Blast from the Past (2016): Mike Stathis Exposed Carl Icahn as Lousy Investor and Stock Manipulator

You may have heard recently that Carl Icahn and his company Icahn Enterprises, L.P. (IEP) have been targeted by short sellers at Hindenberg Research after the firm released a scathing report which discussed shady details about the company. 

For the record, we also consider Hindenberg Research to be run by dishonest parasites and stock manipulators who should be investigated by the SEC.

Also, keep in mind that without exposure from the media, Hindenberg be much less able to manipulate stocks. 

Back in 2016, leading investment analyst Mike Stathis referred to Carl Icahn as a "lousy investor" and "stock manipulator."

This characterization of Icahn was based on Mike's understanding of Icahn's prior investment activities, not the least of which include "allegations" of insider trading. 

Despite Icahn's involvement in a long stretch of very questionable (if not illegal) investment activities, he is consistently promoted by the financial media as a "great investor."  

The exposure provided to Icahn by his "friends" in the media has afforded him with the means to pull off the kind of swindle discussed in the Hindenberg report on IEP.

Mike has detailed the inner workings, the players and beneficiaries of this media scam many times in the past in hundreds of videos and articles on this website. 

At the time Mike published his view on Carl Icahn (2016), Icahn's company (IEP) had only been public for a few years, so there was nothing notable about the company for Mike to discuss.

So instead of discussing Icahn's company in the 2016 video (below) Mike focused on Icahn's massive position in Chesapeake Energy (CHK), explaining why the company was a terrible investment facing possible liquidity issues.

In conclusion, Mike highlighted the distressed condition of CHK, implying that it was headed for eventual bankruptcy (Mike presentated a more detailed analysis of CHK in the Boot Camp series, as alluded to in the video). 

CHK eventually filed for bankruptcy less than years later in June 2020. 

The following video presentation on Carl Icahn and CHK was first published in 2016.