Citron's Andrew Left says his firm covered most of its GameStop shorts at a 100% loss - and tells Reddit traders to pay taxes on their recent profits
- Andrew Left said his Citron Capital fund covered most of its GameStop short positions at a 100% loss.
- The short-seller warned Reddit traders to pay taxes on their GameStop profits.
- The video-game retailer's shares soared another 130% in pre-market trading on Wednesday.
Andrew Left of Citron Research said his hedge fund covered a majority of its GameStop short positions at a 100% loss.
Left, one of Wall Street's most outspoken GameStop short-sellers, said he would close out a remaining small position in the company. "Covered the majority of the short in the $90s at a loss of 100%," he said in a YouTube video on Wednesday. "Have a small manageable position, and I'll let it go."
GameStop's stock soared as much as 130% in pre-market trading Wednesday after billionaire Elon Musk's one-worded tweet fueled the day-trading rally even further. Shares were last trading around 51% higher, at $224 per share, before market open.
To explain his position on GameStop, Left used the example of Canadian pharmaceutical Tilray, whose stock went up as much as $200 a few years ago. But its shares ended up settling around $6 shortly after the rally. He expected the same to happen with GameStop.
Left went on to say he has "respect" for the market, the members of the WallStreetBets subreddit, and on other message boards. He defended Citron's role in voicing interests of individual investors against the institution, explaining that it existed even before Reddit, Instagram, Facebook, and meme culture.
"I took the lawsuits, I went to court, I took the questions to lay the foundation. So obviously, I support any opposing opinions," he said in the video. "But what I never did was I never got personal, I never got nasty, and I never threatened a corporate executive, their family, or any shareholders. It was always business."
Last week Left announced Citron would end its bearish commentary on GameStop after his family was harassed by an "angry mob" of investors who owned the stock. Yet in his video, he shared a word of caution for the Reddit traders that turned profits by continuing to defy short-sellers and boosting GameStop's shares higher.
"When you make your profits, make sure you put some away for the IRS," he warned. "That money is not all your money. But, at the end of the year, you do owe tax money."
He also said Citron's respect for the markets suggests the fund will have a good year in 2021, following a "wonderful" 2020.