same
defeat
i had won
i was the victor
the story ends with all of us sitting around the lake, laughing, joking around, talking about life as our acid trips were coming to an end and mr crack ends things off with words that stuck with me for a long time
“kid, you’ve got two things in life. your health, and your peace of mind. eat healthy, excercise, live your life, and most importantly, never forget how to have fun.”
this one doesn’t end with a funny closer, just want to take the moment to tell you all to be good to one another. life is short, no reason to diminish someone’s peace of mind, live and let live.
tl:dr - took acid, friend had a skating accident, met a homeless crackhead, made friends with him, played the ultimate game of hide and seek tag, learned a valuable life lesson

Hoy!
As per the thetagang philosophy, the plan is to sell options and see them loose value over time due to theta decay. There are plenty of other reasons to do it, but the core idea behind the theta play is to let time work for your advantage.
I'll give a rundown of three approaches, and let you make your own conclusions on what strategy best fits you.

• Weeklies: selling options expiring within a week, (0-7DTE [Days To Expiry])
• 30-45 DTE: popularized by tastytrade, selling options that expire 1-1.5 month out
• LEAPs: 1 year or longer to expiry;

Let's benchmark..
I'll compare the following 3 setups here:

• 6DTE (weekly), Feb 12 expiry
• 41DTE, March 19 expiry
• 349 DTE, Jan 21, 2022 expiry

And look at 4 (very) different tickers: SPY (high volume, low thrills index fund), AAPL (solid tech company & growth potential), KO (solid non-tech, low thrills) and GME (the meme du jour).
I will use the 41DTE, ~0.30 delta as our reference for annualized income, where annualized return percentage (ARP) is given by ARP = 365 * premium / (collateral at stake) / DTE * 100%.
EDIT: As pointed out by buzzante, this doesn't take into account compounding interest. The quick premium you get on a shorter DTE can then be repeatedly reinvested, favoring shorter DTEs. On the flip side, selling longer dated DTE gives you more upfront premium that you could already reinvest. I think overall compounding benefits longer DTEs for the same percentage returns (like getting paid upfront for one year vs getting paid in weekly installments), but for sake of simplicity and my sanity, I won't redo the math.
The idea is, if you can get X% annualized return on a 41DTE option, how would an X% annualized return (in terms of greeks & strike prices) look like for a 6DTE and 349 DTE option.
To keep things simple, I will only look at CSPs (cash secured puts), no calls, margin plays, hedges, etc, and use the mid of the Ask/Bid spread as our premium price, as quoted on Friday's (Feb 5) close.
SPY (price at close 387.71$)
41DTE: 375$ strike, 5.87$ premium, ARP = 13.59%, delta ~0.3, gamma 0.012, IV 22%, OpenInt 37920
So I am looking for a similar ARP for 6DTE and 349DTE options.
[..find a premium/(collateral at stake) ratio = ARP * DTE / 365 / 100..]

DTE	Strike	Premium	ARP	Delta	Gamma	IV	OpenInt
41	375$	5.87$	13.59%	~0.3	0.012	22%	37920
6	380$	0.81$	12.96%	~0.18	0.030	15%	15550
6	381$	0.925$	14.76%	~0.20	0.034	15%	4593
349	430$	56.895$	13.83%	~0.65	0.005	34%	<100

AAPL (price at close 136.76$)

DTE	Strike	Premium	ARP	Delta	Gamma	IV	OpenInt
41	130$	3.60$	24.65%	~0.3	0.007	33%	<100
6	132$	0.425$	19.59%	~0.16	0.048	26%	3280
6	133$	0.595$	26.99%	~0.21	0.059	26%	4200
349	165$	38.20$	24.21%	~0.61	0.007	39%	<300

KO (price at close 49.65$)

DTE	Strike	Premium	ARP	Delta	Gamma	IV	OpenInt
41	47.5$	0.93$	17.43%	~0.3	0.076	27%	8193
6	46.0$	0.085$	11.24%	~0.07	0.052	39%	2659
6	46.5$	0.11$	19.59%	~0.09	0.066	36%	1130
349	55$	8.80$	16.73%	~0.61	0.029	26%	3894

GME (price at close 63.77$)

DTE	Strike	Premium	ARP	Delta	Gamma	IV	OpenInt
41	65$	27.15$	371.84%	~0.296	0.005	326%	600
6	24$	3.125$	372.60%	~0.034	0.001	470%	734

349DTE: NOT POSSIBLE! For a 370% return, you'd need the premium to be more than 3x the strike;
How to interpret this
1) Selling LEAPs are is a pretty bad deal (in terms of annualized interest). For a comparative return with 41DTE, your strike price is going to be higher than the current stock price. As in, the stock price needs to swing up for the option to expire worthless, as opposed to NOT drop too much which lower DTE.
2) The higher the DTE, the worse the liquidity (bigger spreads, lower open interest, etc). Makes it that much harder to get a good deal.
3) Look at the 6DTE vs 41DTE strike prices (for the same annualized returns): they aren't that much different (except GME.. more about that later). So adjusted for risk, shorter DTE puts are more likely to expire OTM. Or just look at the deltas.. very compelling.
4) The GME conundrum: if you're gonna scalp the IV, go for where it's the highest; what's more likely, GME finishing below 21$ in 6 days, or below 38$ in 41 days? (the two break-even points). You could even pick a 6DTE with strike 14$ for a 'meager' 77.6% ARP (that beats selling puts on AAPL or KO).
5) We are safe to conclude that I don't have a life; and if you got this far, neither do you ;)
EDIT: Risks, risks, risks
Seasoned folks are smart to point out that I didn't get into all the risks shorter DTEs pose. It wouldn't be fair to ignore it, so here's a rundown on what might go wrong:

• pin risk: it's tempting to let weeklies expire worthless, but after hours price movements after expiration can suddenly turn against you; while this could be avoided if you always close your positions, there's some extra value to be had by trying to see at least some of them expire worthless;
• early assignment: the closer you are to expiration, the more likely it is that this would/could happen with a sudden and violent breach of your strike price; as you are going to have significantly more trades with lower DTEs, this adds some extra risk to the mix that can't be quantified with backtestings;
• gamma risk: this is the biggest one; this deserves its own post, but here's a solid writeup with pretty charts that does a better job than I ever could; in short, when selling options, you're negatively exposed to gamma; the closer the option to expiration, the higher the gamma, the more the value of the option fluctuates with the underlying stock's movement; a 30 delta 45DTE option will have lower gamma than a 30 delta 7DTE option; I updated my numbers to also include gamma - but I think most people would agree that for the same ARP and underlying stock but different DTEs, a lower delta + lower gamma combo is a better risk-adjusted bet (see GME 41DTE vs 6DTE or KO 41DTE vs 6DTE delta & gamma numbers); in most other cases, shorter DTE plays (for the same normalized ARP) would lower your delta but increase your gamma; it's a trade-off everyone needs to decide for themselves
• IV risk/gains: the shorter the DTE, the bigger impact IV movements have on gamma (see this for pretty charts); with IV dropping, your OTM options can experience a gamma boost, that can slap you in the face; this is somewhat compensated though by premium lowering on average due to the IV drop; but if the stock price moved against you, it becomes that much harder to roll out /manage your losses;

EDIT: Back-testing, always
The common wisdom is that 45DTE 16-20 delta have been the clear winner in back-testing and has a better risk-adjusted win-rate than any other configuration. Check spintwig and tasty trade video where this the most common conclusion made.
However, there is no size fits all; 45DTE 16-20 is NOT optimal theta play on meme stocks or for earnings plays (in both cases IV will predictably drop), or growth stocks (where buy&hold beats CSP in benchmarks).
The only way to settle true winrates is by back-testing, but once accounting for active management, early closing, margin management, etc. even back-testing is just a rough estimation.
I feel it would be irresponsible of me NOT to emphasize the overwhelming amount of evidence/benchmarks in favor of 45DTE 16-20 delta plays - but it's also not an optimal play for every situation, and this shouldn't be a controversial statement :/.
Conclusions
If it's theta you're after, shorter DTEs have higher returns. Not necessarily higher risk (EDIT: yes, likely higher risks, see the part on risks, risks, risks) mind you - if you pick your deltas (EDIT: and gammas) carefully. Makes sense, theta works best closest to expiration; a lot can happen in one year to a stock (hit record highs or go bankrupt), much less in one day. EDIT: There's this post with pretty graphs that sum it up better than I could.
Shorter DTEs also require more management and more involvement. Reevaluating your holdings every day (if you're selling weeklies) vs every week (with 30-45DTE) can be demanding, especially with a diversified portfolio.
And finally, you do you. I think the 30-45DTE philosophy is quite popular with this sub (and selling early when hitting 50% return), but the gains aren't really from theta in those cases (well, a mix of delta and theta), but rather stonks going up. It's a solid, easy strategy, but leaves quite a lot of value on the table. (EDIT: or does it.. back-testing results debate this. It's irresponsible of me to make such a categorical statement).
Agree or disagree, we should probably talk about this. I flaired it as DD, but it's more of a meta-analysis of theta strategy as a whole.
EDIT2: tables everywhere..

From the guys who brought you The Greatest Short Burn of the Century..

Oh man, oh man, oh man.
Not again.
-Drizzy

Preface:
Please believe me when I say I really wanted to take this month off and enjoy the snow in Tahoe. But as I was driving, something caught my eye...
Make no mistake. This stock is not going to be nearly as volatile or profitable as GME. In fact, this might be so boring that most of you will ignore me yet again. And that’s exactly why I like it. I’ll do my best to make this engaging, but the fact is, this is going to be a slow grind. Both this DD and the stock.
Also, as a bonus, Reddit is currently public enemy #1 in the eyes of the media. Why don’t we do a quick heel-turn and join their side? Are they gonna hate us for buying boring value stocks? They won’t know what hit them. That will be a fun show to watch.
Anyway… let’s take a look under the hood. As always, not financial advice. Just education. NOTHING IS A RECOMMENDATION. We are just sharing knowledge here. Ok SEC?
Intro:
Ford (NYSE: $F -- NOT NASDAQ:$FORD), is another depressed deep value multiple expansion arbitrage play. No short squeeze this time. The GME asymmetry may not be seen again for 10 years.
It might seem boring and unsexy on the surface, but Ford is a fantastic company in the midst of one of the best turnarounds in American history. And with a little help from our friend Mr. Options (or as Buffett called, Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction) we can turn a boring old Ford into a lightning fast Ferrari using the quadruple income option wheel strategy. Don’t try this at home. If you don’t know what CSPs, CCs, or vega are, stick to shares. Those should work just fine.
Let’s break this down into 5 parts: electrification story and leadership, multiples expansion, technical analysis, options, and the trade.
By the way, in 2019, the Ford F-Series was second only to the Apple iPhone, which raked in $55 billion, in terms of total revenue generated. The F-Series generated more revenue than the NFL, MLB, NBA, and the NHL combined, which added up to $40 billion. Just something to think about.

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round...

Electrification story and leadership:
Let’s jump into history for a second. Ford had a meteoric rise from 1997 - 1999 from $15 to around $32 at the peak. This was due to $F reporting massive earnings increases each quarter:

• Dec 1996 - 1997 Ford F-150 - Truck of the Year
  
• Jan 1997 - Ford profits up 82 percent
  
• Oct 1997 - Ford profits up 64 percent
  
• Jan 1998 - Ford profits up 56 percent
  

They were just feasting and feasting. Jim Farley looks like the best person alive to revitalize Ford, capable of tripling the stock in 2-3 years. Look at the last two quarters:

• Q3-2020 - Adjusted EPS: 65 cents vs 19 cents expected, Automotive revenue: $34.71 billion vs $33.51 billion expected (due to pent up demand)
  
• Q2-2020 - Adjusted EPS: A loss of 35 cents per share versus a loss of $1.17 per share expected, Automotive revenue: $16.6 billion versus $15.95 billion expected.
  

Here are excerpts from the Q3 earnings and some other notable highlights:

Farley: Now that plan, which was introduced to the Ford team and many stakeholders on October 1, is very straightforward. Among other things, No. 1, we will compete like a challenger, earning each customer with great products but as well services with rewarding ownership experiences. Number two, we're moving with urgency to turn around our automotive operations, improve our quality, reduce our cost and accelerate the restructuring of underperforming businesses.
And third, we're going to grow again but in the right areas, allocating more capital, more resources, more talent to our very strongest businesses and vehicle franchises; incubating, scaling and integrating new businesses, some of them enabled by new technology like Argo's world-class self-driving system; and expanding our leading commercial vehicle business with great margins but now with the suite of software services that drive loyalty and generate reoccurring annuity-like revenue streams; and being a leader in electric vehicle revolution around the world where we have strength and scale. So now speaking about EVs. To start with, we're developing all-new electric versions of the F-150 and the Transit, the two most important, highest-volume commercial vehicles in our industry. These leading vehicles really drive the commercial vehicle business at Ford, and we're electrifying them.

Quick sidebar here from my buddy M: "Whereas traditional manufact / consumer / industrials are valued on an EBITDA multiple, SAAS has historically been valued on a revenue multiple, which translates to flat out higher valuations. EVs themselves are not necessarily a higher margin product that justifies a higher multiple (at least not that I've seen), but tech services / subscriptions are the real money makers in this game. Hint Hint companies like Apple throwing everything they have at trying to integrate services and subscriptions over the last 5 years"
This further justifies the expansion multiples we expect will catch up to leading EV automakers (see below).

We own work at Ford. And these electric vehicles will be true work vehicles, extremely capable and with unique digital services and over-the-air capabilities to improve the productivity and uptime of our important commercial customers. The electric Transit, by the way, will be revealed next month, and you heard about it here first, for all of our global markets. We believe the addressable market for a fully electric commercial van and pickup, the two largest addressable profit pools in commercial, are going to be massive.
Now you're going to see our strategy of electrifying our leading commercial vehicles and our iconic high-volume products expand very quickly at Ford.
When you look at our results, they reflect the benefit of our decision two years ago to allocate capital to our strongest franchise, namely: pickups, a whole range of utilities across the world, commercial vehicles and iconic passenger vehicles. Additionally, we saw higher-than-expected demand for our new vehicles in the quarter.
Together, these factors, plus the strongest performance from Ford Credit in 15 years, led to a total company adjusted EBIT margin of 9.7%. That's 490 basis points higher than last year.
As an outcome of all this, we generated $6.3 billion in adjusted free cash flow.
The strong cash flow in the quarter gave us the confidence and the ability to make a second payment on our corporate revolver, which we did on September 24. So now we have fully repaid the entire $15 billion facility, and we ended the third quarter with a strong balance sheet, including nearly $30 billion in cash and more than $45 billion of liquidity, which provides us with the vital financial flexibility we need.

Check out this credit downgrade weeks before Ford paid off their revolving credit facility. Smells like GME?
Alright. What about Q4-2020 and beyond? Ford is expected to post a loss. TA is signaling a beat (see the TA section). Ford is spending this money in order further restructure and deliver on the following items in their pipeline:
Bronco:

• Within the first month of open reservations, the Bronco had received an estimated 230,000 reservations. 230,000 reservations is an incredibly impressive figure, especially when put into the context of Ford’s total vehicle sales. 230,000 sales would represent 4% of Ford’s total sales.
  
• Current estimates place over 20% of reservation holders as first-time Ford buyers.
  
• The most expensive trim, the limited ‘First Edition’, has already sold out.
  

Mach-E vs Tesla Model Y. Just the fact that there is debate between the better car is bullish for Ford.

• Source 1
  
• Source 2
  
• Source 3
  

The upcoming 2021 F-150 has positive consumer reviews as well:

• The 2021 Ford F-150 Is So Stuffed With New Tech & Gadgets That Even Tesla Owners Are Impressed!
  
• DeMuro - The 2021 Ford F-150 Is Totally New and Really Impressive
  
• Some other nice features: Fold down the shifter, lay seats down completely flat, speakers in headrest, tailgate worksurface (pen/pencil holders, rulers) C clamp, 120V outlet, bottle opener, light), sensing running board, tailgate step and railing, and more. Watch the video.
  

Ford Raptor launch (just happened today, customers are excited. Look at the comments on YouTube and IG)
Further potential tailwinds:

• Ford partnering with Rivian in a $500M deal. Product yet to be released.
  
• Google partnership that caused the intraday spike on 2/2.
  
• Ford is rumored to secure the USPS contract since deal talks are falling through with WKHS.
  

The Postal Service told Trucks.com that it expects to reach a contract with one or more of the teams bidding for the business in the federal government’s second fiscal quarter of 2021. That works out to the first quarter of next year.

• There is a historical inverse relationship between gas prices and car sizing. Tell me if I'm reaching here. But as America continues to head towards electrification and energy independence under Biden, larger gas cars will be more in demand. Furthermore, the aftershock of COVID will continue to propagate the dedensification of cities. Less commuter vehicles, and more travel vehicles. And look who is conveniently positioned to take advantage of all of this?
  
• Dr. Anning Chen is also a killer CEO of Ford China. This is largely intangibles (which Wall Street cannot model), but watch his interviews here and here.
  
• Dr. Chen used the COVID shutdown to improve the operational efficiency of the company. It has not shown on the bottom line thus far, but it will later.
  
• CTO Dr. Ken Washington bio. Ex Lockheed.
  
• Kennard on the board.. PE guy, on the AT&T board and former FCC chairman.
  
• Vojvodich. Ex CRM and ADHZ.
  
• Regarding the above leadership and BOD members, experienced executives are a better fit for running the day-to-day than any other. Add a sprinkle of savvy techfin folk and you have a recipe for a elite transition.
  

English please? Ford is a strong company. Farley is delivering on his promises and can lead the company towards an operationally efficient turnaround towards electrification. Combine this with a loyal customer base rivaled only by AAPL, and you get another special opportunity. This is the turning point.
Multiples Expansion:
Now here lies the crux of the thesis. Amidst all the EV hype, Ford is being unfairly ignored at an extremely depressed multiple compared to the other companies in the EV space. Here are some comparisons (numbers may be slightly outdated, pulled earlier this week, more relative comparison than absolute):
$Ticker - Market Cap - TTM Revenue MM - TTM EBITDA MM - Revenue Multiple - Ebitda Multiple
TSLA - $810B - $28B - $4B - 29X - 202X
NIO - $92B - $12B - ($7B) - 7.6X - (NaN)
GM - $78B - $116B - $18B - 0.7X - 4.3X
F - $44B - $131B - $10B - 0.3X - 4.4X
That’s an eyesore. Let’s focus on just TSLA and Ford, because why not. Assuming Ford can quickly turn towards electrification (from the evidence above), these two companies are fair comparisons. No Tesla is not a software/energy company, look at their automotive % of revenue. Stop it. It has only recently dropped to 80% due to the expansion of their leasing division. Energy is still a tiny part of TSLA.
Revenue Multiple:
TSLA = 29X
F = 0.3X
EBITDA Multiple:
TSLA = 202X
F = 4.4X
Yes those numbers are correct. Look at them for 60 seconds and tell me what you see. Quick quote from my buddy M:

Just zoom out and think. TSLA is for sure ahead of the rest on their tech and charging infra right now. But in terms of just overall bottom line infrastructure and manufacturing capability; once the GMs, Fs, and VWs of the world can get the ball rolling, they are way ahead in that aspect. Much more experience in production and retail / distribution channels, as well as logistics sourcing. Plenty of battery makers, and self driving tech makers out there too right now. Small to mid scale M&A will probably be the name of the game if I had to guess.

This is why Burry is short $TSLA, but two scenarios can unfold: either the high-flying stocks drop, or Ford rises. I believe we will land somewhere in the middle, with Ford rising as we begin to enter the optimism phase in the final third of our bull market.
Shorting is a dangerous game anyway... So I’ve been hearing on the news...
TA, Options:
Exhibit A from our resident chart whisperer J (who will remain unnamed because you monkeys keep bothering him).
Larger view.
As you can see, the trendline has broken out.
Exhibit B from our resident quant T (also to rename unnamed):

Starting on 1/4 you'll find right tail distributions into any liquidation which represent large buying. Which has led up to a recent run-up and eventually left tail distributions which represent short coverings which lead into the gaps and thinner distributions where there aren't any major bids. Even with the pullback on 1/22 we see more right tail distribution after the profit taking from the recent run-up, which means someone is buying up the inventory.
This is unusual for F, where F trades within tight ranges. On 2/1 you can see a bimodal distribution which means a new player has stepped in, which we assume has additional knowledge apart from the larger players that were already in the market. The recent range between 10.70 and 11.20 indicates that the market has accepted this price range as fair value. Without additional research at first glance we can see that a large player (or players) is buying up a significant amount of inventory.
On 1/4 we find that the volume increased to 77,559,128 from the previous trading of 34,462,454 (125% increase) and 33,127,776 the day before that. Volume has been higher since.
On our first major left tail distribution (which represents short covering) since the buying on 1/4 the volume was at 113,707,973.

Exhibit C
250k shares of F 10.92; 100k F 11.04; 3.53m F 9.78; 708k F 9.78; 500k F 9.64; 377k F 9.50; 338k F 9.50; 201k F 9.75; 192k F 9.80; 150k F 9.77
These are blocks of shares bought in the past 7 days
Top OI changes:
+19610 F 02/05/21 11 C 43821 38% 13% 48%
+12904 F 02/05/21 12 C 31929 38% 11% 52%
Top OI positions:
170902 F 02/19/21 10 C +807 26% 49% 25%
112480 F 02/19/21 12 C +3207 29% 29% 41%
The percentages are bid mid ask.
Someone is bullish on Ford.
For an earnings play, daily RSI is oversold looking towards an uptick.
Options gamma is interesting to note as well.
Open interest on 2/5 $13 and $15Cs are also notable. Could be covered calls? Could be someone knows something?
Could be Jeff reading too much into the tea leaves. Not financial advice. Just showing you what I see.
The Trade: The simplest way is just to purchase shares and collect dividends as Ford may reinstate them sometime in 2021. Possibly leaps if you feel adventurous.
For the option junkies like myself, and as a tribute to the greatest company in American history, I will use the wheel(s). The GME trade was a very special and momentous occasion. Now that we have a bankroll, we’ll just quietly play theta gang as we enjoy our lives and spend time with our families and loved ones. Here’s a good summary.
This is not for amateurs. I mean, none of this is financial advice anyway, just educational.
But in a nutshell, I will: 1) Buy shares, 2) Sell CSPs 30-45 days out with 0.3 delta, 3) sell CCs with 0.3 delta (will reconsider this if Ford goes vertical) 4) Collect dividends.
The Wheel doesn’t work on everything. Here are the qualifications from the above post, let me know if this sounds familiar:

• Profitable company that has solid cash flow
  
• Bullish, or Very Bullish, analyst ratings
  
• Priced around $10 to $50 so that I can afford to take the assignment if needed and I stay away from sub-$10 stocks as a rule
  
• A stable chart without wild gyrations (especially those caused by CEO tweets!)
  
• A nice dividend is always a good thing, both that you may collect it if assigned the stock but also that dividend stocks tend to more stable and predictable.
  

Hmm...
Conclusion:
Ford is a massive, complex, multinational corporation so I’ve likely missed very many things, but I wanted to get this out before ER so I can flex again. (No market manipulation here lol. My buddy's multi-million dollar block buys didn't move the needle one iota.) There are many things I haven’t covered, and simply don’t know yet. As more facts begin to unfold, and as I spend more time with the stock, I’ll share the information here. Also, every time I post about an equity, it seems to go down. Lol... (GME). With all this in mind, this is still a very risky bet.
Nevertheless, I like what I’ve seen thus far. Ford looks like a fantastically healthy company in the midst of a turnaround towards electrification with a phenomenally depressed multiple according to the market’s appetite. It deserves a multiple trending towards TSLA’s, not a dying auto manufacturer. Jim Farley has shown early to be a great CEO and I think he can continue the transformation. We’ve begun to enter a phase of exuberance, so I’ll choose to long Ford instead of short TSLA.
As a bonus, we have the opportunity to join forces with the boomers and talking heads and bet on one of their favorite companies. Time for America to be on the same side again. We’ve been divided for too long.
I know my GME posts were lucky. I’ll stake my reputation on another bet. One call sure is lucky. What about two? In any case, investing is a marathon, not a sprint. Glad to be a part of this journey with you all. Note: I will not discuss GME in the comments, which all depends on Ryan Cohen. There is nothing further to add until Q4 earnings.
And finally, we’ve officially entered the last phase of our very long bull market. This is not necessarily a sell signal yet, as some of the greatest returns can come in this period and can last for a long time. I will do my best to look for the signal and sound the alarm. The world will be celebrating, and I will be bearish. Burry’s passive indexing bubble call in combination with Thiel’s government debt bubble call will lead us into a dark time of unprecedented proportions. Tail risk hedging won’t work as the declines will be slow at first, and then fast and violent and unrecoverable. Be careful. Listen to Ken Fisher. Thank you very much for your time.
Positions: Bullish shares, LEAPS, on-going quadruple income wheel strategy as Ford reinstates the dividend. Timeframe 12-18 months. Watch out VIGILANTLY for macro risks. Bear market is on the horizon. Drop some Fs in the chat to pay respects.
PT: $32 with a chance of $98 if we start to see exuberance in the broader market.
-JA