Kodak

[jesmu84]

Insider trading should be illegal for everyone

[Hards Alumni]

Agreed.  In any other timeline, this would be larger news.

[jesmu84]

https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/i0fts2/there_was_a_spike_in_buying_of_kodak_stock_in_the/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

[MUBurrow]

junk economy

[Coleman]

dirty dirty dirty

[vogue65]

If the name were not KODAK it would have gone unnoticed.
They should have sold out to the Cargile Group first.
There are ways this sort of thing is done by the insiders.
Just another far too obvious display of arrogance.

[JWags85]

If the name were not KODAK it would have gone unnoticed.
They should have sold out to the Cargile Group first.
There are ways this sort of thing is done by the insiders.
Just another far too obvious display of arrogance.

With all due respect, this is simply not true. The move that KODK made was insane. $2 to $60 in 2 days. That’s on EVERYONE’s radar, regardless if the ticker was KODK or QZXG.  And one of the first things that people do when that happens, not even the SEC just avid market watchers/participants, is look to see if there were a bunch of options or stock purchased recently that either may have given a clue, or showed blatant insider info.  I’ve seen it happen with any number of random pharma, tech, or “government contract” type companies.

The arrogance isn’t even the glaring thing here, it’s just the blatant stupidity of it.  People insider trade all the time and get away with it. Front running news is as old as the market itself. It’s unusual activity that gets you busted. Like Phil Mickelson buying millions in Deans Food stock before a big move despite having no activity of that sort leading up to it. Or these guys buying huge volume on a lifeless stock mere hours before.

[reinko]

Where all the pearl clutching for the federal govt giving a private company $765 million to create an 360 jobs.

Only $2 million per job.

[JWags85]

Where all the pearl clutching for the federal govt giving a private company $765 million to create an 360 jobs.

Only $2 million per job.

Small note...Kodak isn’t private, hence all the discussion of its stock movement. And it’s closer to 1500 jobs affected and bolstered, either directly created or ancillary funded

Also, while this is still all very wild, FujiFilm has been in the pharma space for sometime. There is some overlap and shared expertise between the chemistry and the development between developing and manufacturing film, film development materials, etc... and pharma

[rocky_warrior]

Small note...Kodak isn’t private, hence all the discussion of its stock movement.

Small nit, and common interpretation. But, publicly traded companies are still essentially "private enterprise" - the public just has the option to take ownership.  That doesn't mean the public owns it like they do "public works".

[JWags85]

Small nit, and common interpretation. But, publicly traded companies are still essentially "private enterprise" - the public just has the option to take ownership.  That doesn't mean the public owns it like they do "public works".

Sure, but it also means there is transparency and openness of information with a company like Kodak that you wouldn’t have from a non-public company receiving funds for something speculative like this

[Tortuga94]

There's also this...

https://twitter.com/JCOviedo6/status/1288827889870307329

Not sure if this is true or has been vetted, but it seems like the level of corruption with this KODK deal is pretty obscene.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

There's also this...

https://twitter.com/JCOviedo6/status/1288827889870307329

Not sure if this is true or has been vetted, but it seems like the level of corruption with this KODK deal is pretty obscene.

What is the tweet.  It’s deleted.

[jesmu84]

What is the tweet.  It’s deleted.

[jesmu84]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/business/kodak-ceo-stock-options.html

The rich get richer

[Jockey]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kodak-loan-hold-up-trump-administration_n_5f2f7944c5b64d7a55f471a2

Board members bought stock before the announcement Kodak would be using U.S. money to manufacture drugs, including Trump-touted hydroxychloroquine.


A massive $765 million federal government loan to help Eastman Kodak Co. retool to speed production of ingredients for COVID-19 drugs  — including controversial hydroxychloroquine — has been held up over “serious concerns” following allegations of “wrongdoing,” a federal agency announced.

“Recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns,” the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation said in a tweet late Friday of the company that once dominated the camera and film industry. “We will not proceed any further unless these allegations are cleared.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission is already investigating the deal. Kodak’s board also said Friday that it’s launching a review of the loan, Bloomberg reported.


The Wall Street Journal first reported Tuesday that the SEC was investigating Kodak stock purchases by company board members and stock options granted to them before the deal was announced July 28. Company shares jumped more than 2,000% in the days after the deal was reported, according to Bloomberg.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for an SEC investigation into potential insider trading concerning options the day before the deal was announced. In her letter to SEC Chair Jay Clayton, she also asked the commission to examine purchases in June of “substantial amounts of company stock” by Kodak CEO James Continenza and another board member “at a time when Kodak and the Trump administration were negotiating the deal in secret.”

The development bank loan was the first of its kind under the Defense Production Act in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense. When President Donald Trump announced the massive loan, he called the arrangement “one of the most important deals in the history of U.S. pharmaceutical industries.” But after news broke of an SEC review of Kodak stock trading, Trump said of the deal at a news conference: “I wasn’t involved in it.”

The money was intended to transform Kodak into a pharmaceutical operation to produce ingredients for drugs in short supply — including those to treat COVID-19.



According to the Journal, one of those drugs was to be hydroxychloroquine, the controversial anti-malarial drug frequently pitched by Trump. A number of recent studies have shown the drug is ineffective in treating COVID-19 and can cause fatal heart arrhythmia.

Kodak nailed the massive loan after spending a company record $870,000 lobbying lawmakers and officials in the Trump administration, The Daily Beast reported Wednesday

Despite the hype surrounding the Kodak loan, the DFC told Bloomberg that it had only signed a “letter of interest” regarding work with the company. Critics raised concerns about Kodak’s ability to run a massive pharmaceutical operation.

“We are puzzled by the Trump Administration’s decision,” analysts at SVB Leerink wrote in a research note, Bloomberg reported. “In particular, we find it puzzling why generic pharmaceutical companies who have the capabilities and know-how for this have not yet been awarded such contracts.” (I don't know why anyone living in the US for the last 3 years would be puzzled.)

The DFC tweeted after its Kodak message Friday that it was “committed” to working with other government agencies to address pharmaceutical manufacturing shortfalls.

Kodak could not immediately be reached for comment.