Exhibit 3: Deposition of Thomas Elliot Cash (Dkt. 568-3, S.D. Fla.)
Summary
Exhibit 3 (Document 568-3) in Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA, entered on the FLSD docket June 8, 2023, is a 257-page transcript, marked confidential, of the virtual videotaped deposition of Thomas Elliot Cash, taken by Defendant on April 25, 2023 before Sharon Pearce of Veritext Legal Solutions. Laurence M. Rosen, Michael Cohen and Phillip Kim of The Rosen Law Firm appear for Plaintiffs and Scott Cohen and Shuyu Sun of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP for Defendants, with Marc Friedman as videographer. Mr. S. Cohen conducts the examination, and the record closes at 4:58 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Cite this document
“Exhibit 3: Deposition of Thomas Elliot Cash (Dkt. 568-3).”
Original at archive.org. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2023-06-08-covid-era-misc-8f9a1998-1/
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Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 568-3 Entered on FLSD Docket 06/08/2023 Page 1 of
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Exhibit 3
Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 568-3 Entered on FLSD Docket 06/08/2023 Page 2 of
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Page 1
1
2 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
3 Case No. 1:21-MD-2989-CMA
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
4
IN RE JANUARY 2021 SHORT SQUEEZE
5 TRADING LITIGATION
6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
7 April 25, 2023
10:15 a.m.
8
9 ***** CONFIDENTIAL *****
10
11 Virtual Videotaped
12 Deposition of THOMAS ELLIOT CASH,
13 taken by Defendant, pursuant to Notice,
14 held remotely, before Sharon Pearce, RDR,
15 CRR, CRC, NYRCR, a Registered Diplomate
16 Reporter, Certified Realtime Reporter, and
17 Notary Public of the State of New York.
18 * * *
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Veritext Legal Solutions
212-279-9424 www.veritext.com 212-490-3430
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Page 2
1
2 A P P E A R A N C E S:
3
4 THE ROSEN LAW FIRM
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
5 275 Madison Avenue
40th Floor
6 New York, New York 10016
BY: LAURENCE M. ROSEN, ESQ.
7 MICHAEL COHEN, ESQ.
PHILLIP KIM, ESQ.
8
9
10
CRAVATH, SWAINE & MOORE LLP
11 Attorneys for Defendants
825 Eighth Avenue
12 Suite 4043B
New York, New York 10019
13 BY: SCOTT COHEN, ESQ.
SHUYU SUN, ESQ.
14
15
16
17
18
19 ALSO PRESENT:
MARC FRIEDMAN, Videographer
20
21 * * *
22
23
24
25
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2 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Good morning.
3 We are going on the record at
4 10:15 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on
5 Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Please note
6 this deposition is being conducted
7 virtually. Quality of the recording
8 depends on the quality of the camera
9 and internet connection of all
10 participants. What is heard from the
11 witness and seen on screen is what
12 will be recorded. Audio and video
13 recording will continue to take place
14 unless all parties agree to go off the
15 record.
16 This is Media Unit No. One of
17 the video recorded deposition of
18 Thomas Cash in the matter of
19 January 2021 Short Squeeze Trading
20 Litigation. This case is filed in the
21 United States District Court, Southern
22 District of Florida, Case
23 No. 21-2989-MDL.
24 My name is Marc Friedman. I'm
25 your certified video legal specialist.
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2 Your court reporter today is
3 Sharon Pearce, and we are both from
4 the firm of Veritext Legal Solutions.
5 I am not related to any parties in
6 this action, nor am I financially
7 interested in the outcome.
8 If there are any objections to
9 these proceedings, please state them
10 now.
11 Hearing no objection, counsel
12 will be noticed on the stenographic
13 record. And at this time, our court
14 reporter will swear in our witness,
15 and we can proceed.
16 T H O M A S E L L I O T C A S H,
17 having first been duly sworn by
18 Sharon Pearce, the Notary Public,
19 was examined and testified as
20 follows:
21 EXAMINATION
22 BY MR. S. COHEN:
23 Q. Good morning, Mr. Cash. My name
24 is Scott Cohen, and I'm from Cravath,
25 Swaine & Moore. We represent the
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2 defendants in this matter.
3 Could you please state your full
4 name for the record.
5 A. Sure. It's Thomas Elliot Cash.
6 Q. Okay. And you go by Elliot?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And what's your birth date?
9 A. March 3, 1985.
10 Q. And your current address?
11 A. Is
12
13 Q. Have you ever been deposed
14 before?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Okay. Well, in that case, I'll
17 go over some preliminary matters before we
18 get to the meat of it.
19 Do you understand that you've
20 been sworn in and the testimony you will
21 give today is under oath?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Is there any reason you can't
24 give complete and truthful testimony
25 today?
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2 A. No.
3 Q. Do you have any condition that
4 would prevent you from providing true and
5 complete testimony today?
6 A. No.
7 Q. The court reporter is taking
8 down everything we say, so it's important
9 that you provide verbal responses to any
10 questions you're asked.
11 Do you understand?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. So no nodding or shaking your
14 head.
15 A. Got it.
16 Q. And also, during the course of
17 the deposition, your counsel may object to
18 the form of a question. That objection is
19 just for the record, and you should still
20 answer the question. And then unless your
21 counsel instructs you specifically not to
22 answer it on the basis of privilege, you
23 should answer it.
24 Do you understand?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And if you don't understand any
3 question, just let me know, and I'll be
4 sure to rephrase it and try to clarify.
5 Do you understand that?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And if you don't fully hear a
8 question, just ask me to repeat it.
9 A. Okay.
10 Q. And if you would allow me to
11 finish a question before answering, I'll
12 be sure to let you finish answering before
13 I start with my next question. And that's
14 just so that the court reporter can get
15 everything down on the transcript.
16 Does that make sense?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Okay. And if you need to take a
19 break at any time, just let me know, and
20 we'll make that happen. I just ask that
21 you don't take a break while a question is
22 pending.
23 A. Got it.
24 Q. Okay. Where are you now?
25 A. I'm at my office.
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2 Q. Okay. Is anybody in that room
3 with you?
4 A. No.
5 Q. And are you communicating with
6 counsel electronically during this
7 deposition?
8 A. Other than this call that we're
9 all on.
10 Q. Did you take any steps to
11 prepare for this deposition today?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. What did you do?
14 A. I've had a couple of meetings
15 with my attorneys and other plaintiffs.
16 Q. And your attorneys are
17 Mr. Rosen?
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. And anybody else?
20 A. Just other attorneys that are
21 part of his law firm.
22 Q. Mr. Kim?
23 A. I'm sorry?
24 Q. Mr. Kim as well?
25 A. I think Phil has been working
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2 with me, Michael.
3 Q. Okay. And what other plaintiffs
4 did you meet with?
5 A. Well, I don't remember their
6 names, but I know we've hopped on video
7 calls, and they're on the case like I am.
8 Q. And that was in anticipation of
9 this deposition?
10 A. Not specifically. But --
11 Q. Okay. In preparing specifically
12 for this deposition, did you meet with
13 counsel?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. How many times, about?
16 A. Two.
17 Q. When was that?
18 A. Yesterday and Friday.
19 Q. And for how long for each
20 meeting?
21 A. I'd say roughly two hours.
22 Q. For each meeting?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Okay. And was anybody else
25 present in the room besides counsel for
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2 those?
3 A. Not that I'm aware of.
4 Q. Did you speak with anybody else
5 in preparing for this deposition?
6 A. Just my wife.
7 Q. Okay. And that was in between
8 Friday and yesterday?
9 A. In speaking with my wife?
10 Q. About the deposition.
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. Did you review any documents to
13 prepare for the deposition?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Do you have any of those with
16 you?
17 A. I do not.
18 Q. Did any of those documents jog
19 your memory for the events of late
20 2020/early 2021?
21 A. Not that I recall.
22 Q. Did you take any other
23 preparatory steps for this deposition --
24 write any notes down, look into your
25 records?
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2 A. No.
3 Q. All right. And have you
4 discussed this lawsuit with anybody other
5 than your attorneys, your wife, and the
6 other plaintiffs in this case?
7 A. No.
8 Q. Have you ever been a plaintiff
9 in a lawsuit before?
10 A. No.
11 Q. Have you ever been sued before?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Okay. So then I take it you've
14 also never been a class representative
15 before.
16 A. I'm a first-timer.
17 Q. Have you ever participated in
18 any way in a lawsuit?
19 A. No.
20 Q. As a witness?
21 A. This is my biggest forte in any
22 kind of legal anything.
23 Q. Okay. Well, welcome to the
24 craft.
25 A. Thank you.
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2 Q. All right. So are you currently
3 employed?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And is that at the Egg Harbor
6 Cafe?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Let's mark Tab 46.
9 (Exhibit 235, LinkedIn profile
10 page, was hereby marked for
11 identification, as of this date.)
12 Q. We're marking Exhibit 235 in
13 this case. I think that should be
14 available in your folder.
15 A. Okay.
16 Q. All right. And is this your
17 LinkedIn page?
18 A. It may be. I don't recall
19 having a LinkedIn.
20 Q. But you do work for the Egg
21 Harbor Cafe you said.
22 A. Correct.
23 Q. And what do you do?
24 A. I'm the director of customer
25 experience.
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2 Q. Is that a family-owned business?
3 A. It is.
4 Q. Your family?
5 A. My mother- and father-in-law.
6 Q. And what is -- what do you do
7 for that -- in that role?
8 A. I help strategize new service
9 concepts, review feedback from customers,
10 oversee secret shopper programs, analyze
11 operational challenges that could
12 negatively or positively impact the
13 guest's experience -- anything that
14 relates to the customer, which is a lot, I
15 oversee.
16 Q. And are there multiple
17 locations?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. What are they?
20 A. What are the locations?
21 Q. Yes, sir.
22 A. We have 21 locations across
23 Wisconsin, Illinois, and Georgia.
24 Q. Okay. But you primarily work
25 out of Georgia?
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2 A. Well, I -- yeah. I live in
3 Georgia and have an office here, but I
4 oversee the whole company in that regard.
5 Q. Okay. How long have you been in
6 that role?
7 A. This specific role, a couple of
8 years.
9 Q. And what did you do before the
10 Egg Harbor Cafe role?
11 Or let me -- let me back up.
12 Did you have another role at the
13 Egg Harbor Cafe before this role?
14 A. Yes. I've had several roles.
15 Q. Could you just quickly walk me
16 through those.
17 A. Sure. I started as a server,
18 worked my way up to be an assistant store
19 manager, a store manager, a regional
20 manager, and then just various, say,
21 bigger, more all-encompassing roles at the
22 corporate level around the guest
23 experience.
24 Q. When did you start out at egg
25 harbor cafe?
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2 A. 2009.
3 Q. Okay. So did you do anything --
4 any work before 2009?
5 A. Yeah. I mean, I worked at UPS,
6 worked at Best Buy, worked a McDonald's in
7 high school.
8 Q. All right. So let's talk about
9 your education, then.
10 What's the highest level of
11 education that you've received?
12 A. Officially a GED.
13 Q. And unofficially?
14 A. I think I flunked out of a
15 couple of semesters of technical college.
16 Q. Okay. And where was that?
17 A. So I guess officially and
18 unofficially a GED.
19 Q. Where did you go to technical
20 college?
21 A. Greenville Technical College.
22 Q. Is that in North Carolina?
23 A. South Carolina.
24 Q. South Carolina.
25 And how many years were you
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2 there?
3 A. I think I decided to stop
4 wasting money after two semesters.
5 Q. All right. And do you have any
6 other educational credentials or degrees
7 or licenses?
8 A. I guess not that I would say,
9 like, official degrees or licenses.
10 Q. Any sort of unofficial degrees
11 or licenses?
12 A. No. I mean, nothing that's --
13 that would give me a piece of paper or
14 certificate or whatever. I mean, I spend
15 a lot of time reading lots of books and
16 podcasts and just continuing my own
17 personal education, but nothing really
18 like an official you get a piece of paper
19 that says you accomplished this or that.
20 Q. And during the course of your
21 employment and education, did you
22 attain -- did you ever have to know about
23 finance or investing?
24 A. Through my job?
25 Q. Either your job or in your
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2 educational experience.
3 A. I mean, I've chosen to learn
4 about investing on my own.
5 Q. Okay. But in your role at Egg
6 Harbor Cafe, do you do anything with
7 finance or investing?
8 A. Nothing with investing. In
9 finance, just looking at restaurant
10 statements, financial statements, sales
11 like food costs, that kind of stuff.
12 Q. Let's mark Tab 39.
13 (Defendant's Exhibit 2, A letter
14 dated February 27, 2023, was
15 previously marked for identification.)
16 Q. You're going to see in your
17 folder what has previously been marked in
18 this case as Exhibit 2. And when that
19 comes up, could you pull it up, please.
20 A. Okay. I got it.
21 Q. All right. And that's a letter
22 your counsel previously provided in this
23 action on February 27, 2023, that lists
24 social media handles; correct?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. If you go to page 3 --
3 A. Okay.
4 Q. -- you see -- you see at the
5 bottom of page 3, going on to page 4?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And that's you, Thomas Cash?
8 A. That's correct.
9 Q. All right. And these are your
10 social media accounts; correct?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Do you recall ever seeing this
13 document before?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And you provided these account
16 names and handles to your attorneys?
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. Is this all of the social media
19 you have?
20 A. I'm not a big social media
21 person. Yes.
22 Q. Let's take a look at your
23 Facebook. That's That's
24 your username; right?
25 A. I think so.
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2 Q. Okay. And let's mark Tab 42.
3 You're going to get another exhibit soon.
4 I believe Exhibit 236.
5 (Exhibit 236, Facebook profile
6 page, was hereby marked for
7 identification, as of this date.)
8 A. What's it called?
9 Q. Exhibit 236.
10 A. Oh, there it is.
11 Q. You've got it pulled up?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And this is your Facebook
14 account?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. Is this your only Facebook
17 account?
18 A. That I know of.
19 Q. Do you ever use Facebook to
20 research the stock market?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Or investment strategies?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Do you ever post on Facebook
25 about investing?
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2 A. Sometimes.
3 Q. And I see on the left of your
4 Facebook page, there's a link to
5 elliotcash.net?
6 A. Yeah.
7 Q. Is that a website you have?
8 A. I don't think so.
9 Q. Do you ever delete posts or
10 comments off Facebook?
11 A. Not that I remember.
12 Q. So you wouldn't remember ever
13 deleting a post or comment about
14 investing; right?
15 A. Not that comes to mind.
16 Q. And on the right-hand side, this
17 is talking about your From Zero account?
18 A. Yeah.
19 Q. And you say that on
20 April 15th -- is that 2023?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And you say that you've begun to
23 post about different investment issues on
24 From Zero?
25 A. Just on a general educational
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2 basis, but yes.
3 Q. Could you explain more about
4 what you do on From Zero.
5 A. It's just a blog that I started
6 whenever I made that post, just like an
7 introductory to get people curious about
8 different investments.
9 Q. How often do you post on it?
10 A. Well, so far, I think I might
11 have three posts, maybe four, so maybe
12 once a week.
13 Q. Okay. And you started it on
14 April 15th?
15 A. I believe so.
16 Q. So three or four in the last ten
17 days.
18 A. Yeah.
19 Q. And is the information that you
20 post stuff that you've learned from your
21 self-education?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And what are the topics that you
24 post about?
25 A. Bitcoin, stocks, options. I
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2 mean, in terms of, like, play into posts,
3 I can't remember what I actually posted
4 yet, but a lot of it has been about
5 Bitcoin. Maybe there was, like, one
6 introductory into, like, what the stock
7 market is as a generic post.
8 Q. And it's to get people
9 interested in investing?
10 A. Just a way for me to catalog my
11 own kind of thoughts and organize my own
12 thinking and an opportunity to maybe share
13 what I've spent hours learning with
14 somebody else.
15 Q. Are there people who subscribe
16 to your From Zero?
17 A. I mean, it's new. So there's
18 not a lot.
19 Q. Is it like a friends-based model
20 like Facebook?
21 A. I think anyone could potentially
22 find it and subscribe to it.
23 Q. How long have you been
24 interested in investing?
25 A. Probably since I was 18 or 19.
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2 Q. And what did you start with when
3 you were 18 or 19 in terms of investing?
4 A. Just basic buy and hold stocks.
5 Q. And you also have a Twitter
6 account; right?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And are you more active on
9 Twitter than you are on Facebook?
10 A. Maybe a little bit.
11 Q. Your handle is
12 A. Correct.
13 Q. Is that the only Twitter account
14 that you use?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. Let's mark Tab 43.
17 (Exhibit 237, Twitter profile
18 page, was hereby marked for
19 identification, as of this date.)
20 Q. Mr. Cash, that -- I think in
21 your folder, you'll see Exhibit 237 coming
22 up.
23 A. I see it.
24 Q. All right. And is this your
25 Twitter page?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And your handle is here;
4 correct?
5 A. Correct.
6 Q. And your screen name or username
7 is ?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. What does "BTC" mean?
10 A. That's the short abbreviation
11 for Bitcoin.
12 Q. And then you mentioned before
13 that you were interested in Bitcoin;
14 right?
15 A. That's one of my favorite
16 things.
17 Q. Why?
18 A. I just think it's over the long
19 term the best investment someone can make.
20 Q. Because of it's decentralized
21 nature?
22 A. Decentralized, fixed supply cap
23 at 21 million Bitcoins, immutable
24 protocol. Like, it's -- yeah.
25 Q. In your view, how does investing
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2 in Bitcoin differ from investing in the
3 stock market?
4 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Vague.
5 Calls for expert testimony. But you
6 can answer it.
7 A. Well, I think that investing in
8 Bitcoin is different because it's a form
9 of currency or money, and stocks are
10 securities of companies.
11 Q. Do you think about investing in
12 Bitcoin differently in terms of your
13 strategy?
14 A. Yeah.
15 Q. How so?
16 A. I will never sell Bitcoin.
17 Q. And that's the only difference?
18 A. I mean, that's the primary
19 difference. I -- let's say when it comes
20 to stocks or real estate, I would be open
21 to selling any of those if the conditions
22 were right. But I cannot see a situation
23 where I would voluntarily sell Bitcoin.
24 Q. How long have you been investing
25 in Bitcoin?
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2 A. Since 2020.
3 Q. In your self-introduction on
4 your Twitter page, there's a long hashtag
5 under "Nostr."
6 Do you see that?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Is that a website?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Does that link to anything in
11 particular?
12 A. It's -- it's part of Nostr.
13 It's just a decentralized platform. I
14 mean, I don't know if you would consider
15 it a social media or not. But it's a
16 decentralized platform for people to talk
17 or communicate or make posts. You can
18 kind of think of it like Twitter, but it's
19 not, like, owned or controlled by anyone,
20 so to speak.
21 Q. Okay. And you use that to
22 discuss investing?
23 A. No.
24 Q. What do you use it for?
25 A. I'm mostly just talking about
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2 Bitcoin on it, which I guess you could
3 consider investing, but outside of
4 Bitcoin, that's really all people talk
5 about on Nostr.
6 Q. How long have you had that
7 account?
8 A. Maybe since January or February,
9 somewhere roughly around there.
10 Q. Okay. And beneath that, you see
11 it says ?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And that's the From Zero page or
14 account that you were talking about
15 before?
16 A. Yeah. That's just a blog.
17 Q. All right. Have you ever
18 Tweeted from this account?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. How often do you Tweet from it?
21 A. I don't know. Maybe once or
22 twice a day. It kind of just depends. I
23 can go a few days without Tweeting
24 anything. I might Tweet three or four
25 things in a day.
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2 Q. Do you ever use Twitter to
3 research the stock market?
4 A. No.
5 Q. Do you ever use it to discuss
6 investment strategies?
7 A. Not outside of Bitcoin.
8 Q. Do you ever use it to discuss
9 the news in the business world?
10 A. I follow people that report on
11 the news.
12 Q. Do you follow them to gain
13 information about the news?
14 A. I follow them to get their
15 opinions on certain things.
16 Q. Such as investment topics?
17 A. I'd say mostly macroeconomic
18 things, CPI, inflation, et cetera.
19 Q. Have you ever used it to look
20 into investment strategies?
21 A. Not that I recall.
22 Q. Or to research companies for
23 investing?
24 A. No. I don't think so.
25 Q. Okay. Do you ever delete posts
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2 off of Twitter?
3 A. Not that I remember.
4 Q. Or re-Tweets or any comments?
5 A. Not that I remember.
6 Q. And you also have a Reddit
7 account; correct?
8 A. Correct.
9 Q. And what's your handle at
10 Reddit?
11 A. .
12 MR. S. COHEN: Could we put up
13 Tab 41.
14 (Exhibit 238, A Reddit thread,
15 was hereby marked for identification,
16 as of this date.)
17 Q. I'm marking right now which
18 should be Exhibit 238.
19 A. I got it.
20 Q. Okay. And this shows your
21 Reddit account?
22 A. Looks like it, yes.
23 Q. All right. And you said your
24 handle is right?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And this is your only Twitter --
3 your only Reddit? I'm sorry.
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. You've had this account since
6 January 4, 2019?
7 A. Sounds about right.
8 Q. You see on the right-hand
9 side -- I'm sorry. Go ahead.
10 A. No. I was just saying that that
11 sounds about right. It looks like it on
12 the profile is what it says.
13 Q. Where it says "Cake day"?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Do you ever use Reddit to
16 research the stock market?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Do you ever use Reddit to
19 discuss investment strategies?
20 A. Reddit is mostly used just to
21 have fun and just blow off steam.
22 Q. Did you ever use Reddit to
23 discuss investment strategies?
24 A. Sometimes.
25 Q. Like when?
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2 A. I don't recall specifically
3 when.
4 Q. Do you ever use Reddit to
5 research possible companies to invest in?
6 A. No.
7 Q. Never?
8 A. Not that I recall.
9 Q. Have you ever posted anything on
10 Reddit related to your investment
11 strategies?
12 A. Not that I recall.
13 Q. How far back do you recall your
14 activity on Reddit?
15 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
16 Ambiguous question.
17 Q. You can answer.
18 A. The last few months maybe. I
19 mean --
20 Q. Do you have a memory issue?
21 A. No.
22 MR. ROSEN: Objection. That's
23 what I would consider harassing. So
24 Mr. Cohen, please don't harass the
25 witness.
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2 Q. All right. At the beginning of
3 this deposition, I asked if you had any
4 conditions that would prevent you from
5 testifying completely; correct?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And are you -- do you have any
8 issues with your memory or cognitive
9 functions that would prevent you from
10 testifying completely to your recollection
11 of the past?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Have you ever viewed discussions
14 on Wallstreetbets?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And what is that?
17 A. It's a sub-Reddit.
18 Q. What's a sub-Reddit?
19 A. It's a community within Reddit.
20 Q. Are you a member of
21 Wallstreetbets sub-Reddit?
22 A. I might be.
23 Q. I mean, when did you first learn
24 about Wallstreetbets?
25 A. I don't recall exactly.
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2 Q. Do you know if you've been a
3 member for several years?
4 A. That would sound about right.
5 (Exhibit 239, A Reddit post
6 titled "How to Consistently Outperform
7 the S&P 500 using Theta Gang Strategy.
8 A Comprehensive Guide to Wheeling
9 ETFs," was hereby marked for
10 identification, as of this date.)
11 Q. Mr. Cash, you're going to see in
12 your folder soon -- I believe it will be
13 Exhibit 239.
14 A. I got it.
15 Q. And what is this?
16 A. It looks like some kind of post.
17 Q. A post on Reddit; correct?
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. And it's specifically in the
20 Wallstreetbets sub-Reddit?
21 A. Looks like it.
22 Q. And this is a long post on the
23 sub-Reddit; correct?
24 A. Depends on I guess how you
25 define long, but yeah. It's a solidly
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2 written-out post.
3 Q. And it's discussing someone's
4 investment strategies?
5 A. Looks like it.
6 Q. Is this a common type of post on
7 the Wallstreetbets sub-Reddit, as far as
8 you know?
9 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Vague.
10 Q. You can answer.
11 A. I would say not uncommon. I
12 don't know what your definition of common
13 is.
14 Q. You've seen posts like this
15 before?
16 A. Sure.
17 Q. Do you read them?
18 A. Sometimes.
19 Q. And if you look at page 9, I
20 believe, page 5 maybe.
21 MR. ROSEN: I only have six
22 pages.
23 MR. S. COHEN: Page 5.
24 MR. ROSEN: So -- and what's on
25 it? Some pages don't paginate. Is it
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2 the one that says
3
4 MR. S. COHEN: That's it.
5 MR. ROSEN: Okay.
6 A. Okay. Got it.
7 Q. I'm sorry about the pagination.
8 On your version, what page is
9 this?
10 A. I see it on page 4.
11 Q. Okay.
12 A. 4 of 6.
13 Q. So do you see a comment that you
14 made to this post?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And what's the timestamp of that
17 comment?
18 A. It says Tuesday,
19 October 27, 2020, at 6:10 p.m.
20 Q. So you've been active on
21 Wallstreetbets since at least
22 October 27, 2020; right?
23 A. I -- yeah.
24 Q. And what made you join
25 Wallstreetbets?
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2 A. I thought it was entertaining.
3 Q. And did you follow it closely in
4 late 2020?
5 A. Depends on what you define as
6 closely, but I might have looked at it
7 maybe once a day or so.
8 Q. Did you comment once a day or so
9 in late 2020 on the Wallstreetbets
10 sub-Reddit?
11 A. I don't recall exactly.
12 Q. Would it surprise you to learn
13 that you commented about -- frequently on
14 Wallstreetbets?
15 A. No, depending on the timeframe.
16 Q. Okay. And has your involvement
17 or engagement on the Wallstreetbets
18 sub-Reddit changed over time?
19 A. Yes. I haven't spent much time
20 on it recently, it or Reddit at all.
21 Q. Okay. If you could go back to
22 your profile page on Reddit. I think it's
23 Exhibit 238.
24 A. Okay.
25 Q. Do you see on the far right a
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2 box with the title "Trophy Case"?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And the second item down says
5 "Powerups Hero."
6 Do you see that?
7 A. Yes.
8 MR. ROSEN: Which exhibit are
9 you in, Scott?
10 MR. S. COHEN: 238.
11 Are you there, Larry?
12 MR. ROSEN: Yeah. Yeah. I got
13 it. Thank you.
14 Q. So you see in the trophy case,
15 the row that says "Powerups Hero"?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And in that area, in the
18 "Powerups Hero" section, it lists
19 Wallstreetbets.
20 Do you see that?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And there's also a date next to
23 Wallstreetbets that says February 2021?
24 A. Correct.
25 Q. What is Powerups Hero?
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2 A. I honestly don't know.
3 Q. And you don't know what it means
4 that in your account, it shows
5 Wallstreetbets in the trophy case?
6 A. Correct.
7 Q. Do you recall that having
8 something in the trophy case in Powerups
9 Hero means that you've paid for content?
10 A. I don't know if that's what that
11 means, but I know I did at one point
12 subscribe to Reddit so that there was no
13 ads as you're scrolling through posts.
14 Q. So you got -- would you call
15 that a premium version of Reddit?
16 A. I think that's what they called
17 it.
18 Q. And you got that in early 2021?
19 A. That sounds about right.
20 Q. Okay. Do you ever delete posts
21 off of Reddit?
22 A. Not that I recall.
23 Q. Or comments?
24 A. Not that I remember.
25 Q. Do you use any other social
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2 media platforms?
3 A. No.
4 Q. You don't have an Instagram
5 account?
6 A. I do not have an Instagram.
7 Q. What about a YouTube account?
8 A. I have a Gmail, so that comes
9 with YouTube.
10 Q. Do you use YouTube at all?
11 A. Not really.
12 Q. To look at investment videos
13 ever?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Had you ever done that before?
16 A. Not that I remember.
17 Q. Do you have a TikTok?
18 A. No.
19 Q. Discord?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Twitch?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Stocktwits account?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Any other accounts or social
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2 media platforms that you've engaged in
3 over the last three years?
4 A. Not that I recall. I really try
5 to cut down on that social media.
6 Q. So you invest in the stock
7 market; correct?
8 A. Correct.
9 Q. And you started investing when
10 you were you say 18 or 19?
11 A. Roughly thereabout.
12 Q. And why did you start investing?
13 A. My dad just always kind of
14 imparted on me to save money and try to
15 grow it for the future.
16 Q. Did he tell you that investing
17 in the stock market was the way to do
18 that?
19 A. He told me it was a way to do
20 that.
21 Q. And how did you start investing
22 in the stock market?
23 A. What do you mean?
24 Q. Did you have a third-party
25 broker when you first started?
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2 A. Oh, yes.
3 Q. And who was that?
4 A. I don't remember.
5 Q. Is it somebody you met on your
6 own or through your parents?
7 A. Probably through my parents.
8 Q. And do you remember what company
9 they were with?
10 A. No.
11 Q. Okay. At what point did you
12 look into brokerages for which you could
13 invest yourself?
14 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Vague.
15 Q. Do you understand the question?
16 A. I mean, I've looked in
17 companies a variety of times throughout my
18 life.
19 Q. Did you -- when did you open up
20 your Merrill account?
21 A. I don't remember exactly. If I
22 had to guess, I'd say 2019, maybe 2020.
23 Q. Okay. Is that the first
24 electronically based brokerage account
25 that you opened up?
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2 A. I don't remember.
3 Q. Do you recall -- you don't
4 recall anything before that, though?
5 A. Not that I could say with
6 confidence was before or after or during a
7 certain timeframe.
8 Q. Okay. So 2019 or 2020 is when
9 you opened up your Merrill account;
10 correct?
11 A. I believe so, but --
12 Q. And you trade both stocks and
13 options?
14 A. Correct.
15 Q. Do you prefer stocks or options?
16 A. I don't have a preference.
17 Q. And when you invest in options,
18 would you say that you invest more in puts
19 or calls?
20 A. I'd say it's pretty split.
21 Q. Okay. And you traded on your
22 Merrill account between December 2020 and
23 January 2021; correct?
24 A. That sounds correct.
25 Q. Are you still a Merrill
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2 customer?
3 A. I am not.
4 Q. Why did you -- why did you stop?
5 A. I liked TD Ameritrade's platform
6 better.
7 Q. Why did you start using Merrill?
8 A. I traditionally banked with Bank
9 of America.
10 Q. And that's affiliated with Bank
11 of America?
12 A. Correct.
13 Q. How frequently did you use your
14 Merrill account when you still had it?
15 A. Weekly.
16 Q. Okay. And that -- when did you
17 stop using it?
18 A. I don't recall exactly.
19 Q. Do you recall how frequently you
20 used it in late 2020, early 2021?
21 A. I would say potentially daily.
22 Q. And that changed over time
23 afterwards?
24 A. Yes. I am less active now than
25 I was then.
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2 Q. Okay. Did you use Merrill for
3 other services other than as a brokerage
4 account?
5 A. No.
6 Q. You also -- did you say TD
7 Ameritrade before?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. So you trade on TD Ameritrade?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And when did you open up that
12 account?
13 A. I don't recall exactly, but I
14 would say sometime in 2020.
15 Q. Do you think November or
16 December of 2020 sounds right?
17 A. Potentially.
18 Q. And you traded stocks on TD
19 Ameritrade in December 2020 and
20 January 2021; correct?
21 A. Correct.
22 Q. And before, you said you prefer
23 TD Ameritrade, so I take it you're still a
24 customer?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And why did you start using TD?
3 A. They have a great platform
4 called "Think or Swim." It's a desktop
5 application.
6 Q. What does that mean?
7 A. It's just a -- it's a platform
8 that shows you charts, trade options,
9 stocks, et cetera.
10 Q. So you use that in order to
11 research the stock market?
12 A. Yeah.
13 Q. And to look into investments to
14 possibly invest in?
15 A. Correct.
16 Q. Okay. How frequently do you use
17 your TD account?
18 A. Today?
19 Q. Yeah.
20 A. Very infrequently.
21 Q. And how often did you use it in
22 December 2020 and January 2021?
23 A. Potentially daily, weekly.
24 Q. Did you trade every time you
25 were on your TD Ameritrade account?
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2 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
3 A. No.
4 Q. You can answer.
5 A. I'd say most likely not.
6 Q. And you also have an E-Trade
7 account?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. When did you open that account?
10 A. I don't remember exactly.
11 Potentially early 2021.
12 Q. Okay. So you traded stocks in
13 early 2021 on your E-Trade account too?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And that was when you first
16 opened it up.
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Do you currently trade on it?
19 A. No.
20 Q. Why not?
21 A. Why don't I trade on E-Trade?
22 Q. Yes.
23 A. I think TD Ameritrade has a
24 better platform.
25 Q. When you're using E-Trade, how
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2 often were you using it?
3 A. Maybe once a week.
4 Q. And were you using it once a
5 week in January 2021?
6 A. Probably.
7 Q. So it sounds like you opened up
8 all three of the brokerage accounts we
9 just discussed either in late
10 December 2020 or early January 2021; is
11 that correct?
12 A. I don't know. I think I said
13 that Merrill was early 2020 or late 2019.
14 Q. Okay. Why did you open up these
15 three accounts around 2019, 2020, 2021?
16 A. I was just learning a lot about
17 trading options, and I just wanted to see
18 what their different platforms offered in
19 terms of charts and services and features
20 and just user interface.
21 Q. And late 2020 and early 2021 is
22 also when you were active on Reddit;
23 correct?
24 A. Roughly.
25 Q. And that's when you were active
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2 on the Wallstreetbets sub-Reddit?
3 A. I was on Wallstreetbets around
4 that time.
5 Q. Have you ever used any other
6 brokerage accounts to invest besides the
7 three we just talked about and the one you
8 opened up when you were a late teenager or
9 early 20s?
10 A. I also tried out one called
11 Tastyworks.
12 Q. What's that?
13 A. It's called Tastyworks.
14 Q. Okay. And you don't still use
15 that?
16 A. Correct.
17 Q. Why not?
18 A. I, again, just wanted to try it
19 for the user interface and decided TD
20 Ameritrade was still my favorite.
21 Q. Have you ever considered using
22 other brokerages?
23 A. I mean, I've considered several
24 brokerages, I guess.
25 Q. Was there a time when you were
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2 active on multiple brokerage accounts at
3 the same time?
4 A. Yeah.
5 Q. And under what circumstances
6 would you trade on one but not the other
7 during those times?
8 A. I don't know.
9 Q. Would you say that in late 2020,
10 early 2021, you traded most frequently on
11 Merrill?
12 A. Probably.
13 Q. Do you invest on behalf of
14 anybody else?
15 A. No.
16 Q. On your wife's behalf?
17 A. Not directly.
18 Q. Indirectly?
19 A. Well, I mean, it's -- we're
20 married, so, I mean, we have joint
21 checking accounts and things. I don't
22 invest in her IRA, for example.
23 Q. Okay. Does anybody invest on
24 your behalf?
25 A. No.
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2 Q. You don't have an investment
3 manager that handles your money?
4 A. Correct.
5 Q. Have you ever had an investment
6 manager?
7 A. Not as an adult.
8 Q. Have you ever had any other type
9 of financial advisor?
10 A. No.
11 Q. About how much time do you
12 currently devote to investing?
13 A. I guess that depends on what do
14 you mean by devote to investing?
15 Q. About how much time do you spend
16 researching companies to invest in their
17 stocks?
18 A. You're talking specifically
19 the -- yeah -- stocks or the stock market,
20 I spend very little time these days being
21 active in the stock market.
22 Q. And in December 2020 and
23 January 2021, would you say that you were
24 frequently engaged in investing in the
25 stock market?
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2 A. Yeah.
3 MR. S. COHEN: I think it has
4 been about an hour, Larry, if you want
5 to take a break.
6 MR. ROSEN: All right. Sure.
7 Take a break. Thank you.
8 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Stand by,
9 please. The time is 11:09. We are
10 going off the record. This will end
11 Media Unit No. 1.
12 (Recess)
13 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
14 11:23 a.m. We are back on the record.
15 This will be the start of Media Unit
16 No. 2. Counsel.
17 BY MR. S. COHEN:
18 Q. Mr. Cash, before we took our
19 break, we were discussing your investment
20 history; right?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Let's talk about your investment
23 strategy.
24 How would you describe your
25 investment strategy?
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2 A. Currently?
3 Q. Sure.
4 A. I hold as much Bitcoin as I
5 possibly can.
6 Q. And how would you describe your
7 investment strategy in late 2020 and early
8 2021?
9 A. At that time, I liked to buy
10 stocks and trade options.
11 Q. And how did you prioritize the
12 stocks that you would purchase and the
13 options that you would purchase?
14 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Vague.
15 A. I mean, it varied --
16 opportunity, time horizon. At that time,
17 there was just lots of different
18 opportunities in the market, so it was
19 just really about figuring out what was
20 going to be the best course over the time
21 horizon I was looking to invest.
22 Q. You said your time horizon now
23 is pretty long term; right?
24 A. For this particular asset class.
25 Q. For Bitcoin?
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2 A. Correct.
3 Q. What was your time horizon in
4 investing in stocks in late 2020 and early
5 2021?
6 A. I mean, it varied. But I'd say
7 for the most part, when I bought a stock,
8 the idea was to hold it for the long term,
9 meaning at least one year.
10 Q. Was your main objective always
11 for profit?
12 A. I would not recommend anyone
13 invest to not make profit.
14 Q. Did you ever invest for reasons
15 other than to make profit?
16 A. I think making a return on your
17 investment is the only goal that I can
18 think of.
19 Q. Did you ever invest in stocks
20 for any political goal?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Do you ever invest in stocks for
23 any idealogical goal?
24 A. No.
25 Q. When you decide to purchase a
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2 particular stock, can you walk me through
3 how you make that decision.
4 A. Sure. It depends, again, on the
5 goal; right? But there's a great little
6 book I read called "The Little Book That
7 Still Beats the Market." They have a nice
8 layout of fundamentals to evaluate for
9 long-term stocks. I like to use that as a
10 nice guide for long-term buy and holds.
11 Shorter term stuff, it just kind
12 of depends on the thesis for a given
13 company and what direction I think it's
14 going to go and, you know, potentially
15 when I think it's going to go there. It's
16 all speculation, but that can vary from
17 company to company.
18 Q. Do you research the companies
19 online?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Do you read their SEC filings?
22 A. Sometimes.
23 Q. Do you read their earnings
24 announcements?
25 A. Sometimes.
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2 Q. For which companies would you do
3 that?
4 A. I'd say most companies that I
5 would end up buying in a long-term
6 position I would do that for.
7 Q. And how would you define
8 long-term position?
9 A. At least a year.
10 Q. And how frequently would you --
11 how frequently in late 2020 and early 2021
12 would you purchase a stock not for
13 long-term holding?
14 A. I don't -- I don't recall how
15 frequently I would do that.
16 Q. Did you ever do that?
17 A. Yeah.
18 Q. Like, for what?
19 A. You mean like a specific
20 example?
21 Q. Yeah, sure.
22 A. I mean, are you talking just
23 stocks or are you talking options?
24 Q. Let's start with stocks.
25 A. I can't think of the specific
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2 ticker that it used to be, but Lucid, a
3 car company at one time, was a SPAC that I
4 thought was going to do pretty well in the
5 short term, so I bought some of their
6 shares while they were, you know, working
7 towards coming -- going public as Lucid.
8 Q. When you are investing in a
9 stock, do you generally do it after
10 reading a recent press release from the
11 company or news of the company's earnings?
12 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Vague.
13 A. Sometimes.
14 Q. You said sometimes?
15 A. I mean, that would be not an
16 uncommon thing to do.
17 Q. Is that usually the trigger for
18 your investment?
19 A. I would say I couldn't classify
20 anything as being a, quote, usual trigger
21 or not.
22 Q. When do you decide to sell your
23 stocks?
24 A. That -- that can vary greatly.
25 I might have a stop loss put in. I might
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2 have a trailing stop put in. I might just
3 have a target in mind of I think it's
4 going from here to here by here, and, I
5 mean, there's always kinds of variables
6 that could play into that.
7 Q. Do you keep up to date on news
8 of the stock market?
9 A. Currently?
10 Q. Yes.
11 A. I'd say it's not really. It's
12 more of a distant.
13 Q. And did you keep up to date on
14 stock market news in December 2020 and
15 January 2021?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. How frequently?
18 A. I'd say several times a week, if
19 not daily.
20 Q. How would you check up on the
21 status of the stock market in that time
22 period?
23 A. I would use news apps, Yahoo
24 Finance, just general -- CNBC, business,
25 just --
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2 Q. Are there any other particular
3 news segments that you would tune into
4 more often?
5 A. Not really. Just depends on my
6 schedule and when I'm watching TV.
7 Q. What segments on CNBC would you
8 look at?
9 A. Well, I remember they had a show
10 that I had, like, a DVR set for called --
11 I can't remember exactly what it was
12 called -- options something. It was,
13 like, a 30-minute segment.
14 Q. Do you -- did you subscribe to
15 any newsletters on investments or stock
16 market?
17 A. Not that I remember.
18 Q. All right. Did you listen to
19 any podcasts at that time about
20 investments or the stock market?
21 A. I listened to podcasts on the
22 stock market. Yes.
23 Q. Which ones?
24 A. One is called The Investor's
25 Network - We Study Billionaires, and Andy
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2 Tanner has a podcast. I can't remember
3 the exact name of it anymore. But those
4 are the two that come to mind.
5 Q. And at that time, December 2020,
6 January 2021, do you recall following
7 stock market news on any social media
8 sites?
9 A. Not that I can recall following
10 specific people for news, if that's what
11 you're asking.
12 Q. Do you remember in that time
13 period looking at social media sites in
14 order to learn about what was happening in
15 the stock market?
16 A. No. I wouldn't categorize it
17 as, like, a source of learning. But there
18 were certainly things on Reddit that were
19 interesting to get people's opinions.
20 Q. Opinions on what?
21 A. Just various things going on in
22 the market.
23 Q. And what they were investing in?
24 A. I couldn't tell you what
25 somebody else was investing in, put people
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2 could make a post about an opinion about
3 something.
4 Q. And during that time, you also
5 posted your opinions on your investment
6 strategies and the stock market on Reddit?
7 A. I can't remember any specific
8 examples, but probably.
9 Q. Did your investment strategy at
10 all change around December 2020 and
11 January 2021?
12 A. Not that I remember.
13 Q. Are you familiar with a company
14 called GameStop?
15 A. Yes, I am.
16 Q. If I say GME at some point
17 during this deposition, will you know I'm
18 talking about the GameStop stock?
19 A. I know the company and their
20 ticker symbol. So yes. You're good.
21 Q. What kind of company is
22 GameStop?
23 A. It's a retail video game store.
24 Q. And do you like GameStop as a
25 company?
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2 A. As a customer?
3 Q. Yes.
4 A. I guess I'm indifferent. I
5 haven't been to a GameStop since I was a
6 kid, probably.
7 Q. Are you a gamer?
8 A. My wife would prefer I game
9 less, but I can game every now and then.
10 Q. And did you ever look into
11 GameStop as a potential investment?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. What did you do to look into it?
14 A. I ran a stock filter that
15 flagged GameStop as an interesting
16 company. I looked at news articles. I
17 looked at some historical performances.
18 Q. And that was in December 2020?
19 A. Roughly. I'd say the fourth
20 quarter of 2020. I can't remember exactly
21 when. But --
22 Q. Did you at that time learn
23 anything about the finances or profits of
24 GameStop?
25 A. Not that I recall specifically.
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2 Q. Do you recall looking at their
3 earnings announcements?
4 A. I don't recall specifically.
5 Q. Do you recall looking at press
6 releases that GameStop put out?
7 A. Not that I can specifically say
8 were GameStop's press releases.
9 Q. Or any press covering GameStop
10 at that time?
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. Just general stock market news?
13 A. General stock market news and
14 just news that was specific to GameStop.
15 Q. Did you ever look into
16 GameStop's financials in or around that
17 time?
18 A. Not specifically that I recall.
19 Q. In January 2021, do you recall
20 any specific announcements that GameStop
21 put out?
22 A. I believe, from what I recall,
23 they put out an announcement that Ryan
24 Cohen joined their board of directors.
25 Q. And that was January of 2021;
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2 right?
3 A. I believe so.
4 Q. Do you remember what the date
5 was?
6 A. No.
7 Q. Okay. Is that the only news you
8 heard about GameStop around that time?
9 A. No. I mean, I know that they
10 were planning for new console releases.
11 The PlayStation 5 and the new Xbox was
12 coming out in November of 2020, which,
13 historically for them, it only happens
14 every five to eight years roughly that
15 they come out with new consoles, and
16 historically, that's -- that plus the
17 holidays is a great boost to their sales.
18 Q. When you say it's their
19 consoles, you mean they sell them, but
20 they're not the producers; right?
21 A. Correct. They're selling Sony
22 and Microsoft's gaming systems.
23 MR. S. COHEN: Let's mark
24 Tab 13.
25
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2 (Exhibit 240, Dow Jones
3 Newswires page, was hereby marked for
4 identification, as of this date.)
5 Q. You'll see in your Exhibit Share
6 file a new exhibit. I think it will be
7 240.
8 A. Got it.
9 Q. Okay. And this is a Dow Jones
10 Newswires article?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And it was published on
13 January 26, 2021?
14 A. Correct.
15 Q. All right. When you were
16 looking into GameStop as a company around
17 this time, did you read this article?
18 A. Not that I recall.
19 Q. If you'll go to -- it should be
20 the next page on that -- on your version.
21 But it will be a paragraph that starts
22 "GameStop has not."
23 A. Okay.
24 Q. Do you see --
25 A. "GameStop has not."
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2 Q. And it says, "GameStop has not
3 released any news to coincide with the
4 spike, and has not responded to a request
5 from MarketWatch to comment."
6 Do you see that?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Do you know what spike this
9 article is talking about?
10 A. I would speculate and say
11 potentially the -- from what I know, the
12 price action.
13 Q. Which is to say the increase in
14 GameStop stock price in January 2021?
15 A. That's what I -- that's what I
16 would speculate.
17 Q. And where it says GameStop has
18 not released any news to coincide with
19 that spike, does that comport with your
20 memory of GameStop news around that time?
21 A. I mean, I can't remember if
22 GameStop had self-announced things or if
23 things were just being reported in the
24 news, but from what I remember, there was
25 news -- positive news about Ryan Cohen's
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2 involvement with GameStop as a shareholder
3 and then a member of the board.
4 Q. And do you recall that Ryan
5 Cohen took the board seat
6 January 11, 2021?
7 A. I don't recall the specific
8 date, but that sounds right.
9 Q. If you'll go to the last
10 paragraph, do you see in that body of text
11 where it says, "Over the past two
12 quarters, losses for the company have
13 widened significantly"?
14 A. I don't -- oh, yes, I see that.
15 Q. Okay. And does that comport
16 with the research you did on GameStop in
17 January 2021?
18 A. I don't really specifically
19 remember the level of losses or looks into
20 their financials over specific two
21 quarters.
22 Q. If you were looking to invest in
23 a stock in January 2021, would you have
24 looked at the losses on a quarterly basis?
25 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Calls
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2 for speculation.
3 Q. You can answer what you
4 remembered looking at.
5 A. Potentially.
6 Q. If you go up a little bit to the
7 paragraph beginning "GameStop has been a
8 darling."
9 A. I see it.
10 Q. So it says, "GameStop has been a
11 darling of Reddit message board
12 Wallstreetbets, where hundreds of posters
13 have been pushing for purchases of the
14 stock after investors betting against the
15 chain put short interests to more than
16 100 percent."
17 Do you see that?
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. Did I read that correctly?
20 A. Yeah.
21 Q. And this was the time you were
22 on the Wallstreetbets sub-Reddit?
23 A. Probably, yes.
24 Q. And do you recall seeing such
25 posts of people pushing for purchasing of
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2 the GameStop stock?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Did you ever post about the
5 purchasing of GameStop stock on
6 Wallstreetbets?
7 A. I don't have any specific
8 examples that come to mind, but probably.
9 Q. And do you recall how frequently
10 you would have posted about GameStop stock
11 on --
12 MR. ROSEN: Would have?
13 Q. -- that sub-Reddit?
14 MR. ROSEN: You're asking how
15 frequently he would have or how
16 frequently he did?
17 Q. Do you recall how frequently you
18 posted on Wallstreetbets about purchasing
19 GameStop stock in January 2021?
20 A. No. I mean, that would probably
21 just depend on the day and how busy it
22 was.
23 Q. Okay. Do you know about the
24 GameStop short squeeze, sitting here
25 today?
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2 A. The short squeeze? I know that
3 there's potential alleged short squeeze,
4 but that's all speculation, I would say.
5 Q. But you know what I'm talking
6 about when I refer to that; correct?
7 A. Sure.
8 Q. Had you heard about that in
9 January 2021?
10 A. I don't recall any specific
11 examples, but I'd say probably.
12 Q. You remember that it was a topic
13 of conversation in 2021, January 2021;
14 correct?
15 A. It was a topic of speculation
16 for sure.
17 Q. And do you recall discussing the
18 GameStop short squeeze in January 2021?
19 A. Not specifically, in terms of
20 making specific posts or comments.
21 Q. But you recall in general that
22 you had discussions about -- that you had
23 discussions about the GameStop short
24 squeeze in January 2021.
25 A. Sure.
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2 Q. Did you par want to participate
3 in the GameStop short squeeze?
4 A. I don't think a short squeeze is
5 something that you can knowingly
6 necessarily participate in, in terms of a
7 thesis to invest in.
8 Q. Why not?
9 A. Just too many factors in my
10 opinion on what could happen.
11 Q. Such as?
12 A. Well, I mean, depends on the --
13 you know, a short squeeze is just a
14 fundamental dictating of a price of a
15 stock based on supply and demand. So
16 shorts have to buy stock to close their
17 position, and you have no idea when that
18 would happen at a rate that would cause
19 any kind of significant price spike.
20 Q. So one of the requirements of
21 participating in a short squeeze is
22 knowing that another company is attempting
23 to short the stock of a company; correct?
24 A. Well, I don't know if it's a
25 company shorting another company's stock
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2 or if it's individuals, but there's always
3 two sides to a trade, and if someone is
4 shorting a stock, they're betting it's
5 going to go down. If they're wrong, then
6 they have to buy at a loss to close their
7 position.
8 Q. All right. So going back to
9 what you were saying before. One of the
10 factors in there being a short squeeze is
11 there has to be knowledge that somebody or
12 some company is shorting a stock; correct?
13 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
14 Mischaracterizes his prior testimony.
15 Why don't you re-ask the question?
16 You'll see that it's -- you'll
17 understand why it's not a precise
18 question. Go ahead. Re-ask it.
19 Q. What are -- what are the other
20 aspects of the short squeeze besides one
21 individual or company having a short
22 position in a stock?
23 A. The other aspects of a short
24 squeeze is just simply that people have to
25 close their position to make a profit or
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2 cover a loss. And they have to do that
3 from the available shares that are for
4 sale.
5 Q. And how is someone squeezed?
6 A. Well, I guess that would depend
7 on the person that's short and whether
8 they were -- and I can't speak to anyone
9 else's practices, but if you didn't have a
10 hedge or a stop loss, then you having to
11 buy shares at a higher price than you
12 shorted means that you're getting squeezed
13 out of your position, because the higher
14 the price goes up beyond what you shorted
15 it at, the bigger your losses are, so
16 you've got to cut your losses at some
17 point.
18 Q. So are you aware of any attempts
19 in January 2021 among a grassroots group
20 of investors to run up the price of stocks
21 that other companies had shorted?
22 A. I would say I couldn't speak
23 with any confidence to anyone else's
24 intention.
25 Q. I didn't ask about intention,
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2 though.
3 Were you aware of that
4 phenomenon?
5 A. I was --
6 MR. ROSEN: What phenomenon?
7 What's the phenomenon that you're
8 talking about?
9 Q. Were you aware, Mr. Cash, of
10 short squeezes in the market in
11 January 2021?
12 A. I was aware of short squeezes in
13 the market before January 2021. Short
14 squeezes have happened all throughout the
15 history of the stock market. As long as
16 there has been shorting, there has been
17 people that have been squeezed out of
18 their position. That's kind of the
19 definition of a short squeeze.
20 Q. In January 2021, were you aware
21 of discussion of any attempt to
22 purposefully squeeze a short-selling
23 entity in the market?
24 A. I was aware of conversations
25 people had, but I don't know what their
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2 specific intentions would be about trying
3 to squeeze or not squeeze a stock.
4 Q. Do you think that a squeeze
5 reflects the true value of a company?
6 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Vague.
7 A. I believe that a squeeze is a
8 true value of the price per share based on
9 basic and simple supply-and-demand
10 fundamentals.
11 Q. In January 2021, were you aware
12 of a short squeeze of AMC?
13 A. I had heard similar things as to
14 GameStop, that it was a heavily shorted
15 company.
16 Q. And had you heard that there
17 were a group of investors that were
18 attempting to run up the price of AMC?
19 A. I don't know what their intent
20 was in terms of running up the price, but
21 I know that there were people that talked
22 about liking the company of AMC and
23 wanting to buy their stock.
24 Q. Had you heard, though -- I'm not
25 asking if you knew that they were doing
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2 it.
3 Had you heard rumors that there
4 were a group of investors attempting to
5 run up the stock price of AMC in
6 January 2021?
7 A. Sure. I heard rumors.
8 Q. And you heard that in
9 January 2021.
10 A. I couldn't say for certain, but
11 around that time.
12 Q. Had you heard rumors that there
13 were -- there was a group of investors in
14 January 2021 attempting to run up the
15 stock price of any other stocks in order
16 to --
17 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
18 Q. -- in order to squeeze --
19 MR. ROSEN: Objection. You use
20 the term "run up." What do you mean
21 by "run up"? How do people run up the
22 stock? It's an undefined term. It's
23 vague and ambiguous.
24 Q. Mr. Cash, do you know what the
25 term "run up" means?
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2 A. All I would say is that people
3 make decisions to buy a stock and not sell
4 it.
5 Q. All right.
6 A. That can positively impact a
7 stock's price based on, again, just simple
8 supply and demand.
9 Q. Are you aware around -- were you
10 aware in January of 2021 of rumors that
11 investors were attempting to increase the
12 stock price of shares in certain companies
13 in order to squeeze a company with short
14 positions?
15 A. I was aware that people are on
16 two sides of a trade, and if you are long
17 a company, you want to see it do well, and
18 if you're short a company, on the opposite
19 side of that trade, you don't want to see
20 them do well, because if they do well, you
21 don't do well. So again, it's just basic
22 supply and demand.
23 Q. And so in that situation, were
24 you aware of investors attempting to go
25 shop the price of a stock by purchasing in
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2 large volumes?
3 A. I was aware of people that liked
4 a company and a stock that were buying
5 lots of it and were unwilling to sell it.
6 And I think it would be natural for anyone
7 that makes an investment to want to see it
8 go up in value.
9 Q. But it's your testimony that you
10 are not aware of any concerted effort to
11 purposefully push up the stock price of
12 AMC in order to squeeze the short position
13 of another company.
14 A. I can't say that I remember any
15 kind of organized effort, if you will.
16 Like, there was no kind of newsletter or
17 signup list or some kind of potluck
18 registration for people to, like, agree to
19 do things, you know. I was on message
20 boards where people maybe chatted about
21 stuff like you could around a watercooler
22 in an office, but I don't know anything
23 about an organized attempt beyond just
24 message board chatter, which --
25 Q. So what kind of message board
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2 chatter are you talking about?
3 A. Well, from what I remember, just
4 people talking, again, liking companies
5 and buying their shares and wanting to see
6 those companies do well.
7 Q. Wanting to see the stock price
8 go up?
9 A. Yeah, which I think is a
10 reasonable position for someone that owns
11 a share to want to see it go up.
12 Q. And wanting to purchase the
13 share and hold on to it in order to
14 squeeze companies with short positions in
15 those shares.
16 A. Again, I think that's too much
17 speculation for me to be able to comment
18 on that. It's very hard to try to predict
19 when a short would get squeezed out of
20 their position, because there's too many
21 unknowns there.
22 Q. But I'm asking do you remember
23 seeing that on message boards, that that
24 was the intention and the goal of the
25 people posting on the message boards?
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2 A. Probably vaguely, yeah. I mean,
3 it's been three years.
4 Q. Do you recall news in
5 January 2021 or media attention of any
6 kind that the price of certain stocks were
7 increasing beyond what most people
8 believed they were actually worth?
9 A. Yeah. I remember a lot of
10 people said that about Tesla.
11 Q. And do you remember people
12 saying that about AMC?
13 A. And those people's opinion, I
14 remember hearing that about AMC.
15 Q. On the news?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And same thing with Blackberry?
18 A. I don't know about Blackberry.
19 Q. What about Nokia?
20 A. I don't recall hearing about
21 them on the news.
22 Q. Koss Corporation?
23 A. No, not that I remember.
24 Q. Trivago?
25 A. Not that I remember.
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2 Q. Tootsie Roll?
3 A. Not that I remember.
4 Q. Do you remember news about
5 GameStop in particular?
6 A. I remember there being news
7 about GameStop.
8 Q. And on the news, do you recall
9 people talking about its value increasing
10 beyond what financial professionals
11 believed it to be worth?
12 A. I remember that. Again, I would
13 clarify and say based on certain
14 performances or criteria that those
15 specific professionals were using.
16 Q. And did you also hear about
17 GameStop that while its prices were
18 increasing, there were hedge funds with
19 large short positions in GameStop?
20 A. I remember hearing about that.
21 Q. Have you ever heard the term
22 "Meme stock"?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. What is that?
25 A. I guess the way I would describe
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2 it is just a stock that has gained
3 internet fame or notoriety. It's turned
4 into a Meme.
5 Q. Is there a time when that term
6 started to be used that you can recall?
7 A. I mean, not that I recall. I
8 don't know how long it's been used.
9 Q. Do you recall that term being
10 used in January 2021?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And do you recall the companies
13 about which it was being used?
14 A. I remember a few.
15 Q. Was GameStop one of them?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Was AMC one of them?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Any others that you can recall?
20 A. I think just Blackberry.
21 Q. Do you think that -- withdrawn.
22 So we've been talking a lot
23 about GameStop, and I don't know if I've
24 asked you if you've ever purchased shares
25 of GameStop. Have you?
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2 A. I did. I have.
3 Q. And did you in late 2020?
4 A. That sounds about right.
5 Q. And that was the -- when was the
6 first time you purchased stock in
7 GameStop?
8 A. I can't remember a specific
9 date. I think that's probably in my
10 financial statements I sent over. But I
11 would guess sometime in the fourth quarter
12 of 2020.
13 Q. Okay. And why did you decide to
14 purchase GameStop then -- stock?
15 A. It met certain criteria I was
16 looking for in terms of a good
17 opportunity.
18 Q. Like what?
19 A. Well, historically, like I said
20 before, when Microsoft and PlayStation do
21 come out with new consoles, which they
22 only do every five to eight years or
23 roughly thereabouts, that is a huge boost
24 to GameStop's sales. And historically,
25 when you combine that with the holiday
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2 season, they have a very strong fourth
3 quarter and first quarter of the following
4 year of those kind of rare events of a new
5 console model coming out. So I thought
6 that was a strong potential boost to their
7 sales. I thought -- and their stock
8 price. Then I learned about Ryan Cohen
9 being --
10 Q. I'm sorry. That Ryan Cohen was
11 in January 2021; right?
12 A.
13 MR. KIM: Did you just interrupt
14 him answering a question, Scott?
15 You've got to let him finish his
16 answer.
17 MR. S. COHEN: You're right.
18 I'm sorry. Go ahead.
19 A. That's all right. I mean, Ryan
20 Cohen was an investor before he got on the
21 board, and I read that he had purchased a
22 large percentage of GameStop's shares. He
23 was the founder of Chewy. So in the
24 e-commerce space, when he gets involved in
25 a company, it's kind of a big deal,
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2 considering he went head to head with
3 Amazon and the pet space and kind of won.
4 So I thought him being involved was a very
5 bright potential turnaround for GameStop
6 in addition to the potential boom from the
7 holiday sales.
8 And I thought from a certain
9 perspective, the price of a stock was
10 being artificially suppressed based on the
11 fact that when I ran a stock search, it
12 came back being 140 percent short, which
13 to my knowledge at the time was
14 unprecedented of how short a company could
15 actually be compared to the float. So
16 fundamentally, there was something there
17 in terms of the stock price being
18 suppressed beyond what you could argue was
19 the actual value of the company.
20 Q. So in January 2021, you believed
21 that the stock price of GameStop was being
22 artificially suppressed?
23 MR. ROSEN: He didn't say
24 artificially.
25 MR. S. COHEN: Yes, he did.
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2 MR. ROSEN: Did he?
3 Q. I'll ask it again, just to
4 clarify the record.
5 MR. S. COHEN: Do you want me to
6 tell you the page and line number,
7 Mr. Rosen?
8 MR. ROSEN: I will look. Oh, he
9 did say "artificially suppressed."
10 Okay. Fair enough.
11 Q. So just to redo that.
12 In January 2021, you believed
13 that the game stock -- that GameStop's
14 stock price was being artificially
15 suppressed.
16 A. Well, I was more referring to Q4
17 of 2020 when I bought the stock. But
18 potentially artificially suppressed in the
19 sense that it was short 140 percent,
20 meaning that multiple shares were borrowed
21 repeatedly to just sell them; right? So
22 shorting obviously has an impact on stock
23 price, as does buying. And I thought
24 there was the potential there that it was
25 potentially artificially suppressed based
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2 on how short it was.
3 But Cohen -- Ryan Cohen being
4 involved and new consoles coming out were
5 huge factors in my decision. And then
6 sometime in January 2021, beyond him being
7 named in the board, there was also a lot
8 of positive news that I -- if I remember
9 right, he also obtained seats -- other
10 board seats for other executives that
11 worked with him at Chewy. So it also
12 seemed like he was putting together a very
13 strong board of directors and potentially
14 executive team to lead GameStop.
15 Q. But still you thought that at
16 that point in time in December 2020 and
17 potentially January of 2021, GameStop's
18 stock price was being artificially
19 suppressed by companies heavily shorting
20 their stock.
21 A. Yeah. I mean, I'd say by
22 artificially, I mean the fact that it's
23 supply and demand; right? And if there's
24 more supply on the sell side than is
25 natural or that has ever been seen in the
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2 company, then yeah, I would say that
3 that's an interesting opportunity for that
4 company to perform well and raise their
5 stock price.
6 Q. And you said that as a result of
7 this artificial suppression, the stock
8 market at that time was not reflecting
9 what you believe to be the true value of
10 GameStop; right?
11 A. Correct.
12 Q. I want to go back to
13 Exhibit 240. Let me know when you're
14 there.
15 A. That was the Newswires?
16 Q. Yeah.
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And it's a paragraph that we
19 looked at before, but it starts, "Earlier
20 this month."
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. So it says, "Earlier this month,
23 GameStop admitted that holiday-quarter
24 sales had dropped more than 25 percent and
25 come in lower than expectations."
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2 Do you see that?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. So the expected sales and
5 profits for GameStop in the holiday season
6 of December 2020 did not come to pass;
7 correct?
8 A. Potentially.
9 Q. Do you have any reason to
10 disagree with GameStop's characterization
11 as relayed in this article?
12 A. No. I mean, I would say that
13 from what I remember, there was plenty of
14 reasons to know that with supply chain
15 issues and shortages on the consoles
16 themselves, trying to buy them.
17 Q. What supply chain issues in
18 January 2,021?
19 A. I mean, pretty much anything
20 coming out of China, but, I mean, you can
21 Google it. It was very hard for people to
22 get their hands on PlayStation 5s and just
23 specifically PlayStation 5s.
24 Q. You're referring to -- sorry.
25 A. Yeah. From a retail
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2 perspective.
3 Q. And the supply chain issue
4 you're talking about is from the Covid
5 situation?
6 A. I mean, as far as I would know,
7 yeah.
8 Q. And that would -- that had been
9 persisting for the last almost year;
10 correct?
11 A. Correct.
12 Q. Okay.
13 (Exhibit 241, Certification, was
14 hereby marked for identification, as
15 of this date.)
16 Q. We'll do another exhibit shortly
17 here.
18 All right. You'll see
19 Exhibit 241 pop up.
20 A. Okay.
21 Q. Okay. Do you recognize this
22 document?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. And it's beginning -- the first
25 page has a Bates number stamp at the
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2 bottom right, P00002830. That's just for
3 the record.
4 Is this the certification you
5 signed authorizing the Rosen Law Firm to
6 file this action on your behalf?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And I'll direct you to
9 paragraph 4.
10 Do you see where the
11 certification says that it lists "all of
12 the transactions plaintiff has made in the
13 affected stocks during the class period
14 set forth in the consolidated complaint"?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And you're that plaintiff?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And at the bottom of the page is
19 your signature; right?
20 A. Electronic, yes.
21 Q. Electronic signature executed
22 just a few weeks ago; correct?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. April 11, 2023?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. If you look at the next page, is
3 that a complete list of all the
4 transactions you made in the affected
5 stocks during the class period?
6 A. To the best of my knowledge.
7 You would have to confirm with my
8 statements, I guess.
9 Q. And the only stock here is for
10 GameStop; right?
11 A. Correct.
12 MR. S. COHEN: Let's mark Tab 6.
13 (Exhibit 242, Merrill account
14 trading data, Bates P00002502 through
15 P00002517, was hereby marked for
16 identification, as of this date.)
17 Q. You'll soon see Exhibit 242 in
18 your file.
19 A. Okay. I got it.
20 Q. And for the record, the
21 beginning Bates stamp is P00002502.
22 Mr. Cash, this exhibit contains
23 the trading data you produced in
24 connection with this litigation; right?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And this is for your Merrill
3 account.
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And this includes all the trades
6 settled in December 2020?
7 A. I assume so. I guess you'd have
8 to double check other statements, but I
9 assume that's how a statement would work.
10 Q. You do see on the right-hand
11 side, it says December 1, 2020, through
12 December 31, 2020; right?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. If you go to the page ending
15 2507.
16 A. Okay.
17 Q. In the middle of the page, you
18 see the row "Security Transactions" in
19 bold?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And below it, the first
22 transaction you engaged in in December was
23 to purchase 600 shares of GameStop on
24 December 2, 2020?
25 A. I see that.
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2 Q. And that was at $18.17 per
3 share?
4 A. Correct.
5 Q. And the total amount was
6 $10,902?
7 A. Correct.
8 Q. Was that a large purchase for
9 you at the time?
10 A. Not that I recall.
11 Q. Do you recall often purchasing
12 stocks or options for over $10,000?
13 A. I will say that that was in line
14 with potential other purchases. I'd have
15 to check my statements.
16 Q. If you look at the rest of this
17 statement, do you see other purchases of
18 stock for over $10,000?
19 A. Not that I see on this
20 statement.
21 Q. Before you made your investment
22 in GameStop stock on December 2nd, how
23 much time did you spend researching the
24 company?
25 A. I don't recall specifically.
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2 But I would guess a few hours, several
3 hours.
4 Q. Do you recall looking at the
5 business fundamentals of GameStop at this
6 time?
7 A. I mean, I recall looking at past
8 performance of when new consoles came out.
9 Q. At this time, had you formed an
10 opinion as to the real value of GameStop?
11 A. I don't recall.
12 Q. Did you read anything about
13 GameStop on Wallstreetbets around this
14 time?
15 A. I don't recall specifically.
16 Q. Do you recall generally?
17 A. Generally, I recall reading
18 Wallstreetbets in December and January.
19 But if you're talking about specifically
20 January 2nd or whenever I bought these
21 shares, I don't recall.
22 Q. Do you recall in January 2021
23 and December 2020 reading anything about
24 GameStop on Wallstreetbets in general?
25 A. You said January or December?
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2 Q. Yes.
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Did you read about anybody
5 encouraging others to purchase GameStop on
6 Wallstreetbets around this time?
7 A. I saw posts about that probably.
8 Q. And you saw posts about
9 attempting to squeeze the short-selling
10 companies holding GameStop stock in
11 December 2020 and January 2021; correct?
12 A. I saw posts about people talking
13 about liking the stock and buying the
14 stock.
15 Q. Okay. Let's look at -- I'm
16 sorry.
17 A. I was just going to say, I mean,
18 I don't recall any specific examples of,
19 like, a title or something I could give
20 you really directly to a squeeze.
21 Q. I'm sorry. In general, though,
22 do you recall comments and posts about
23 this, even if you can't remember the
24 titles to them?
25 A. Yeah.
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2 MR. S. COHEN: Let's do Tab 2,
3 please.
4 (Exhibit 243, A Wallstreetbets
5 Sub-Reddit post titled "Exactly how
6 the GME squeeze will go for you," was
7 hereby marked for identification, as
8 of this date.)
9 Q. In your folder, you'll see
10 Exhibit 243.
11 A. Okay.
12 Q. And this is a post on the
13 Wallstreetbets sub-Reddit?
14 A. That's what it looks like.
15 Q. And it was posted December 3,
16 2020; correct?
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. And the title is "Exactly how
19 the GME squeeze will go for you."
20 A. Correct.
21 Q. Do you recognize this post?
22 A. I don't specifically recall this
23 post.
24 Q. On the second and third pages,
25 do you see that you commented on this
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2 post?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And do you see you commented
5 that same day, December 3, 2020?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And this was the day after you
8 purchased several hundred shares of
9 GameStop; right?
10 A. Looks like it.
11 Q. What do you think, if you go
12 back to the front page, GME squeeze means?
13 A. I would be speculating, I guess.
14 I think they were potentially referring to
15 a short squeeze.
16 Q. And it's referring to a group of
17 investors who host on the Wallstreetbets
18 sub-Reddit that are engaging in the short
19 squeeze of GameStop; right?
20 A. I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?
21 Q. You said that you would
22 speculate that this post is about the
23 GameStop short squeeze.
24 A. Yeah, or a theory on the short
25 squeeze.
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2 Q. And that theory that it's
3 discussing is referring to a group of
4 investors who are also on Wallstreetbets
5 engaging in the short squeeze; correct?
6 A. Potentially.
7 Q. The first paragraph is referring
8 to purchasing GameStop stock in high
9 volumes of shares; correct?
10 A. Depends on your definition of
11 high volume, but sure.
12 Q. Do you recall seeing this
13 article at any time, this post at any
14 time?
15 A. I don't specifically remember
16 coming across it.
17 Q. Based on this post and the
18 comments that you can see here, people
19 were expecting a short squeeze of
20 GameStop; correct?
21 A. That's what it looks like.
22 Q. Were you also expecting a short
23 squeeze of GameStop around this time?
24 A. I don't recall.
25 Q. But you could have been.
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2 A. I think it was possible,
3 considering how short it was.
4 Q. If you look at the fourth
5 paragraph, where it says "Trading
6 resumes."
7 A. Mm-hmm. I see it.
8 Q. It says, "Trading resumes. You
9 watch the price rise. $30. $48. $70.
10 Your mind and your heart race as you
11 mentally calculate how much money you've
12 made. $115. $130. The squeeze has
13 squoze. You watch the share price trend
14 back down, settling at a respectable
15 $17.04, but that no longer matters to you.
16 You're rich."
17 Did I read that correctly?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And that describes an effective
20 short squeeze; correct?
21 A. I can't say that I'd say that's
22 necessarily an accurate description. That
23 would imply that you timed the top
24 perfectly and sold when you should have or
25 could have potentially if you're talking
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2 about maximizing profits. But that's a
3 massive assumption to make, and I would
4 say, in reading this post, it's a very
5 hypothetical whole outline. It's talking
6 about you as, you know, some random
7 person.
8 Q. It's saying here that after a
9 squeeze has squoze, the price will
10 decline.
11 Do you see that?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Do you know what that means?
14 A. Well, it's based on supply and
15 demand of a stock. And if there is a
16 short squeeze in a stock, typically, there
17 is a brief period of strong upward
18 momentum, as supply and demand dictates
19 there is more demand to buy the stock than
20 there is to sell it, and then often that
21 can reverse course, and there's more
22 demand to sell it.
23 Q. And what's driving the demand in
24 a short squeeze usually?
25 A. Well, usually, it's the shorts
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2 not hedging or setting stop losses or
3 making their play with what I would
4 classify as proper risk management.
5 Q. Not proper risk management or
6 with proper risk management?
7 A. The shorts not exercising proper
8 risk management, in my opinion.
9 Q. And so the investors who are
10 attempting to squeeze the short recognize
11 that there is a short position in the
12 market, and they are taking advantage of
13 that by purchasing at high volumes to
14 increase the price?
15 A. Potentially. I think that's
16 also true with shorting the stock, if you
17 see that there's a potential to short in
18 high volumes to drive down the stock to
19 make a profit, and that's just -- that's
20 just how a market works.
21 Q. And at the time that you
22 commented on this post, you were aware of
23 this short squeeze beginning to occur for
24 GameStop; correct?
25 A. I can't say that at the time of
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2 this post, I was aware that something was
3 occurring.
4 Q. At what point did you become
5 aware that something was occurring?
6 A. I can't recall exactly. But, I
7 mean, I would say that most of January --
8 or December, from my recollection, was
9 just pretty -- pretty tame in terms of
10 price and action from what I remember
11 about the stock price.
12 Q. And January?
13 A. Well, obviously, January, things
14 got interesting.
15 Q. And you were watching that
16 happen?
17 A. I didn't think -- it would be
18 foolish to not watch what you're invested
19 in.
20 MR. S. COHEN: Let's go to
21 Tab 3. Mark Tab 3.
22 (Exhibit 244, A Wallstreetbets
23 Sub-Reddit post titled "GME Squeeze
24 Double Dip," was hereby marked for
25 identification, as of this date.)
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2 Q. You'll soon see an exhibit, I
3 think 244.
4 A. Got it.
5 Q. Okay. Do you recognize this
6 post?
7 A. Not specifically.
8 Q. This is a post you made on
9 Wallstreetbets; correct?
10 A. It looks like it. Yes.
11 Q. And that was on
12 December 3, 2020?
13 A. Correct.
14 Q. Could you read the title of the
15 post.
16 A. "GME Squeeze Double Dip."
17 Q. All right. What does "GME
18 squeeze" refer to here?
19 A. Well, if there was a squeeze of
20 people out of their position, whether
21 that's up or down, people are either for
22 sellers or for buyers.
23 Q. You're referring to a squeeze in
24 GameStop; right?
25 A. Correct.
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2 Q. And you're referring to a
3 squeeze that you anticipated happening in
4 GameStop; correct?
5 A. Well, this is just honestly a
6 hypothetical think post. I mean, I'm just
7 getting people's opinions on a scenario
8 and if they thought that would actually
9 potentially, like, play out as something
10 feasible. So, I mean, I wouldn't say that
11 this is what I thought was going to
12 happen. This is just more of like a
13 hypothetical situation that I post.
14 Q. But you thought it could happen.
15 A. I thought that it could happen.
16 Q. This first sentence says you're
17 holding 1,000 GME shares you bought at
18 $18.
19 Do you see that?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. You bought your GameStop shares
22 at around $18 the day before; correct?
23 A. Correct.
24 Q. It then goes on to say, "You buy
25 ten protective puts four months out at 175
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2 to lock in your profit against it gapping
3 down."
4 What does "gapping down" mean?
5 A. Well, in the stock market, you
6 have pre-market and post-market activity
7 where even though the market closes at
8 4:00 p.m. and opens I think it's at 9:30,
9 there is trading that can occur before and
10 after those times. And it's usually very
11 low-volume trading. So it's not uncommon
12 for a stock to either get up in price or
13 down in price in the pre-market based on
14 the low volume and at whatever price it's
15 at in the pre-trading at the 9:30 bell is
16 where it will be opening for the day.
17 Q. Okay. And it goes on to say,
18 "During that time, GME drops back down to
19 $18 and you buy 1,000 shares again to
20 exercise your ten puts to sell at 175,
21 effectively double dipping the squeeze."
22 Do you see that?
23 A. Correct.
24 Q. What does double dipping mean
25 here?
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2 A. Well, again, in this
3 hypothetical scenario, I was just
4 proposing the idea that if you bought
5 shares long, on the way up, if you --
6 again, you'd have to time it right, but if
7 you sold at the top, you'd make a profit,
8 and if you bought shares at the top and
9 protective puts against them, or at least
10 just bought the puts, then you could
11 profit on the stock going down. That's
12 just, again, tools of every trader --
13 well -- that has options available to them
14 to profit when stocks go up or down.
15 Q. And did you purchase protective
16 puts in GameStop?
17 A. I don't recall. We'd have to
18 look at the statements.
19 Q. But if you did, that was
20 potentially to double dip the squeeze in
21 GameStop; correct?
22 A. Well, it would be to protect
23 your profits potentially from the stock
24 dropping. That's why it's called a
25 protective put. You're just trying to
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2 protect your stock price and locking in
3 your ability to sell it at a higher price.
4 Q. In this scenario, you describe a
5 situation in which over four months,
6 GameStop's stock price goes from $175 to
7 $18; is that correct?
8 A. Well, I think what I'm saying
9 here is you buy the puts four months out
10 because they would expire. So they would
11 expire -- you would want them to be -- you
12 don't want them to expire on you too soon;
13 right? So any time you're buying a call
14 or a put, traditionally, you want some
15 time further out that you're buying it
16 from when you think the activity or action
17 that you're anticipating will happen so
18 that it does not eat away the value of
19 your call or put.
20 Q. In this scenario that you wrote,
21 were you saying that there was a
22 possibility that GameStop stock could at
23 one point be around $185 and then shortly
24 after be $18?
25 A. I mean, in this -- in this
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2 hypothetical, I guess. I was -- that was
3 part of just the think -- the thought
4 process of, like, the scenario. Right?
5 It's just a hypothetical if this happened,
6 would this play out? I mean, the last
7 line in my post is "would this work,"
8 right, so it's obviously just a thought
9 exercise.
10 Q. Okay. Let's go back to the
11 December 2020 Merrill statement, which I
12 think is Exhibit 242.
13 A. Okay.
14 Q. If you go to the page with the
15 numbers on the bottom right ending 2508.
16 A. Okay.
17 Q. On December 23, 2020, you
18 purchased another 200 shares of GameStop
19 stock; correct?
20 A. Correct.
21 Q. And that was at $15.4566 per
22 share?
23 A. Correct.
24 Q. For a total purchase price of
25 $3,091.32?
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2 A. Correct.
3 Q. Why did you decide to buy
4 GameStop stock on December 23rd?
5 A. I don't recall specifically why
6 I bought it that day.
7 Q. Do you recall buying this
8 because you were under the impression that
9 there was a short squeeze going on with
10 GameStop stock?
11 A. That wouldn't make much sense to
12 me, considering I bought it on the 2nd at
13 $18, and the price has gone down to this
14 purchase. So I can't say that I thought
15 it was squeezing when the price was
16 dropping. If anything, if I would
17 speculate, I'd say I bought it because my
18 thesis on GameStop, with everything I laid
19 out earlier, had now been invalidated in
20 my mind, and the price was on sale.
21 Q. So it was trading at a lower
22 stock price than you believed GameStop was
23 worth.
24 A. Yeah. I mean, if I would buy a
25 company at 18 and change, why not buy it
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2 at 15 and change?
3 Q. And again, why did you think
4 that the market was not reflecting the
5 price you believed GameStop should be
6 traded at?
7 A. I believed the value of GameStop
8 was going to go up and because of their
9 performance with the consoles and
10 long-term Ryan Cohen's involvement of
11 being a major investor.
12 Q. Okay.
13 MR. S. COHEN: Let's mark Tab 5.
14 A. I don't know if I can just point
15 this out. But earlier, you had asked if I
16 spent 10,000, and while it's not exactly
17 at 10,000, at the bottom of that page, I
18 did buy $9,800 worth of Lumen. So, you
19 know, thereabouts 10,000 was in the realm
20 of possibility for me to make an
21 investment.
22 (Exhibit 245, A Wallstreetbets
23 Sub-Reddit post titled "GME YOLO
24 Update - December 22, 2020," was
25 hereby marked for identification, as
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2 of this date.)
3 Q. Mr. Cash, in your folder should
4 be Exhibit 245.
5 A. Okay.
6 Q. And this is another
7 Wallstreetbets post?
8 A. Correct.
9 Q. And who is it by?
10 A. The post?
11 Q. Yes.
12 A. It's by a user of the name
13 DeepFuckingValue.
14 Q. Okay. And who is that? Do you
15 know who that is?
16 A. I do now.
17 Q. Do you -- did you see posts by
18 him on Wallstreetbets frequently around
19 this time?
20 A. I don't recall specifically in
21 terms of what would be frequent or not,
22 but I recall seeing a few posts from him.
23 Q. And did you comment on his posts
24 ever?
25 A. I can't say with certainty, but
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2 I would not be surprised if I did.
3 Q. And this is -- the date of this
4 post is December 22, 2020?
5 A. Correct.
6 Q. And this is the day before you
7 purchased more stock in GameStop; correct?
8 A. Correct.
9 Q. Could you read the title of the
10 post.
11 A. The post says, "GME YOLO
12 update -- December 22, 2020."
13 Q. What -- do you recall what that
14 meant to you?
15 A. I mean, I believe "YOLO" is an
16 acronym for "you only live once," which is
17 applied to all kinds of things in life.
18 Q. So it's about missing an
19 opportunity or not missing an opportunity
20 in investing in GameStop? Would you say
21 that's fair?
22 A. The term "YOLO" specifically or
23 this post?
24 Q. In the context of the post.
25 A. I guess so. I mean, that was --
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2 I can't speak for that poster. But, I
3 mean, that's what that would imply.
4 Q. Turning to the next page, I
5 believe, it should be for you.
6 A. Okay.
7 Q. That's a comment you made to
8 that post; right?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. That's on December 22, 2020?
11 A. Correct.
12 Q. Again, the day before you
13 sold -- the day before you purchased
14 shares of GameStop?
15 A. Correct.
16 Q. And you say, "I am but a peon in
17 this GME battle, but I'm holding the
18 fucking line."
19 Do you see that?
20 A. I do.
21 Q. All right. What's the GME
22 battle that you're talking about?
23 A. Well, I don't recall
24 specifically what I was thinking at the
25 time I wrote the post, because it was over
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2 three years ago. But I would say every
3 stock that you're buying, there's buying
4 and selling pressure.
5 Q. And it's your position that the
6 GME battle is just about run-of-the-mill
7 buying and selling pressure?
8 A. You would have to --
9 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
10 A. -- classify "run of the mill,"
11 but GME, just like any company, is about
12 people buying and selling the stock.
13 Q. When you posted this, did you
14 perceive there to be a battle with regard
15 to GameStop?
16 A. I don't recall.
17 Q. What did you mean that you were
18 holding the line?
19 A. I don't remember.
20 Q. Okay. Possibly that you were
21 folding GameStop stock?
22 A. Well, that would certainly be a
23 possibility. I mean, I was not planning
24 on selling at that time.
25 Q. Okay. And you call yourself a
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2 peon there?
3 A. A peon.
4 Q. What did you mean by that?
5 A. I'm just a small fish in the --
6 in the scope of Wall Street.
7 Q. Is it a fair characterization of
8 this post that you were saying, "I'm just
9 one person, but I'm continuing to hold my
10 GameStop stock in the midst of the GME
11 battle"?
12 A. I -- I mean, I guess. I
13 couldn't specifically remember what I was
14 intending to say in that post.
15 Q. Mr. Cash, you'll see
16 Exhibit 246.
17 (Exhibit 246, January 2021
18 Merrill statement, Bates P00002390
19 through P00002401, was hereby marked
20 for identification, as of this date.)
21 A. Okay.
22 Q. And this is your January 2021
23 Merrill statement; correct?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And for the record, this is
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2 beginning Bates No. P00002390.
3 If you'll turn to the page with
4 the numbers on the bottom ending 2394.
5 A. Okay.
6 Q. The second-to-last row, do you
7 see that?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And it shows that on
10 January 21, 2021, you purchased 200 more
11 shares in GameStop stock; correct?
12 A. Correct.
13 Q. And you purchased the shares at
14 $37.9678 per share?
15 A. Correct.
16 Q. For a total share purchase
17 amount of $7,593.56.
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. Why did you decide to buy
20 GameStop stock on January 21, 2021?
21 A. I couldn't recall specifically
22 why I bought more shares on that specific
23 day.
24 Q. And this share price was a lot
25 higher than it was when you purchased it
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2 in December; correct?
3 A. Depends on your definition of a
4 lot higher, but it was higher.
5 Q. Was it twice as much?
6 A. Sure.
7 Q. Was it more than twice as much?
8 A. Yeah.
9 Q. Did you believe when you
10 purchased this stock at this time,
11 GameStop's stock price would continue to
12 increase?
13 A. I can't say anything other than
14 probably. I mean, I don't think I would
15 buy shares of a stock that I thought was
16 going to go down.
17 Q. What did you think at the time
18 would have caused the stock price to
19 increase?
20 A. I couldn't recall a specific
21 reason, but a lot of investing can just be
22 based on momentum. Stock has momentum,
23 people buy. You see examples of that all
24 the time in the market. Tesla that year
25 was a great example of 2020 and 2021. The
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2 price goes up, the more people buy. The
3 price goes up, more people buy. I mean,
4 momentum is a factor in trading and
5 stocks' prices.
6 Q. So it's like a feedback loop
7 where the more people who purchase, the
8 more people see the demand increase, and
9 so they continue to purchase as well?
10 A. Potentially.
11 Q. And that in turn drives the
12 price up?
13 A. Sometimes. Just supply and
14 demand. I mean, there's an increase in
15 demand because the price is going up.
16 Q. And sometimes that doesn't have
17 to do with any release of new company
18 information?
19 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Calls
20 for speculation.
21 A. Correct. And I would say that
22 sometimes, in the opposite way, it can
23 come from manipulation of people panic
24 selling because you're not allowed to buy,
25 and that causes momentum downward.
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2 Q. Okay. So for reasons other than
3 the information about the company out on
4 the market, a stock price can rise or fall
5 based on either momentum trading or panic
6 selling?
7 A. Or panic buying. Yeah.
8 Q. And that's potentially -- in
9 your mind, on January 21, 2021, what was
10 happening with GameStop?
11 A. I can't recall specifically what
12 was happening that day, but it's certainly
13 not an unreasonable assumption.
14 Q. Do you recall that that was an
15 assumption that you had at any time during
16 January 2021?
17 A. I think it would be safe to say
18 that it was reasonable to have an
19 assumption that GameStop had a lot of
20 momentum in both directions during that
21 time.
22 Q. So it was a volatile stock at
23 that time.
24 A. Insanely.
25 Q. When you purchased this, did you
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2 consider it a long-term investment in
3 GameStop?
4 A. I don't recall. I mean, you'd
5 have to get more granular, because I
6 viewed GameStop in a what I consider more
7 of a long-term and a more short-term
8 position. I had calls which had
9 expiration dates on them I believe in
10 April. We'd have to check the statements.
11 But that would obviously be a shorter-term
12 outlook based on what I thought they would
13 perform in Q4 and Q1 of 2020 and 2021.
14 And then shares are obviously indefinite
15 hold from a definition standpoint.
16 Q. So you had calls in GameStop at
17 this point.
18 A. I believe so. I mean, we would
19 have to go look at some of these statement
20 pages. But yeah.
21 Q. And you would invest in call
22 options when you thought there was a
23 chance the stock price would continue to
24 increase; correct?
25 A. Sometimes. I mean, sometimes I
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2 would sell calls as a covered call
3 strategy if I, you know, took cash for a
4 stock.
5 Q. At this time, in January 2021,
6 January 21, 2021, you knew there was a
7 short squeeze attempt on GameStop stock;
8 correct?
9 A. I would say I had read people's
10 thesis and theories about a short squeeze.
11 Q. And it was a theory that you
12 thought couldn't be true at that point in
13 time?
14 A. I didn't think it was an
15 unreasonable or outlandish idea,
16 considering when I first stumbled across
17 the stock, it was short 140 percent.
18 MR. S. COHEN: Let's mark Tab 8.
19 (Exhibit 247, A Wallstreetbets
20 Sub-Reddit post titled "Daily
21 Discussion Thread for
22 January 20, 2021," was hereby marked
23 for identification, as of this date.)
24 Q. You're going to see in your
25 folder a new exhibit. Should be
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2 Exhibit 247.
3 A. Got it.
4 Q. And this is another
5 Wallstreetbets post; correct?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. From January 21, 2021?
8 A. I see January 20th.
9 Q. I'm sorry. I'm looking at the
10 wrong exhibit. So let's start over again.
11 This is a Wallstreetbets post
12 from January 20, 2021; correct?
13 A. Correct.
14 Q. And this is the day before you
15 purchased 200 shares in GameStop stock?
16 A. Correct.
17 Q. And the title is "Daily
18 Discussion Thread for January 20, 2021";
19 right?
20 A. Correct.
21 Q. Now, turning to the next page.
22 Do you see that you commented on
23 this post?
24 A. I do.
25 Q. And that was January 20, 2021?
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2 A. Correct.
3 Q. Could you read the first line of
4 that comment, please.
5 A. Sure. It says, "Buying the
6 fucking GME dip today," and there's two
7 Emojis -- a diamond and a middle finger --
8 "Melvin and Citron."
9 Q. What does "GME dip today" mean?
10 A. Well, from what I could
11 probably -- I can't recall exactly, but
12 I'm assuming the price was on sale.
13 Q. And so what you're saying is you
14 are buying the GME dip today?
15 A. I can't recall. I don't know if
16 I was talking about me or just people in
17 general. But I didn't buy any that day,
18 so -- at least, according to the
19 statements we just looked at, so, I mean,
20 we would have to confirm with my
21 statements, I guess.
22 Q. But you purchased it the next
23 day; right?
24 A. I think so.
25 Q. And what are these -- the
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2 diamond -- what's the diamond Emoji?
3 A. The diamond, just -- it's an
4 Emoji of a diamond.
5 Q. It doesn't have any meaning in
6 the context of this post?
7 A. Well, I think in the context of
8 this post, a diamond represents toughness,
9 hardness.
10 Q. And does a diamond like this
11 mean anything in the context of
12 Wallstreetbets in general, as far as
13 you're aware?
14 A. From what I know, Wallstreetbets
15 is -- I don't know how -- I guess you
16 could classify it as an online frat house,
17 and a diamond meant that you were strong
18 willed in your convictions on your
19 purchase decisions.
20 Q. And what was a strong will
21 necessary for in purchasing GME stock that
22 day?
23 A. Well, I don't recall about why
24 you would -- about that specific day. But
25 in January, as we've said before, it was a
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2 very volatile stock.
3 Q. And Melvin and Citron, are those
4 friends of yours?
5 A. Depends on how you look at
6 friends. I think they've -- they've
7 helped me out some in terms of their poor
8 investing strategy and lack of risk
9 management, but I believed at the time
10 they were considered to be -- rumored to
11 be involved on the opposite side of a long
12 position on GameStop.
13 Q. So they were shorting GameStop.
14 A. Allegedly. I don't have any
15 financial forensic evidence myself knowing
16 what they do as a company or organization.
17 Q. Based on what you wrote in this
18 post, you believed them to be shorting
19 GameStop; right?
20 A. As a theory.
21 Q. And you didn't like them, it
22 looks like; is that correct?
23 A. Well, I think in an investing
24 sense, someone is always on the opposite
25 side of the trade as you. So when someone
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2 is on the opposite side of the trade as
3 you, it's a win-lose -- investing is a
4 win-lose outcome. So --
5 Q. So I'm referring to the middle
6 finger in this post. Is that directed at
7 Melvin and Citron?
8 A. I can't recall. It was common
9 on Wallstreetbets to put a diamond hand
10 of -- any kind of Emoji just to represent
11 your conviction in your own decision. And
12 the middle finger could have just been a
13 play on the fact that Wallstreetbets is,
14 again, an online frat house to kind of
15 roll with that crowd.
16 Q. Okay. And so you were posting
17 about your conviction in purchasing
18 GameStop stock opposite Melvin and
19 Citron's short position, as you saw it;
20 correct?
21 A. I was convinced that GameStop
22 had a positive outlook regardless of who
23 or what was on the other side of the
24 trade.
25 Q. I'm just going to repeat my
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2 question.
3 You were posting about your
4 conviction in purchasing GameStop stock
5 opposite Melvin and Citron's short
6 position; isn't that right?
7 A. Well, alleged short positions or
8 hypothetical. I mean, again, I don't know
9 that. But it wouldn't matter specifically
10 who was short. I was convinced that
11 GameStop was a good bullish play.
12 Q. So you're posting about your
13 conviction in purchasing GameStop stock
14 opposite Melvin and Citron's short
15 position as you believed them to have; is
16 that right?
17 A. Sure.
18 MR. S. COHEN: Let's go to
19 Tab 9.
20 MR. ROSEN: Hey Scott, it's
21 nearing 1:00. So before you start
22 another exhibit -- I don't know how
23 much we spent on the last exhibit.
24 But when you want to take a lunch
25 break.
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2 MR. S. COHEN: Let's do it now.
3 It's a good stopping point.
4 MR. ROSEN: All right.
5 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Stand by,
6 please. The time is 12:59 p.m. We
7 are going off the record. This will
8 end Media Unit No. 2.
9 (Luncheon recess: 12:59 p.m.)
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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2 A F T E R N O O N S E S S I O N
3 2:00 p.m.
4 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
5 2:01 now, and we are back on the
6 record. This will be the start of
7 Media Unit No. 3.
8 BY MR. S. COHEN:
9 Q. Hello, Mr. Cash.
10 A. Hi.
11 Q. I want you to go into your
12 folder and look up Exhibit 248.
13 (Exhibit 248, A Wallstreetbets
14 Sub-Reddit post titled "What Are Your
15 Moves Tomorrow, January 22, 2021," was
16 hereby marked for identification, as
17 of this date.)
18 A. Got it.
19 Q. Okay. And this is another
20 Wallstreetbets post; correct?
21 A. That's what it looks like, yes.
22 Q. And it was posted on
23 January 21, 2021?
24 A. Yes, January 21, 2021.
25 Q. And if you recall, this is the
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2 day you purchased stock in GameStop;
3 correct?
4 A. I believe so.
5 Q. Do you recognize this post?
6 A. It does not elicit a specific
7 memory of me making it.
8 Q. And the title of the post is
9 "What Are Your Moves Tomorrow,
10 January 22, 2021"; right?
11 A. Correct.
12 Q. If you go to the next page, you
13 posted a comment on this post; right?
14 A. It looks like it.
15 Q. And that was also on
16 January 21, 2021?
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. And you write, "My moves
19 tomorrow: Sit back, relax, have a few
20 bourbons, and watch GME burn the world
21 down with its powerful thrusters to the
22 edge of the observable universe."
23 Do you see that?
24 A. I do.
25 Q. So what was going to happen the
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2 next day, as far as you were concerned?
3 A. Well, I can't specifically
4 recall specifically making that post. It
5 was made at 8:23 p.m. so I probably had a
6 few bourbons that night as well.
7 Q. And what did you mean "GME will
8 burn the world down"?
9 A. I can't recall specifically what
10 I meant when I made anything about that
11 post, specific to that post. All I can
12 maybe imply or infer is GameStop was very
13 volatile at this time, and it was just
14 entertaining to watch.
15 Q. Okay. What -- what does
16 "thrusters" mean in this post, in this
17 comment? Do you recall?
18 A. No, I don't.
19 Q. And you have some pictures at
20 the bottom of this. There are three
21 bourbons, as you were referencing before.
22 Then there are three rockets.
23 Could you tell me what the
24 rockets refer to.
25 A. Rockets probably refer to
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2 extreme price action up or down.
3 Q. And that's in reference to what
4 was happening with GameStop's stock price?
5 A. Yeah, I would say so.
6 Q. Okay. And what are these -- the
7 next three pictures?
8 A. I have no idea. I don't
9 remember those at all. They look like
10 peanuts or something. I don't know what
11 they are.
12 Q. That's what it looks like to me.
13 Okay. I don't know.
14 A. Yeah. They look like a peanut
15 possibly. I don't know if Reddit or
16 Wallstreetbets, like, have their own
17 Emojis, like, beyond, like, your typical
18 texting Emoji or not, but, I mean, that
19 would be my guess.
20 Q. All right. But suffice it to
21 say by January 21, 2021, you were well
22 aware of the price volatility in
23 GameStop's stock price, and you expected
24 that to continue on to the next day.
25 A. I expected continued volatility.
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2 Q. And you were aware at this time,
3 were you not, that this volatility was due
4 to a short squeeze going on in GameStop's
5 stock price?
6 A. I wouldn't say I could say that
7 definitively. I think that's a thesis at
8 the time.
9 Q. Was that the general consensus
10 on Wallstreetbets, as far as you're aware?
11 A. As far as I was aware, that was
12 what most people was hypothesizing.
13 Q. And were you also aware of
14 social media commentary encouraging people
15 to engage in the short squeeze?
16 A. What do you mean by social media
17 commentary? Like, beyond Reddit?
18 Q. Let's start with Reddit.
19 Were you aware of posts and
20 comments on Reddit that encouraged
21 participation in this GameStop short
22 squeeze in late January 2021?
23 A. I vaguely recall seeing posts
24 like we've talked about on Reddit that
25 talked about buying the stock.
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2 Q. And buying it specifically with
3 the knowledge that there was a short
4 squeeze?
5 A. Well, I don't think anyone could
6 say that with knowledge. But as a thesis,
7 potentially.
8 Q. The stated intention in the
9 posts and comments was to purchase
10 GameStop's stock because of a short
11 squeeze, whether or not that was true.
12 A. I mean, a potential short
13 squeeze. I mean, I think people were
14 buying the stock because they believed it
15 was going to go up. Why it would go up is
16 up for speculation.
17 Q. Let's look at another exhibit.
18 This will be Exhibit 249, I believe.
19 (Exhibit 249, A Reddit post
20 titled "The Importance of what's
21 happening with GME," was hereby marked
22 for identification, as of this date.)
23 A. Okay. I got it.
24 Q. And this is a Reddit post again?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. Posted on January 22, 2021?
3 A. Correct.
4 Q. So the day after the post we
5 were just looking at?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. If you -- and the title is "The
8 Importance of what's happening with GME."
9 A. Correct.
10 Q. Do you see that?
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. If you go to the next page, you
13 see that you commented on this post.
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And you commented on
16 January 23, 2021.
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. So the first sentence says, "GME
19 Squeeze hasn't even begun yet in a lot of
20 ways."
21 Do you see that?
22 A. I do.
23 Q. So you were saying that it has
24 begun in some ways, but it was still going
25 to continue on in other ways; correct?
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2 A. Potentially.
3 Q. And the next sentence says,
4 "Yesterday was a gamma squeeze."
5 A. It does.
6 Q. And that's referring to a gamma
7 squeeze of GameStop stock?
8 A. And options.
9 Q. Could you explain what a gamma
10 squeeze is?
11 A. Well, a lot of times, stocks can
12 move a lot based on expiration of options,
13 and that's kind of a reference to the fact
14 that calls and puts and things are
15 expiring long and short. So there's a lot
16 of effort on both sides, bulls and bears,
17 to move the price for their options to
18 potentially expire in the money or out of
19 the money, if you're on the other side.
20 Q. So the price of GameStop stock
21 was moving based on squeezing activity by
22 buyers and sellers in the options market
23 as well as the stock market the day
24 before, on January 22, 2021.
25 A. As a theory.
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2 Q. In the next paragraph, do you
3 see where it says, "Also, there may have
4 been a couple brokers closing out people's
5 positions that they couldn't support at
6 the halts"?
7 A. I see that.
8 Q. And what is that referring to?
9 A. I can't recall specific details,
10 since it was so long ago, but I believe
11 what I remember was it was a theory that
12 certain positions were being closed, and
13 they did not have the liquidity as an
14 investor to continue in their position,
15 and their positions were sold to other
16 investors that had more liquidity.
17 Q. And as a result of that, you say
18 in the last line of that paragraph, the
19 last full line, that the stock tanked;
20 correct?
21 A. That's what it says. Yes.
22 Q. That's what you said; right?
23 A. Yeah.
24 Q. In the next paragraph, you say,
25 "This is shaping up like a Tesla squeeze
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2 to me."
3 Do you see that?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And you mentioned Tesla before;
6 right?
7 A. I have.
8 Q. In this deposition, you were
9 saying that what happened with GameStop --
10 what happened with Tesla would potentially
11 be what was going to happen with GameStop?
12 A. Are you saying in this post?
13 Q. In this deposition, that's what
14 you testified.
15 A. I mean, if you have specific
16 comments that I said, but what I recall
17 saying was just simply that Tesla was a
18 stock that had a high stock price compared
19 to what some people thought the company's
20 value would be and that it was a very
21 volatile stock in the year 2020 and 2021.
22 Q. And that's what seemed to be
23 happening to you with GameStop stock.
24 A. Not really.
25 Q. Well, you say that it's shaping
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2 up to be like the Tesla squeeze; right?
3 A. I mean, I would say that Tesla,
4 in my opinion, was a situation where, due
5 to momentum, people kept buying the stock,
6 like we talked about earlier. The price
7 kept going up. There were people -- a lot
8 of people -- that thought the price was
9 overpriced for the value of the company,
10 so they would short it, thinking that they
11 had timed the top of the price.
12 The momentum of the buyers still
13 buying Tesla would make those shorts
14 underwater and squeeze them out of their
15 position in the sense that if you're
16 losing money, you're going to close your
17 position. And, you know, I mean, unless
18 you want to lose infinite money, you have
19 stop losses and you have a hedge in place.
20 So the stock would keep going up
21 because they're closing and new buyers are
22 coming in because of the momentum, then
23 opened a new position at a higher level
24 thinking, well, this is the top, and
25 continued to be wrong. So that would
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2 continue them closing out of stop losses,
3 the price still going up, more momentum to
4 buy, et cetera.
5 So, I mean, that's not a very
6 uncommon thing to happen in stocks that
7 have a lot of bullish momentum. Shorts
8 want to try to time the top, and sometimes
9 they get it wrong repeatedly, and they
10 only help fuel upward momentum. It's just
11 supply and demand.
12 Q. Okay. So you were writing here
13 that GameStop -- the squeeze in GameStop
14 is shaping up like the Tesla squeeze that
15 you just described; right?
16 A. I mean, based on the assumption
17 of this post, of this -- me hypothecating
18 that if there were other people coming in,
19 in new short positions, that they were
20 doing so thinking that they had timed the
21 top.
22 Q. So in this scenario that you're
23 envisioning could be what's happening with
24 GameStop, there is --
25 A. It was a theory.
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2 Q. In this theory that you thought
3 could be happening with GameStop --
4 A. I thought that was a potential
5 explanation for the price of action.
6 Q. I'm sorry. Could you let me
7 finish, though.
8 In this theory about what you
9 thought was happening with GameStop
10 potentially, like the Tesla squeeze, there
11 was momentum trading and selling on both
12 sides; correct?
13 A. Correct.
14 Q. And there was a lot of
15 volatility in the market; correct?
16 A. Correct.
17 Q. And people were trying to guess
18 where the price would go next based on
19 that momentum and volatility; correct?
20 A. I mean, I don't know what others
21 would do, but I think in general, when
22 you're investing, you're guessing where
23 the price is going to go.
24 Q. In the last line here, you say,
25 "GME is like a" volcano? Is that a
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2 picture of a volcano?
3 A. That's what it looks like to me.
4 I don't specifically remember making this
5 post, but it looks like a volcano Emoji.
6 Q. And you say, "It's spitting a
7 few rocks and smoke," which would also
8 indicate that that's a volcano; right?
9 A. Correct.
10 Q. And then you go on to say, "But
11 it's just building up to the big" and then
12 a picture of an explosion; right?
13 A. Correct.
14 Q. What does that mean, building up
15 to the big explosion?
16 A. I mean potentially a strong
17 upward move due to the momentum of the
18 stock, fundamental buying and selling,
19 supply and demand.
20 Q. So there would be just a
21 tremendous increase in stock price leading
22 up to a certain point?
23 A. Potentially.
24 Q. And then what happens after it
25 hits the explosion?
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2 A. I don't know. I mean, that
3 would be speculating on what investors
4 were choosing to do at certain points.
5 Q. Did you have any idea about a
6 timeframe for when this would happen?
7 A. No. I mean, one, I don't think
8 it would be fair to say I knew for certain
9 anything would happen or could happen.
10 But my original thesis was their first
11 quarter earnings report was going to be
12 very positive with console news and
13 continued interest and investment from
14 Ryan Cohen and other Chewy members joining
15 the board. So I guess I don't remember
16 specifically when that earnings call was,
17 but I think they had one scheduled in
18 March sometime.
19 Q. So you were anticipating an
20 increase in stock price until March when
21 that earnings call was?
22 A. I don't think I could say all
23 the way until March, no. I'm just saying
24 that I don't think it is easy or
25 reasonable to try to predict a timeline on
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2 any stock price movement, especially
3 volatile ones.
4 MR. S. COHEN: Let's mark
5 Tab 11.
6 (Exhibit 250, A Reddit post
7 titled "Is it still worth it to buy
8 into GME?" was hereby marked for
9 identification, as of this date.)
10 Q. Mr. Cash, you'll see an
11 Exhibit 250, I believe, in your folder.
12 A. Okay.
13 Q. And this is another Reddit post;
14 right?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And it's -- the title is "Is it
17 worth it to buy into GME?"
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. And that's referring to
20 GameStop?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. On the next page, you commented
23 on that post; correct?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And you commented on
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2 January 25, 2021?
3 A. Correct.
4 Q. And you say in your comment,
5 starting from the second sentence, "It
6 will go up ten times from here, in my
7 opinion. The circumstances surrounding
8 GME are unprecedented in a lot of ways."
9 Do you see that?
10 A. I do.
11 Q. So you thought that the price of
12 GameStop stock would increase by a factor
13 of ten going forward from January 25th;
14 correct?
15 A. It looks like that's true. I
16 mean, I don't remember what the price was
17 on that day or specifically writing that
18 post, but, I mean, that's certainly what I
19 wrote.
20 Q. That was your opinion at the
21 time.
22 A. That was my opinion. Yeah.
23 Q. And then you say, "The
24 circumstances surrounding GameStop are
25 unprecedented in a lot of ways."
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2 What does that mean?
3 A. Well, I mean, I've said it
4 before, but my recollection today is when
5 I first found GameStop, it was short
6 140 percent of the float, which is far way
7 more than I have ever seen in my time as
8 an investor, which would certainly set up
9 to a unique supply-and-demand play-out in
10 the future.
11 There was very strong
12 convictions on the opinions of the shorts
13 that were in that highly short position
14 that GameStop was a walking dead man, if
15 you will. It was the next Blockbuster, et
16 cetera. So you had a very high short
17 position.
18 You had very strong convictions
19 in the people that were in that over the
20 levered short position, and yet you still
21 had a lot of positive momentum coming from
22 GameStop on a bullish case with new
23 consoles, models coming out, and a very
24 charismatic, successful person in the
25 e-commerce space and Ryan Cohen investing
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2 heavily in GameStop, getting on the board,
3 getting his former executives from Chewy
4 on the board, and, you know, planning out
5 a potential strong pivot. So, I mean,
6 there was a lot of things that aligned
7 that you would not find in a typical
8 situation.
9 MR. S. COHEN: Let's take a look
10 at Tab 14.
11 (Exhibit 251, A Wallstreetbets
12 Sub-Reddit post titled "The GME Thread
13 Part 2 for January 26, 2021," was
14 hereby marked for identification, as
15 of this date.)
16 Q. So you'll see Exhibit 241 -- I'm
17 sorry -- 251 in your folder.
18 This is another post on
19 Wallstreetbets; correct?
20 A. Correct.
21 Q. And the date is January
22 26, 2021?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. And the title is "The GME thread
25 Part 2 for January 26, 2021"; right?
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2 A. Correct.
3 Q. On the next page, do you see
4 that you commented on that same day?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And you said, "We are eating
7 dips like a fat kid eats cake."
8 A. Yes, I did.
9 Q. What does "we're eating dips"
10 mean?
11 A. Well, at the time, it looked
12 like people that were bullish on the stock
13 were buying more, as the price was
14 dipping.
15 Q. And when you say "we," you're
16 talking about investors like yourself?
17 A. I don't recall specifically,
18 because I made that -- that was a long
19 time ago that I made that post, but it
20 would stand to reason that I'm referring
21 to people that are bullish on GameStop.
22 Q. And you were bullish on
23 GameStop.
24 A. I was long GameStop. I would
25 be -- I would not be long on a company I
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2 was not bullish on.
3 Q. If you go to the next page,
4 you'll see a comment -- another comment by
5 you on the same post; correct?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And you say, "It's a short
8 attack. Digging themselves a deeper
9 hole"?
10 A. I see that.
11 Q. And that was the same day as
12 your previous comment?
13 A. Correct.
14 Q. Who is digging themselves a
15 deeper hole?
16 A. Well, again, I don't recall the
17 specifics of me making that post. But
18 based on the first sentence, I would say
19 shorts. Again, we touched on this
20 earlier, but if you're shorting a stock at
21 X price, and you think you've timed the
22 top, you're only -- and you're wrong,
23 you're only setting yourself up for more
24 losses. And if you keep shorting at
25 higher levels that keep getting blown up,
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2 you just are digging yourself a deeper
3 hole to try to recover losses. But that's
4 up for shorts to manage their own risk.
5 It's not my responsibility.
6 Q. Why do you keep posting about
7 these companies with short positions with
8 GameStop on Wallstreetbets?
9 A. Well, I was mostly answering
10 people's posts or questions, it looks
11 like.
12 Q. So people were interested in
13 your views on GameStop?
14 A. I don't know if people were
15 interested in my specific views. But,
16 again, Wallstreetbets is just like a giant
17 frat house of degenerate gamblers.
18 Q. But these were gamblers who were
19 actively investing in the stock market;
20 correct?
21 A. Presumably so. I guess -- I
22 can't know for sure what anyone was doing
23 with their money. Even though they were
24 making a post, they didn't follow up all
25 the time with bank statements showing that
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2 they were doing anything.
3 Q. And on the next page, if you'll
4 turn to it, maybe two pages, you wrote on
5 the same day, "We like the stock" in all
6 capital letters.
7 A. I see that.
8 Q. Is that, like, a rallying cry on
9 Wallstreetbets, as far as you know?
10 A. I think that's just a statement
11 to say that we like the stock. I mean, if
12 you're wrong, we like the stock.
13 Q. Is that a common refrain on
14 Wallstreetbets?
15 A. I can't recall how common it
16 would or would not have been.
17 Q. Is that something you saw people
18 say all caps on Wallstreetbets?
19 A. I can't specifically recall
20 whether it was all caps or not.
21 Q. Is that statement "We like the
22 stock" a repeated mantra on
23 Wallstreetbets?
24 A. I would say that I have seen it
25 posted a couple of times.
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2 Q. And you posted it here?
3 A. It looks like it.
4 Q. If you go to the next page, you
5 see on January 26, 2021, at 2:16 p.m.,
6 someone with the handle "opposite14"
7 replied to your comment?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And their reply was, all
10 capitals, "We like the stock," next line,
11 "We like the stock."
12 Do you see that?
13 A. I do.
14 Q. So opposite14 is treating it
15 like a rallying cry; correct?
16 A. I wouldn't say I can agree with
17 that. Part of Reddit culture, even beyond
18 Wallstreetbets, is someone will make a
19 post, and you'll have 50 people literally
20 copy and paste and reply a giant reply
21 chain of the exact same thing, whether
22 that's related to the stocks or Memes or
23 across all sub-Reddits. It's a very
24 common thing for people to do -- do that.
25 Q. So momentum posting, if you
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2 will.
3 A. Yeah.
4 Q. And "We like the stock" means
5 that we're going to hold on to the stock;
6 correct?
7 A. I mean, I don't know what other
8 people would use it for. I mean, that
9 would make sense for -- from my
10 perspective, as I like the stock.
11 MR. S. COHEN: Let's do tabs 15.
12 (Exhibit 252, A Wallstreetbets
13 Sub-Reddit post titled "The GME Thread
14 for January 27, 2020," was hereby
15 marked for identification, as of this
16 date.)
17 Q. In your folder, Mr. Cash, you'll
18 see Exhibit 252, I believe.
19 A. I see it.
20 Q. And this is another post
21 published in Wallstreetbets sub-Reddit?
22 A. Yeah, it looks like it.
23 Q. And that was on
24 January 27, 2021?
25 A. Yeah. For whatever reason, I
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2 see 2020. But there's a little highlight
3 at the top saying 2021. But the thread
4 title says 2020.
5 Q. Okay. So is it fair to say that
6 the thread title is a typo?
7 A. Yes. There's a lot of typos on
8 Wallstreetbets.
9 Q. And the title of this thread is
10 "The GME Thread for January 27, 2020,"
11 which we know to be 2021; correct?
12 A. Correct.
13 Q. If you go to the next page, you
14 see you commented on that?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And could you read your comment,
17 please.
18 A. Sure. It says, "I can't fucking
19 sleep. I just wanted to remind
20 everyone... we like the stock."
21 Q. So you say, "We like the stock"
22 again. You're reminding everybody;
23 correct?
24 A. That's what the post says.
25 Q. And does this refresh your
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2 memory as to whether "we like the stock"
3 is like a mantra on Wallstreetbets?
4 A. I mean, I can't say that that's
5 what I was using it as at that time, did I
6 specifically remember that being my
7 intention, since it was so long ago, but
8 it certainly would stand to say that that
9 is something that people posted.
10 Q. And you said you couldn't sleep
11 that night; right?
12 A. Correct.
13 Q. Was it because you were aware of
14 the soaring price of GameStop's stock on
15 January 27, 2021?
16 A. Well, I can't recall
17 specifically why I wouldn't be able to
18 sleep, but, I mean, that post was made at
19 2:44 a.m., so I would not yet know about
20 any January 27th price action, since it
21 would not have started yet.
22 Q. Were you aware of the stock
23 price soaring the day before?
24 A. I can't remember what the stock
25 did the day before specifically, but I was
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2 aware of the volatility of the stock every
3 day.
4 Q. Turning to -- well, I guess the
5 next page, if you look at that, you
6 commented at 2:49 a.m.
7 Do you see that?
8 A. I do.
9 Q. And I'm guessing this means "We
10 like the stock" in German; is that right?
11 A. I honestly have no idea. I
12 don't speak a lick of German.
13 Q. Would you be surprised to learn
14 that this means "we like the stock" in
15 German?
16 A. I mean, I can't say I'd be
17 surprised.
18 MR. ROSEN: Is that true, Scott?
19 Because it's not what -- I'm not sure
20 that's what it means. Is it true
21 that's what it means?
22 MR. S. COHEN: I put it in
23 Google Translate.
24 MR. ROSEN: Because "lager" is
25 beer, is it not?
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2 MR. S. COHEN: I don't speak
3 German.
4 MR. ROSEN: Yeah.
5 THE WITNESS: Well, that makes
6 three of us.
7 BY MR. S. COHEN:
8 Q. So why would you write this?
9 A. Well, I can't recall. That was
10 a couple of years ago, and it was
11 obviously 2 whatever in the morning. So
12 sleep deprivation? I don't know.
13 Q. All right.
14 MR. ROSEN: It could also mean
15 stock. It means camp. It means
16 stock. It means warehouse. Anyway...
17 Q. If you go to page 6, I think.
18 A. Page 6?
19 Q. Well, it's -- there is a comment
20 from hkeylian.
21 Do you see that?
22 A. I think so.
23 Q. And that comment is a question
24 asking "Should I buy after hours right now
25 on Robinhood or wait until the market
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2 opens tomorrow?"
3 Do you see that?
4 A. I do.
5 Q. And you replied at 3:16 a.m.
6 Eastern, "Punch your ticket. There's no
7 promise up or down on what the price will
8 be even five minutes from now."
9 Do you see that?
10 A. I do.
11 Q. And you were referring to the
12 extreme price volatility of GameStop's
13 stock during that period of time; correct?
14 A. Correct.
15 Q. And if you go to -- I think it
16 should be page 14, if you count it. It's
17 a comment by Orange Remoteless on the same
18 post.
19 MR. ROSEN: What does it read?
20 What's the first words? Because I
21 don't see it.
22 MR. S. COHEN: First words are
23 "I'm a cryptobitch."
24 A. I see it.
25 Q. So that's -- there's a comment
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2 to this post by someone with the handle
3 Orange Remoteless, and they say, "I'm a
4 cryptobitch, but I want to be part of this
5 movement. Will I still be of assistance
6 when I put in, like, 2K today?"
7 Do you see that?
8 A. I do.
9 Q. And you said, 4:20 a.m. Eastern
10 on January 27th, "Yes. Enjoy the ride."
11 Do you see that?
12 A. I do.
13 Q. So you were responding to the
14 question; correct?
15 A. It looks like it. I mean, I
16 don't specifically remember this question
17 or responding to it. But --
18 Q. And the comment was written by
19 someone who wants to be part of this
20 movement.
21 Do you see that?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And this movement is referring
24 to participating in the short squeeze of
25 GameStop stock; correct?
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2 A. I can't say for certain I
3 remember what that was specifically
4 referring to. Part of Wallstreetbets is
5 just going up or down; people just like to
6 be a part of the community. So I don't
7 know specifically that's referring to a
8 short squeeze or just being part of the
9 community of Wallstreetbets, because it's
10 not really a crypto community.
11 Q. This is the GME thread for
12 January 27, 2020; correct?
13 A. Correct.
14 Q. And so it stems to reason that a
15 post in this thread or a comment in this
16 thread would refer to GameStop
17 specifically; correct?
18 A. For the most part. I mean,
19 people posted in threads that were just
20 very popular to get replies for anything.
21 Like, I couldn't -- I mean, I would say
22 that I could not 100 percent say every
23 single post and every single thread
24 started by the automoderator of the
25 sub-Reddit is 100 percent about GameStop,
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2 because people posted everything in those
3 threads.
4 Q. Is it a fair estimation of this
5 comment and your response that you're both
6 talking about what was happening in the
7 GameStop stock at that day?
8 A. I would say that's a fair guess.
9 Again, I can't specifically recall
10 answering that person's post in that
11 moment.
12 Q. If you go to page 21, there's a
13 post by k0olk4t.
14 Do you see that?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And k0olk4t comments on this GME
17 thread for January 27th, "I think today is
18 the final squeeze tards."
19 Do you see that?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And at 5:09 a.m. Eastern on that
22 same day, you respond, "No, it will take
23 days to unwind."
24 Do you see that?
25 A. I do.
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2 Q. And so what are you talking when
3 you're answering about the final squeeze?
4 A. Well, again, I don't
5 specifically remember taking -- making
6 that post and my specific thoughts around
7 it. But at the time, my research or line
8 of thinking was a 140 percent short
9 position is not going to be a single-day
10 event. I mean, that's a lot of shares to
11 unwind that could be underwater, so I just
12 didn't think it would be reasonable to
13 expect that to just be a
14 six-hours-in-the-market kind of event.
15 And a lot of times, big positions like
16 that are multiday.
17 Q. So you're talking about the
18 heavily shorted position in GameStop stock
19 that several hedge funds were in; correct?
20 A. Well, yeah. I'm just talking
21 about the supply and demand fundamentals
22 of the stock, that the demand to buy would
23 not just go away in a day, in my opinion.
24 Q. For GameStop.
25 A. Correct.
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2 Q. And so both you and the
3 commenter are recognizing that there is a
4 squeeze going on in GameStop at this
5 moment; correct?
6 A. Potentially.
7 Q. Well, you say pretty
8 affirmatively, no, the squeeze is still
9 going on. It will take days to unwind.
10 A. Well, as a hypothesis. I mean,
11 I can't -- I don't know that for a fact.
12 Q. But that's what you thought.
13 A. Yeah.
14 Q. Let's go to -- I believe it's
15 the last page of this post. It's page 27,
16 a comment that you made on January 27th at
17 8:47 a.m.
18 Do you see that?
19 A. I do.
20 Q. And you commented, "The GME
21 rocket ship has never left anyone behind.
22 We got the 50s, the 70s, we're getting the
23 150s at open, and we're coming for our 300
24 astronauts. GME" and then six rocket
25 ships after that.
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2 Did I read that correctly?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. So you're referring to GME as a
5 rocket ship.
6 A. Well, based on the volatility of
7 the stock, it definitely had some dramatic
8 movements up and down.
9 Q. Unpredictable movements?
10 A. I would say any stock movement
11 is unpredictable, I mean, with certainty.
12 Q. And it was based on the -- the
13 volatility was based on the competing
14 shorting and momentum trading in GameStop
15 stock; correct?
16 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Calls
17 for speculation.
18 Q. It was your view that the
19 extreme volatility was due to extreme
20 shorting and momentum trading in GameStop
21 stock; correct?
22 A. As a function of supply and
23 demand. Yes.
24 Q. You're throwing out numbers
25 here. You have 50s, 70s, 150s, and 300.
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2 Do you see that?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And you're referring to the
5 prices that you expect GameStop stock
6 price to reach?
7 A. I can't say for certain that's
8 what I was writing at the time. I don't
9 remember my thoughts writing this specific
10 post or what the price was from that day
11 back then.
12 Q. But it's likely you were
13 referring to this GameStop stock price
14 when you read these numbers; right?
15 A. Yes. And it turned out I was
16 pretty spot on.
17 Q. Okay. And then the rockets at
18 the end of the post indicate, again, that
19 you thought GameStop's stock price would
20 continue to surge upward?
21 A. That was my thesis.
22 Q. And how long did you expect that
23 to last?
24 A. No idea.
25 Q. You thought it would be into the
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2 next week?
3 A. I had no idea. It was very
4 volatile. It's just a day-by-day,
5 hour-by-hour situation.
6 MR. S. COHEN: Let's mark
7 Tab 16.
8 (Exhibit 253, A Wallstreetbets
9 Sub-Reddit post titled "GME: Gamestonk
10 Thread," was hereby marked for
11 identification, as of this date.)
12 Q. And you'll see in your exhibit
13 folder Exhibit 253.
14 A. I got it.
15 Q. This is another Wallstreetbets
16 post; correct?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. January 27, 2021, at 11:43 a.m.?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And the title is "GME:
21 Gamestonk Thread."
22 Do you see that?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Does "Gamestonk" mean anything
25 to you?
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2 A. I think that was just a
3 reference to GameStop.
4 Q. Do you know where it started?
5 A. I don't remember where it
6 started.
7 Q. If you go to the next page, do
8 you see a comment that you made?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. That was on January 27th as
11 well?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And you write, "I'm thirsty.
14 Someone pass the tears of shorts."
15 A. Yeah. I wrote that.
16 Q. And what did you mean by that?
17 A. I mean, I don't remember
18 specifically, but I'm guessing the stock
19 had a nice upward move, and shorts --
20 again, the person on the opposite side of
21 my trade -- were having a tough go of it.
22 Q. And --
23 A. And I was thirsty.
24 Q. By the tone of this comment, it
25 seems safe to say you were enjoying that
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2 whoever was holding a short position was
3 losing money.
4 A. Yeah. I mean, I'd say
5 99.9 percent of comments on Reddit are
6 pretty tongue in cheek, fraternity, just
7 messing around.
8 Q. And turning to page 5. You post
9 another comment on that thread; right?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. At 12:40 p.m. Eastern?
12 A. Correct.
13 Q. And you say in all caps, "We're
14 still here CNBC. We're still here Wall
15 Street."
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. What does CNBC have to do with
18 this?
19 A. I don't remember.
20 Q. Did they predict that GameStop's
21 stock price would decline at this point?
22 A. I don't remember.
23 Q. And what about Wall Street?
24 A. I don't remember. I mean,
25 that's a very generic phrase. Wall Street
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2 is a literal street in New York City.
3 Q. Is it fair to say you're
4 gloating that the short squeeze is
5 succeeding?
6 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
7 Mischaracterizing the document.
8 Q. You can answer.
9 Is it fair to say that you're
10 gloating because the short squeeze is
11 succeeding in GameStop's stock price?
12 A. No. I mean, I can't say I would
13 say that's totally fair. I mean, it looks
14 like to me it's just saying that we're --
15 the longs are still holding on to the
16 stock.
17 Q. And why are you telling that to
18 Wall Street and CNBC?
19 A. I don't -- I don't remember.
20 Q. Why is it in all capitals?
21 A. I don't remember. I could have
22 accidentally hit caps lock.
23 Q. Is it your testimony that you're
24 not writing this post as spitting in the
25 face of Wall Street and CNBC that you were
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2 right about GameStop's stock?
3 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
4 A. I can't say that that's what I'm
5 writing about, because I don't recall my
6 intentions when I was writing this. It
7 was so long ago. And I don't know off the
8 top of my head what the price of the stock
9 even was back then on that day.
10 Q. So it's possible that that was
11 your intention, but you don't recall.
12 A. It's possible. You know, I
13 don't know the timelines, but there were
14 also just reports of -- from CNBC not
15 about stock price but just about shorts
16 being out of it and this being over or
17 whatever from a -- you know, their
18 strategy perspective, and -- I don't know
19 if that led to any comments or not.
20 Q. But that could be what you're
21 referring to.
22 A. I mean, potentially. That would
23 still indicate that we just like the
24 stock, whether someone is in it on the
25 short side or not.
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2 MR. S. COHEN: Let's do Tab 17.
3 (Exhibit 254, A Wallstreetbets
4 Sub-Reddit post titled "The GME
5 Thread, Part 2.1, for
6 January 27, 2021," was hereby marked
7 for identification, as of this date.)
8 Q. You'll see, Mr. Cash, in your
9 folder I believe Exhibit 253. 254.
10 A. I got it.
11 Q. This is another post in
12 Wallstreetbets; correct?
13 A. Correct.
14 Q. Posted January 27, 2021?
15 A. Correct.
16 Q. And it's titled "The GME Thread,
17 Part 2.1, for January 27, 2021."
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. If you go to page 5 on that
20 thread.
21 A. Okay.
22 Q. Do you see a post you made at
23 2:34 p.m. that day?
24 A. Correct.
25 Q. And you comment, "They are
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2 shorting more," exclamation point. "Buy
3 up those dips," exclamation point.
4 A. Correct.
5 Q. "They are shorting more" meaning
6 there are companies that are holding a
7 short position in GameStop?
8 A. Potentially.
9 Q. That's likely what it is,
10 though, given the thread; right?
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. And then you're encouraging
13 people to buy up those dips in the next
14 sentence; right?
15 A. If they like -- yeah, if they
16 like it. Everyone has to make their own
17 decisions.
18 (Exhibit 255, A Wallstreetbets
19 Sub-Reddit post titled "The GME
20 Thread, Part 3.14, for
21 January 27, 2021," was hereby marked
22 for identification, as of this date.)
23 Q. All right. Mr. Cash, in your
24 folder, you'll see Exhibit 255.
25 A. I got it.
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2 Q. This is another Wallstreetbets
3 post.
4 A. Correct.
5 Q. And it's dated January 27, 2021,
6 at 2:26 p.m.; correct?
7 A. Correct.
8 Q. And the title is "The GME
9 Thread, Part 3.14, for January 27, 2021";
10 right?
11 A. Correct.
12 Q. Okay. If you look on the next
13 page, you see that you posted in this --
14 you commented in this post at 2:47 p.m.?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. By the way, earlier in the
17 deposition, you testified that you
18 couldn't remember if you had ever posted
19 on Wallstreetbets about investments and
20 stocks that you were interested in.
21 Do you remember that?
22 A. I -- maybe.
23 Q. After seeing these several
24 numerous posts in Wallstreetbets about
25 GameStop, does that jog your memory that
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2 you did in fact post frequently about it?
3 A. I mean, seeing the posts
4 obviously help. You know, I don't really
5 pay much attention to social media and
6 recall everything I post from several
7 years ago.
8 Q. But you agree, now that you've
9 seen this, that you did post frequently in
10 Wallstreetbets about GameStop.
11 A. It -- I mean, I've certainly
12 made several posts.
13 Q. So if you look at the post you
14 made -- the comment you made on this
15 thread on January 27, 2021, at
16 2:47 p.m. --
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. -- you say, "GME is still overly
19 shorted."
20 Do you see that?
21 A. Correct.
22 Q. And you're referring to the
23 short position that several companies had
24 in GameStop stock?
25 A. I believe so.
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2 Q. Then you say, "Fundamentally, it
3 cost us nothing to hold. It costs them
4 everything."
5 Do you see that?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. So you're saying that you and
8 the people reading this post should hold
9 GameStop stock; correct?
10 A. I don't think I'm telling anyone
11 what to do.
12 Q. What are you saying here?
13 A. I think I'm just highlighting
14 for people that may or may not know that
15 obviously, if you own shares in a company,
16 it costs you nothing to hold them, but if
17 you're borrowing shares to short, you pay
18 for that.
19 Q. And when you say it costs them
20 everything, you're talking about the money
21 that the people in short positions in
22 GameStop stock are going to lose?
23 A. Well, or the fact that you just
24 have to -- you're taking out a loan
25 essentially from -- you're loaning the
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2 shares from a broker, and they're charging
3 you interest on that position as well. So
4 whether the stock stays flat, you're still
5 paying money to short the stock in those
6 situations.
7 Q. So you're pointing out how
8 costly it is to the people who have
9 maintained short positions in GameStop
10 throughout the last several days or weeks;
11 correct?
12 A. Correct.
13 Q. And then you say, "The squeeze
14 hasn't squeezed."
15 Do you see that?
16 A. I do.
17 Q. And there, you're referring to
18 the idea that there is more to be done in
19 order to fully squeeze out the companies
20 who have a short position in GameStop;
21 correct?
22 A. The basic supply and demand has
23 not played out based on what percent
24 GameStop is still short. There's more
25 bullish upside.
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2 Q. And right below that, you say,
3 "Stay patient," all caps, "Stay strong,"
4 all caps.
5 A. Correct.
6 Q. And you're telling people to
7 continue to hold GameStop stock throughout
8 the volatility of the market; correct?
9 MR. ROSEN: I'm not sure that
10 the word "volatility" exists there.
11 Are you putting words in his mouth,
12 Scott?
13 MR. S. COHEN: I'm asking him
14 what he's saying. He's free to
15 explain what he's saying, but I don't
16 appreciate the speaking objection with
17 you telling him what to say.
18 MR. ROSEN: I'm not telling him
19 what to say.
20 MR. S. COHEN: You keep on
21 putting words in his mouth.
22 MR. ROSEN: You can't just put
23 words into the document and try and
24 convince him to agree with you that it
25 says something that it doesn't say.
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2 So, you know, I just -- I just
3 think -- I object to the form of that
4 question where you mischaracterize the
5 document in such a way.
6 BY MR. S. COHEN:
7 Q. Mr. Cash, you're telling people
8 that continue to hold on to GameStop
9 stock; correct?
10 A. I don't see where I say that in
11 the lines that we've read. I'm just
12 telling people that if you stay patient,
13 stay strong. I mean, it's a very
14 volatile, emotional time for people,
15 seeing wild prices, you know, swinging.
16 So it's just my opinion that patience and
17 emotional strength are a big part of
18 investing.
19 Q. To what end? What are they
20 staying patient for?
21 A. That's up to an individual
22 investor to decide.
23 Q. So could you -- could they be
24 deciding to stay patient and hold the
25 GameStop stock? Is that what you're
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2 thinking?
3 A. I don't have an opinion on what
4 someone would say and hold on to. You
5 know? It's not for me to decide when
6 someone should buy or sell a stock. I'm
7 just simply saying there's a lot of
8 volatility. Patience and emotional
9 control are key during a highly, you
10 know -- of moving stock up and down.
11 Q. And is it your position that
12 you're not encouraging people to hold on
13 to GameStop stock here?
14 A. I don't recall making that post
15 with that intention. I was -- I read that
16 as just sharing knowledge on how holding a
17 stock versus shorting it works from a
18 financial perspective, and that just
19 fundamentally, you have the stronger
20 financial position, because it costs you
21 nothing to hold a stock, and it does cost
22 you interest to short a stock, and in
23 times of market volatility, one of the
24 best things you could do is stay patient
25 and emotionally just stay strong.
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2 Q. All right. Mr. Cash, I'm going
3 to ask you to read the next line, the very
4 next line in your post.
5 A. Sure. It says, "Fuck your
6 retard sell button."
7 Q. And that's talking about the
8 sell button on GameStop stock; correct?
9 A. Presumably.
10 Q. Let's now think about
11 January 28, 2021.
12 Were you aware that Robinhood
13 implemented certain restrictions on its
14 platform on that date?
15 A. I am aware that Robinhood had a
16 direct manipulation on the price by
17 restricting people from buying the stock.
18 Q. Did you know that on
19 January 28th?
20 A. I recall seeing that posted
21 across multiple social media outlets.
22 Q. On that day?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. How early?
25 A. I don't recall exactly how early
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2 specifically in terms of the time. But I
3 would be confident saying I was aware of
4 it shortly after it happened.
5 Q. And that was before trading?
6 A. I believe that was midday.
7 Q. Can you describe the
8 restrictions that you were aware of at
9 that time.
10 A. I was aware that people were not
11 allowed to buy shares of the stock or
12 options, but people were still allowed to
13 sell their shares.
14 Q. Do you recall which stocks this
15 was affecting?
16 A. Specifically what I do recall
17 was GameStop and AMC on that day.
18 Q. Do you recall any increases in
19 restrictions as the day progressed?
20 A. I remember there were increases
21 and maybe margin requirements and some
22 other things with stocks and options.
23 Q. Do you remember how long
24 Robinhood kept its restrictions in place?
25 A. I don't remember specifically
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2 how long.
3 Q. And we briefly saw one of your
4 posts where you thought that other brokers
5 were imposing purchasing restrictions a
6 few days before.
7 Do you remember that?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. How did you hear about
10 Robinhood's restrictions?
11 A. Posts on social media, people
12 reporting it.
13 Q. Okay. And did you see any
14 information on news sources about this?
15 A. I vaguely remember seeing it on
16 the news.
17 Q. On TV?
18 A. I believe so, or at least the
19 front page of a website or something.
20 Q. Let's go to Tab 20.
21 MR. ROSEN: Before you go to
22 another exhibit, we've been going a
23 little bit over an hour. Can we take
24 a break?
25 MR. S. COHEN: Yeah.
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2 Absolutely.
3 MR. ROSEN: All right. Thank
4 you.
5 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Excuse me.
6 Stand by, please. The time is
7 3:06 p.m. We are going off the
8 record. This will end Media Unit No.
9 3.
10 (Recess)
11 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
12 3:17 p.m. We are back on the record.
13 This will be the start of Media Unit
14 No. 4. Counsel.
15 BY MR. S. COHEN:
16 Q. Hello again, Mr. Cash.
17 A. Hello.
18 (Exhibit 256, A Twitter thread,
19 was hereby marked for identification,
20 as of this date.)
21 Q. You'll see in the exhibit folder
22 Exhibit 256. If you could pull that up.
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. And we're back to your Twitter
25 account; right?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And do you recall before the
4 break you said that you believed that
5 Robinhood imposed purchasing restrictions
6 midday on January 28, 2021?
7 A. That was an attempted
8 recollection, but yes.
9 Q. And you see in this first
10 Twitter post, you write, "It's pathetic
11 @Robinhood app is now blocking many
12 @WallstreetbetsMOD members from buying
13 GME"?
14 A. I see that, yes.
15 Q. And you posted that at 8:11 a.m.
16 on January 28, 2021; right?
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. So you were aware of the
19 Robinhood trading restrictions prior to
20 the market opening on January 28th?
21 A. I mean, it looks like that's
22 what that Tweet says.
23 Q. And what it's saying that it's
24 blocking -- what does "WSBMOD" mean?
25 A. I think that was a Twitter
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2 account for Wallstreetbets moderators.
3 Q. Were you a Wallstreetbets
4 moderator?
5 A. No.
6 Q. So when you wrote that Robinhood
7 is blocking Wallstreetbets moderators
8 members from buying GME, you're referring
9 to the purchasing restrictions that
10 Robinhood put in place?
11 A. It looks like it.
12 Q. And one of those purchasing
13 restrictions was GameStop stock.
14 A. Correct.
15 Q. And you say in the next
16 sentence, "Wall Street protecting each
17 other?"
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. So you're connecting Robinhood
20 to Wall Street? Is that fair?
21 A. I can't recall specifically
22 making that connection to make this post.
23 But --
24 Q. That's what it looks like here?
25 A. Yeah. Robinhood is a stock
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2 broker.
3 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: I'm
4 sorry. Could you repeat that?
5 A. Robinhood is a brokerage app.
6 Q. And that relates to Wall Street
7 activity; right?
8 A. Correct.
9 Q. Who are "GMEGANG"?
10 A. I can't recall specifically. It
11 was just a hashtag.
12 Q. So you say hashtag "GMEGANG
13 doesn't need 'protection.' We can make
14 our own decisions."
15 Do you see that?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. So from the perspective of this
18 post, you considered yourself part of the
19 GME Gang; right?
20 A. I would say so. I was long
21 GameStop.
22 Q. Okay. And you're saying that
23 the GME Gang doesn't need protection.
24 A. Correct.
25 Q. What did you mean by that?
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2 A. I think, at the time, "We can
3 make our own decisions" is my next
4 sentence, meaning that, from what I
5 recall, there was chatter about people
6 trying to, quote, protect retail investors
7 from their own decisions, and we don't
8 node protection from anyone else telling
9 us what stocks we can and cannot buy.
10 We're able to make our own investment
11 decisions.
12 Q. So is it fair to say you were
13 upset that Robinhood imposed these
14 restrictions because the GME Gang would
15 like the opportunity to continue to
16 purchase GameStop stock?
17 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Calls
18 for speculation.
19 Q. I'm asking about what you felt.
20 A. I can't remember specifically
21 what I felt at the time. But I would say
22 that I found it, not being a lawyer, but
23 at a minimum, unethical, if not illegal,
24 that they would restrict buying stocks
25 without also restricting the ability to
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2 sell stocks.
3 Q. And that's in part because you
4 thought that the GME Gang should continue
5 to be able to purchase GameStop stock?
6 A. I think that because it's a
7 blatant manipulation of the stock price if
8 you let people sell the stock but not buy
9 it.
10 Q. You didn't use Robinhood;
11 correct?
12 A. Correct.
13 Q. And you traded your GameStop
14 stock in your Merrill account?
15 A. Correct.
16 Q. Did you trade it in other
17 accounts too?
18 A. I think I had some in TD
19 Ameritrade, but, I mean, I would recommend
20 we check the statement that I sent over.
21 Q. So Robinhood's restrictions did
22 not in any way prevent you from purchasing
23 more GameStop stock; right?
24 A. Specifically purchasing stock,
25 correct.
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2 Q. But are you aware that Merrill
3 also put restrictions on GameStop stock?
4 A. I vaguely remember there were
5 some restrictions.
6 Q. And you were aware of that on
7 January 28, 2021?
8 A. I believe so.
9 MR. S. COHEN: Let's mark
10 Tab 22.
11 (Exhibit 257, A Wallstreetbets
12 Sub-Reddit post titled "GME
13 Megathread," was hereby marked for
14 identification, as of this date.)
15 Q. You'll see in your folder soon
16 Exhibit 257.
17 A. I got it.
18 Q. Okay. And this is another
19 Wallstreetbets Reddit -- sub-Reddit post?
20 A. Correct.
21 Q. And that was posted on
22 January 28, 2021, at 11:27 a.m.; correct?
23 A. Correct.
24 Q. If you go two pages in, so it's
25 page 3, you see a comment you posted on
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2 that?
3 A. I think so. Can you say what it
4 says?
5 Q. Well, it's January 28, 2021,
6 11:35 a.m. ?
7 A. Okay.
8 Q. And you wrote, "Merrill has
9 blocked buying GME."
10 A. I see that comment.
11 Q. So by 11:35 of January --
12 11:35 a.m. of January 28, 2021, you were
13 aware that the brokerage through which you
14 traded in GameStop stock had placed a
15 purchasing restriction on GameStop; right?
16 A. Potentially. I can't recall if
17 it was a stock restriction or an options
18 restriction, because I did buy stocks and
19 calls.
20 Q. If you go to the next page, do
21 you see another post that you commented --
22 another comment you made?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Also on January 28, 2021?
25 A. Correct.
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2 Q. And here, you say, "At this
3 point, I believe every broker is blocking
4 buying GME."
5 A. Correct.
6 Q. All right. So by this time, you
7 were fully aware that GameStop stock was
8 not able to be purchased on many, if not
9 all, brokerage accounts; correct?
10 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Lack of
11 foundation.
12 Q. It was your belief at that point
13 that every broker was blocking the
14 purchase of GameStop stock at that time?
15 A. It's possible speculation. I
16 mean, I don't have an account with every
17 brokerage to be able to verify that back
18 at the time. And again, I can't recall if
19 the brokers I did use I was trying to buy
20 stock or options and being restricted,
21 because I was buying both.
22 Q. But at the time, you believed
23 that; right?
24 A. At the time, I believed there
25 was some level of restriction for buying
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2 either the stock or the options. I can't
3 say what I recall specifically the
4 restriction was posted on.
5 MR. S. COHEN: Let's go to
6 Tab 23.
7 (Exhibit 258, A Wallstreetbets
8 Sub-Reddit post titled "Daily
9 Discussion: Thread Part 4 for
10 January 28, 2021," was hereby marked
11 for identification, as of this date.)
12 Q. You'll see Exhibit 258 in your
13 folder.
14 A. Got it.
15 Q. And this is another
16 Wallstreetbets sub-Reddit thread; correct?
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. Also January 28, 2021?
19 A. Correct.
20 Q. And the title is "Daily
21 Discussion Thread Part 4 for
22 January 28, 2021"?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. If you go to the third page.
25 A. Okay.
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2 Q. Do you see your post at
3 2:48 p.m. that day?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And you say, "Merrill still
6 blocking GME."
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. So at this time, you're aware
9 that Merrill was still preventing you from
10 purchasing GME.
11 A. Again, I can't recall if it was
12 stock or options that had the restriction,
13 but there was some level of restriction.
14 Q. Do you -- it's fair to say that
15 you believed at this time Merrill was
16 blocking purchasing of stocks; right?
17 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Asked
18 and answered. Mischaracterizes his
19 testimony.
20 A. I thought that I was trying to
21 buy. I bought both stocks and options,
22 and I can't remember what specifically I
23 was attempting to buy when I wrote these
24 posts.
25 Q. That's your testimony? You
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2 really don't recall that Merrill was
3 placing purchasing restrictions on GME's
4 stock?
5 MR. ROSEN: He answered that
6 question at least three times, maybe
7 four. So if you're asking him to
8 please change it, if you want him to
9 change his testimony, I don't --
10 that's not a question; right? So I'm
11 not -- I'm not sure what you're trying
12 to get out of this, Scott.
13 MR. S. COHEN: I'm just asking
14 if that's his testimony under oath.
15 A. I have no way of being able to
16 remember if I was trying to buy a stock or
17 a call option on that day. That was two
18 years ago.
19 MR. ROSEN: And not to mention,
20 Scott, that we have the house report
21 that says exactly what the
22 restrictions were. We also have your
23 expert's report that lists all the
24 restrictions. So to ask him to
25 remember whether it was stock or
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2 options, you know, two years ago, when
3 you have, you know, expert evidence
4 and original evidence on this, I don't
5 know why, you know, you need to dwell
6 on it more than you've already done.
7 So --
8 MR. S. COHEN: Well, that's not
9 really your problem, Mr. Rosen. But I
10 will move on because I got the answer
11 I wanted.
12 BY MS. S. COHEN:
13 Q. Did you believe that the
14 purchasing restrictions by these brokers
15 would affect the GameStop stock price?
16 A. The manipulative measure of
17 preventing people from buying the stock
18 while letting them sell of course would
19 manipulate the price downward, especially
20 causing panic in the market that people
21 can't buy it, but they can sell it. It's
22 a one-way street at that point.
23 Q. And were you upset that you
24 weren't able to sell all of your
25 Merrill -- all of your GameStop
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2 securities?
3 A. I don't think there was ever a
4 restriction on someone trying to sell
5 their GameStop, which is the problem.
6 Q. You're right. You're right.
7 I'm sorry.
8 Were you -- were you upset that
9 you were no longer able to purchase
10 GameStop securities on Merrill?
11 A. I was upset that there were
12 restrictions placed by any broker in a
13 manipulative fashion that would not allow
14 there to be fairness in the market of
15 allowing people to buy and sell. It's not
16 uncommon for stocks to be halted by the
17 SEC to prevent buying and selling, which
18 is a fair action to me. But when you turn
19 off the buy button and only let people
20 sell and then turn it into a one-way
21 street instead of it being a two-way
22 street as a market, yeah, I'd say that's
23 upsetting. That's a blatant manipulation
24 in a stock price.
25 Q. And so at that time, were you
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2 concerned that GameStop's stock price
3 would fall purely because of the
4 purchasing restrictions on GameStop?
5 A. Yeah. Again, like I said
6 before, this was an unprecedented
7 situation in a lot of ways, and this was a
8 new unprecedented situation where I had
9 never seen a stock being -- or multiple
10 stocks being blocked from being bought but
11 only sold. So I think the rules of the
12 game were changed, and that is a
13 concerning, an unprecedented situation.
14 Q. Okay. Earlier, we went through
15 your stock purchases of GameStop stock.
16 Do you recall that?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And you purchased shares in
19 December of 2020 and January 2021?
20 A. Correct.
21 Q. I want to go to what will be
22 Exhibit 258. Or maybe 259.
23
24
25
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2 (Exhibit 259, February 2021
3 Merrill Edge Report account statement,
4 Bates P00002372 through P00002389, was
5 hereby marked for identification, as
6 of this date.)
7 Q. And this -- are you there?
8 A. 259?
9 Q. Yes.
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. This is another -- it's a
12 similar statement from Merrill Edge;
13 correct?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And this is your February 2021
16 Merrill account statement; right?
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. And for the record, this is
19 beginning Bates No. P00002372.
20 So this reflects all the trades
21 that were settled in your Merrill
22 brokerage platform in February 2021;
23 right?
24 A. It should.
25 Q. Let's go to the page with the
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2 Bates number ending 2381.
3 A. Okay.
4 Q. And if we look at the first row,
5 it looks like you sold 500 shares of
6 GameStop's stock on February 1st?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And that was at $132 per share;
9 right?
10 A. Correct.
11 Q. You actually executed this sale
12 on January 28th; is that right?
13 A. I can't remember. What day of
14 the week was that?
15 Q. So that would be a Thursday.
16 A. Okay. That makes sense.
17 Q. And then it settled on the 1st.
18 A. Okay.
19 Q. And this was the January 28th
20 transaction that you put down in the
21 certification we looked at before?
22 A. Correct.
23 Q. Do you recall when in the day
24 you made this sale?
25 A. I think it was a Thursday.
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2 Q. I'm sorry. Do you recall at
3 what time in the day you made the sale?
4 A. I don't recall the specific
5 time.
6 Q. But this was after you became
7 aware of Robinhood's trading restrictions?
8 A. Correct.
9 Q. But you didn't sell all of the
10 GameStop shares that you held at that
11 point; correct?
12 A. That's correct.
13 Q. And why is that?
14 A. Why didn't I sell all my shares?
15 Q. Yes.
16 A. I still had a bullish outlook on
17 the overall situation.
18 Q. So why did you sell any shares?
19 A. Well, again, it was a very
20 historic, unprecedented, in my opinion,
21 blatant manipulation of a stock by turning
22 off the buy button by a major broker,
23 pushing the price down, and it was
24 something that was unprecedented in my
25 experience of people being able to sell a
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2 stock but not buy it. So I wanted to take
3 some chips off the table, still collect
4 some profits without knowing how much more
5 manipulation or foolery there would be in
6 the market, considering we were in
7 unchartered territory.
8 Q. So you knew that there was
9 market manipulation as it pertained to
10 GameStop's stock, but you wanted to try to
11 save some value if you could by selling
12 500 shares of the stock at that point;
13 correct?
14 A. Correct.
15 Q. And you believed that in the
16 long run, there was still demand to
17 purchase GameStop stock as there was
18 before January 28th?
19 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
20 Mischaracterizes his prior testimony.
21 Q. Did you believe there was still
22 a demand to purchase GameStop stock as --
23 in the same way there was prior to
24 January 28th?
25 A. Without there being manipulative
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2 components in place of not letting people
3 buy, I still thought that a fair ability
4 for supply and demand to play out, there
5 was still bullish momentum for GameStop to
6 continue to go up. That was obviously
7 heavily impeded by there being a direct
8 negative impact on the supply and demand
9 basic fundamentals by cutting off the
10 demand.
11 Q. Was it your thinking that if the
12 restrictions were lifted, the momentum
13 purchasing of GameStop's stock would
14 continue?
15 A. If the restrictions were lifted
16 or had never taken place?
17 Q. If they were lifted in the
18 future, did you think that the momentum
19 purchasing would resume?
20 A. Yes.
21 MR. S. COHEN: Let's go to
22 Tab 21.
23 Q. And before you go to the next
24 exhibit, you sold your shares at $132 per
25 share; right?
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2 A. Correct.
3 Q. And do you recall the price at
4 which you purchased your shares?
5 A. No. You'd have to look at the
6 statements in terms of that specific block
7 of shares. We went over earlier. I
8 bought some at various prices.
9 Q. Fair to say that you never
10 purchased GameStop stock at -- as high as
11 $132?
12 A. I believe in my TD Ameritrade
13 account, I did. I bought it higher than
14 that.
15 Q. In your Merrill account.
16 A. Not in my -- I don't believe I
17 did in my Merrill the but you'd have to
18 check the statements.
19 Q. Do you recall the price at which
20 you purchased your shares on January 28th?
21 A. How much I purchased shares for?
22 Q. I'm sorry. How much you
23 purchased the shares for on January 21st.
24 A. I would say we would have to
25 confirm on the statement.
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2 Q. If you go to 260.
3 A. Okay.
4 Q. I'm sorry. Exhibit 242.
5 MR. ROSEN: Exhibit 242?
6 A. Okay.
7 Q. If you go to page 6 of 13.
8 A. 6 of 13? I'm showing 16 pages
9 on this.
10 Q. There should be type on here
11 that says 6 of 13, 7 of 13.
12 A. Oh, you're talking about from
13 the statement. Okay. Got it.
14 Q. You see your first purchase of
15 GameStop stock in December of 2020 was for
16 $18.17 per share?
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. Do you see your next purchase of
19 GameStop stock on December 23, 2020, was
20 for $15.4566 cents per share?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Both of those are a lot lower
23 than the 130-plus dollars that you sold
24 your GameStop stock at; correct?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. Now I'll have you go to
3 Exhibit 246.
4 A. Okay.
5 Q. And this is your January Merrill
6 trading account?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And if you go to 5 of 11 on
9 that.
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. You purchased GameStop stock on
12 January 21, 2021, at $37.9678 per share?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And that is also a lot lower
15 than the 135-plus dollars per share that
16 you sold your GameStop stock at on
17 January 28th, and that settled on
18 February 1st; correct?
19 A. Depends on your perspective, but
20 yes.
21 Q. It's many multiples of -- you
22 sold at many multiples of your purchase
23 price; correct?
24 A. Correct. But I would also say
25 that before the buy button was off,
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2 GameStop that day had hit 483, which is
3 many multiples higher than after it was
4 manipulated. So I guess it depends on
5 your perspective.
6 Q. You didn't --
7 MR. S. COHEN: Are we on Tab 21?
8 (Exhibit 260, A Wallstreetbets
9 Sub-Reddit post titled "GME
10 Containment Zone 2 for
11 January 28, 2021," was hereby marked
12 for identification, as of this date.)
13 Q. All right. In your folder,
14 could you go to tab -- Exhibit 260,
15 please.
16 A. Got it.
17 Q. This is another Wallstreetbets
18 post; correct?
19 A. Correct.
20 Q. Dated January 28, 2021?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And its title is "GME
23 Containment Zone 2 for January 28, 2021"?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And it's posted at 9:48 a.m.?
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2 A. The thread.
3 Q. The thread.
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. If you go to the third page, do
6 you see a comment you made to this thread?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And that was on January 28th at
9 10:29 a.m.?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. All right. And this was after
12 your Tweet about Robinhood imposing
13 purchasing restrictions; correct?
14 A. I believe so, yes.
15 Q. That was before the market?
16 A. Correct.
17 Q. And this is after the market
18 opened.
19 A. Correct.
20 Q. And you commented, "Hey Wall
21 Street. I know you're lurking and have
22 some pathetic intern reading it. Take
23 notes intern. Your bullshit scare tactics
24 won't work. We've got diamonds hands and
25 we're too retarded to even know how to
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2 sell. We only know how to buy."
3 Did I read that correctly?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. So you address this comment to
6 Wall Street; right?
7 A. I mean, it's a satire post, but
8 sure.
9 Q. Okay. What were you talking
10 about here?
11 A. I can't recall exactly, but
12 there was theories that certain firms were
13 posting or participating in Wallstreetbets
14 just like any other poster would be
15 allowed to.
16 Q. And you mentioned diamond hands
17 before; correct?
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. And what did you say that meant?
20 A. Just being strong in your
21 conviction.
22 Q. And what was your conviction at
23 this point when making this post?
24 A. I still like the stock. I still
25 thought it was a bullish outlook on its
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2 potential.
3 Q. You said below that, "GME will"
4 rocket -- you have seven rocket ships
5 there; correct?
6 A. Correct.
7 Q. And that's what you were saying
8 before, you believed that GameStop would
9 prevail and continue to have increased
10 stock prices?
11 A. I thought the supply and demand
12 was still very bullish.
13 Q. Did you post this in order to
14 inform the other Wallstreetbets readers
15 what your thoughts were about GameStop?
16 A. I can't remember what my
17 thoughts were when I posted that. It
18 reads to me as like a tongue-in-cheek
19 post. I mean, I'm addressing a whole
20 industry that nobody knows if they're even
21 there or not. So, I mean, it just seems
22 kind of like a joke.
23 MR. S. COHEN: Let's go to the
24 next exhibit.
25
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2 (Exhibit 261, A Wallstreetbets
3 Sub-Reddit post titled "I just watched
4 'The Big Short' and I finally get it,"
5 was hereby marked for identification,
6 as of this date.)
7 Q. You'll see in your folder
8 Exhibit 261 shortly.
9 A. I got it.
10 Q. And are you there?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Okay. This is another
13 Wallstreetbets sub-Reddit post; correct?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Published on January 31, 2021?
16 A. Correct.
17 Q. On page 2, you posted a comment.
18 Do you see that?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And can you read the first
21 sentence, please.
22 A. The comment where I'm saying,
23 "I'm holding for every retard on this
24 sub."
25 Q. Right. So you were -- you're
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2 holding GameStop stock is what you're
3 referring to?
4 A. I can't recall.
5 Q. Do you believe that's what
6 you're talking about here?
7 A. It's possible.
8 Q. And then you say, "This is a
9 fucking message to Wall Street"; right?
10 A. Yes.
11 (Exhibit 262, A Wallstreetbets
12 Sub-Reddit post titled "Breaking
13 Market News on Twitter: YTD
14 Performance of Melvin: -53 percent,"
15 was hereby marked for identification,
16 as of this date.)
17 Q. You'll see in your folder soon I
18 believe Exhibit 262.
19 A. Okay. Got it.
20 Q. And this is another
21 Wallstreetbets sub-Reddit post; correct?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Posted on January 31, 2021?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And it's posting a Tweet that
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2 was itself posted earlier that day; right?
3 A. That the Tweet was posted?
4 Q. Yes. The Tweet was posted
5 earlier that day?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And now this -- the post on
8 Wallstreetbets is -- they copy and posted
9 that Twitter post onto the thread; right?
10 A. Yeah, or linked it.
11 Q. Or linked it.
12 And that Twitter post says, in
13 all capitals, "Hedge fund Melvin Capital
14 lost 53 percent in January, hit partly by
15 soaring prices of GameStop and other
16 shorted stocks."
17 Did I read that correctly?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And Melvin Capital is one of the
20 companies to which you raised a middle
21 finger Emoji in a previous Wallstreetbets
22 post; correct?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. If you look on the next page,
25 please.
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2 A. Okay.
3 Q. You commented on that thread;
4 right?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And you wrote, "Only 47 percent
7 to go," exclamation point. "Hold,"
8 exclamation point.
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Did I read that --
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. When you say "only 47 percent to
13 go," that would be the remaining value of
14 Melvin Capital with reference to the
15 Tweet; correct?
16 A. I mean, I don't specifically
17 remember writing that message, but that
18 seems like a good -- a good assumption
19 there.
20 Q. And you're encouraging people to
21 hold; right?
22 A. Well, again, I don't know what I
23 was inferring when I wrote that, but I was
24 still holding.
25 Q. Holding GameStop specifically;
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2 right?
3 A. Correct. I mean, I had other
4 positions in other companies at the time
5 too, but --
6 (Exhibit 263, A Wallstreetbets
7 Sub-Reddit post titled "What Are Your
8 Moves Tomorrow, February 03, 2021,"
9 was hereby marked for identification,
10 as of this date.)
11 Q. You'll see in your folder
12 Exhibit 263.
13 A. Okay.
14 Q. This is another Wallstreetbets
15 sub-Reddit post; correct?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. This one posted
18 February 2, 2021?
19 A. Correct.
20 Q. And it's titled "What Are Your
21 Moves Tomorrow, February 3, 2021."
22 A. Correct.
23 Q. And if you go to the next page,
24 you'll see that you responded to the
25 question "What are your moves tomorrow?"
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2 "Diamond fucking hands."
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And that means that you're going
5 to continue to hold GameStop stock;
6 correct?
7 A. Correct.
8 MR. S. COHEN: Tab 30.
9 (Exhibit 264, A Wallstreetbets
10 Sub-Reddit post titled "What Are Your
11 Moves Tomorrow, February 04, 2021,"
12 was hereby marked for identification,
13 as of this date.)
14 Q. You'll see Exhibit 264 in your
15 folder.
16 A. Okay.
17 Q. This is another Wallstreetbets
18 sub-Reddit post; correct?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. This was posted
21 February 3, 2021.
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And the title of the thread is
24 "What Are Your Moves Tomorrow,
25 February 4, 2021."
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2 A. Correct.
3 Q. And if you look at the comment
4 that you wrote in response, what do you
5 say?
6 A. It looks like I say, "Holding
7 the fucking line."
8 Q. And you're talking about
9 continuing to hold GameStop stock;
10 correct?
11 A. I don't recall specifically
12 making that post, but it's a fair guess.
13 Q. So throughout February 3, 2021,
14 you're still holding GameStop stock with
15 the hope that the price would rise.
16 A. I can't recall when I
17 specifically sold all or any of my
18 position in GameStop. We'd have to check
19 the statements.
20 Q. Did you -- do you recall at this
21 time still believing GameStop stock would
22 rise?
23 A. I can't specifically say that I
24 remember that, but it seems reasonable.
25 Q. Okay. Do you recall thinking
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2 that there is still a short squeeze going
3 on with GameStop stock?
4 A. I don't know. I mean, it's hard
5 to think back specifically to what I was
6 thinking on these dates in early February,
7 because we were still coming out of, say,
8 manipulation of the stock price and the
9 buy button being -- impacting a lot of the
10 value of the stock or the price, so I
11 can't really recall what I was
12 hypothesizing back then.
13 Q. Okay.
14 MR. S. COHEN: Let's go to
15 Tab 32.
16 (Exhibit 265, TD Ameritrade
17 account statement, Bates P00002715
18 through P00002720, was hereby marked
19 for identification, as of this date.)
20 Q. You'll see Exhibit 265 in your
21 folder soon.
22 A. Okay.
23 Q. This is your TD Ameritrade
24 statement; right?
25 A. Correct.
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2 Q. And this is the statement for
3 February 2021?
4 A. Correct.
5 Q. So it includes all of the trades
6 you made that were settled in
7 February 2021 on Ameritrade, TD
8 Ameritrade.
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Okay. And for the record, this
11 is beginning Bates P00002715.
12 And Mr. Cash, I'll ask you to
13 turn to the page ending 2719.
14 A. 2719. Got it.
15 Q. And it shows in the first row
16 that you --
17 MR. ROSEN: I don't have a 2719.
18 I have a 2720 and a 2718. That's
19 strange. Are you sure it's 2719?
20 It's totally blanked out for me.
21 MR. S. COHEN: So the beginning
22 Bates number is 2715. And I --
23 MR. ROSEN: Yeah --
24 MR. S. COHEN: -- had Mr. Cash
25 turn to 2719.
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2 MR. ROSEN: I may be able to
3 pull it up on my own. So let me pull
4 it up on my own.
5 MR. S. COHEN: Yeah. We'll
6 wait.
7 MR. ROSEN: Because I have it
8 somewhere in my files. So I just need
9 a sec. This is TD Ameritrade
10 February?
11 MR. S. COHEN: Correct.
12 MR. ROSEN: Just give me a
13 second. I'm sorry. Just give me a
14 second.
15 (Pause)
16 MR. ROSEN: Okay. I found it.
17 Q. So if you look -- Mr. Cash, if
18 you look at the first row on that page
19 ending 2719, do you see that you purchased
20 five shares of GameStop stock on
21 January 28, 2021?
22 A. Correct.
23 Q. And it was -- it was settled on
24 February 1, 2021?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And you -- the purchase price of
3 those five shares was $277.9999 per share;
4 right?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. January 28th was the same day
7 you sold the 500 shares of GameStop;
8 right?
9 A. Correct.
10 Q. Do you remember when in the day
11 you bought these five shares?
12 A. I believe I bought them in the
13 morning shortly after the market opened.
14 Q. Okay. But you were already
15 aware of the purchasing restrictions
16 before the market opened; correct?
17 A. I was aware of rumors of some
18 people on Reddit claiming that.
19 Q. And you Tweeted about those
20 rumors?
21 A. Correct.
22 Q. Why did you buy these five
23 shares?
24 A. Well, that -- that morning, the
25 stock was breaking out, again, a lot of
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2 momentum and a lot of positive supply and
3 demand, and again, it did break up to
4 483 that day, so I was just throwing a few
5 more shares at a potential breakout,
6 bullish breakout in my opinion, and then
7 after the buy back button was turned off
8 on Robinhood, it started to crash, from
9 what I remember.
10 Q. Why did you buy at one account
11 and sell in the other account the same
12 stock?
13 A. Well, I had a lot more shares in
14 Merrill. I mean, I only bought five.
15 Here in TD Ameritrade is just a bullish
16 breakout small play, low risk in terms of
17 total capital put up. But in terms of
18 trying to respond to the manipulation of
19 the stock crashing down from 483 to losing
20 over half its value during interday
21 trading, most of my shares that I could
22 sell to try to at least lock in some level
23 of profits off the overall position, I
24 would have to do that in Merrill.
25 Q. But I'm asking why didn't you --
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2 why did you use a different account to buy
3 these five shares? Why didn't you just
4 either sell 495 shares in Merrill or sell
5 500 shares and purchase five in Merrill?
6 A. I don't recall exactly that
7 level of detail as to why I did that in TD
8 versus Merrill. I mean, at the time, TD
9 was an account that I was still exploring
10 the user interface for and wanting to just
11 get more practice with. So I was just
12 trying to do a little trading.
13 Q. If you look at the next row
14 down, do you see that on February 3, 2021,
15 you sold your five shares in GameStop
16 stock?
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. And because you purchased these
19 in -- on January 28, 2021, you understand
20 that these shares don't count towards your
21 loss in this lawsuit; correct?
22 A. I will leave that up to the
23 judge and lawyers to determine.
24 Q. Okay. Is it correct that in
25 January 2021 and February 2021, you did
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2 not buy shares of Blackberry?
3 A. I can't recall.
4 Q. Do you recall whether or not you
5 purchased shares of Bed Bath & Beyond
6 during this time?
7 A. I can't recall. I don't believe
8 so, but, again, I'd have to check the
9 statements.
10 Q. Do you believe that during this
11 time, you purchased shares in Express
12 Inc.?
13 A. I don't recall, but I don't
14 believe so.
15 Q. Do you recall whether you
16 purchased or sold shares in Nokia during
17 this time?
18 A. I don't specifically recall.
19 Q. Do you recall whether you
20 purchased or sold shares of Koss
21 Corporation during this time?
22 A. I don't believe so.
23 Q. Do you recall whether or not you
24 purchased or sold shares in Tootsie Roll
25 during this time?
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2 A. I don't believe so, but, again,
3 I'd check the statements.
4 Q. And do you recall whether or not
5 you purchased or sold shares of Trivago
6 during this time?
7 A. Same situation. I don't
8 specifically remember, but I'd check the
9 statements.
10 Q. And I think that you did sell
11 some AMC shares in January 2021; correct?
12 A. I don't -- I don't recall that.
13 We'd have to check the statements.
14 Q. Okay. Did you consider buying
15 any of these stocks in January 2021?
16 A. Not that I remember.
17 Q. And since -- I'm sorry.
18 A. Oh, I'm sorry. I was just going
19 to say I don't remember specifically,
20 but --
21 Q. Since 2021, have you ever
22 purchased GameStop shares?
23 A. Since 2021? Like, in 2022 or --
24 Q. Yes.
25 A. No.
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2 Q. Okay. Did you purchase GameStop
3 shares after January 2021?
4 A. I don't recall.
5 Q. You still trade stocks today;
6 right?
7 A. Currently, no.
8 Q. Okay. Do you still have any of
9 your brokerages open?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Which ones?
12 A. TD Ameritrade and E-Trade.
13 Q. And as far as you know, do you
14 hold any stock in any of the companies I
15 just listed before? And I can list them
16 again if you'd like me to.
17 A. I do not.
18 Q. You don't hold stock in any of
19 those companies.
20 A. Not currently.
21 Q. What stocks make up the largest
22 portion of your portfolio right now?
23 A. Probably Lucid.
24 Q. That's the majority, you think?
25 A. Right now, it might be the only
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2 thing.
3 Q. And do you know about how much
4 value is in your portfolio right now?
5 A. I don't recall. I don't look at
6 it very often.
7 Q. What's your role in this
8 lawsuit, in your own words?
9 A. My role is to be a
10 representative of the class.
11 Q. And what does that mean?
12 A. My role is to act in a manner
13 that benefits all the members of the class
14 equally, whether they're present in this
15 suit or not, and to act in their best
16 interest and work with our legal team to
17 make sure things are done the right way
18 and to the best of their ability.
19 Q. And do you know anything about
20 your specific responsibilities as a class
21 representative?
22 A. It's mostly fiduciary. I have a
23 fiduciary responsibility to the rest of
24 the class to make sure that we act in
25 their best interest.
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2 Q. And what does it mean to you to
3 be a named plaintiff, if at all different
4 than being a class representative?
5 A. Pretty much what I just said,
6 that, you know, I'm involved in, you know,
7 having a bigger role in overseeing this
8 process and being a part of it and making
9 sure that things are done in the best
10 interest of the class.
11 Q. What have you done so far as a
12 representative in this lawsuit besides
13 sitting for this deposition?
14 A. I have complied with turning
15 over documents. I have met with our legal
16 team and the other members of the class.
17 Q. How did you hear about this
18 lawsuit?
19 A. I reached out to the Rosen Law
20 Firm directly.
21 Q. You affirmatively reached out?
22 A. Can you clarify what you mean by
23 affirmatively?
24 Q. There was no search for
25 plaintiffs that they put out that you're
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2 aware of; correct?
3 A. Correct.
4 Q. You just -- you were looking for
5 somebody -- you were looking for a law
6 firm to help you sue Robinhood.
7 A. Correct.
8 Q. Who did you first reach out to
9 at the Rosen Law Firm?
10 A. I don't recall. I called a
11 number off maybe their website.
12 Q. How did you find out about this
13 lawsuit?
14 A. I didn't specifically find out
15 about this lawsuit. I first reached out
16 shortly after this happened to inquire
17 about starting one.
18 Q. And how long -- well, about when
19 was that?
20 A. When this happened.
21 Q. So February 2021?
22 A. February, end of January,
23 somewhere in that --
24 Q. And that's when you -- sorry.
25 That's when you reached out to
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2 the Rosen Law Firm?
3 A. Correct.
4 Q. But you didn't -- you didn't
5 sign a retainer with the Rosen Law Firm
6 until February 23, 2023?
7 A. That sounds correct.
8 Q. What was happening in those two
9 years in between?
10 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Vague.
11 Ambiguous.
12 You want to give him a hint as
13 to whether you're asking him what was
14 happening in the stock market, what
15 was happening in the lawsuit --
16 MR. S. COHEN: We're talking
17 about --
18 MR. ROSEN -- what was happening
19 in baseball?
20 BY MR. S. COHEN:
21 Q. We're talking about your
22 engagement in this lawsuit.
23 So I'm wondering what happened
24 with the Rosen Law Firm from the time you
25 reached out to them in February of 2021 to
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2 the time you retained them in February of
3 2023?
4 A. Just communications, you know,
5 asking what about my situation, about, you
6 know, my perspective on what happened, and
7 keeping up with a possibility of there
8 being a case.
9 Q. And the first complaint on which
10 you show up as a named plaintiff was the
11 amended complaint; is that correct?
12 A. I believe so.
13 Q. And that was filed on
14 January 17, 2023?
15 A. Correct.
16 Q. Did you want to be in the
17 original complaint?
18 A. I don't recall. I mean, I'm
19 happy to be part of it in any capacity.
20 Q. In excluding your deposition
21 today, about how much time would you say
22 you've been involved in activities as a
23 named plaintiff?
24 A. I would guess eight or nine.
25 Q. Eight or nine hours total?
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2 A. Correct.
3 Q. And have you read the complaint?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. When?
6 A. Before it was filed.
7 Q. Was that the amended complaint
8 that you read?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Did you review any other
11 documents related to the events at issue
12 in this case?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Like what?
15 A. I reviewed my documents that
16 were requested to be submitted.
17 Q. Did you review any court filings
18 other than the complaint?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Do you recall which ones you --
21 which court filings you looked at?
22 A. I do not.
23 Q. What did you do during those I
24 think you said nine hours total other than
25 this deposition that you were working as a
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2 named plaintiff?
3 A. Well, we had meetings with my
4 lawyers on several occasions. There was a
5 meeting with the other plaintiffs, and
6 I've spent some time getting together the
7 documents and posts.
8 Q. How much time do you expect to
9 be involved in this lawsuit going forward?
10 A. I wouldn't say I have an
11 expectation.
12 Q. Do you know what stage of
13 litigation the case is currently in?
14 A. We're seeking certification.
15 Q. Class certification?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. What does that mean, if you
18 know?
19 A. To classify and certify this as
20 a class action suit to represent the
21 members of the class against Robinhood and
22 its subsidiaries.
23 Q. Have you been compensated for
24 your time or work involved in this case?
25 A. No.
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2 Q. Have you been told whether you
3 would receive compensation in connection
4 with your involvement in this case?
5 A. I think that's up to a judge.
6 Q. So you haven't been told that.
7 A. Correct.
8 Q. Could you tell me what the class
9 is that you're seeking to represent?
10 A. Yeah. I'm seeking to represent
11 the class of people that owned many of the
12 stocks that you mentioned on January 27th
13 that were negatively impacted by the
14 manipulation of the price by turning off
15 the buy button and sold during
16 January 28th or February 4th.
17 Q. And this suit is against
18 Robinhood?
19 A. Robinhood and any relevant
20 subsidiaries.
21 Q. And why would Robinhood's
22 conduct affect you as a non-Robinhood
23 customer of a different brokerage?
24 A. Because Robinhood's actions
25 rippled across the entire market in terms
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2 of -- you wouldn't have to be a Robinhood
3 customer to be impacted. You just had to
4 own shares in a company in which their
5 direct actions manipulated the price
6 downward, preventing the true value of the
7 price to play out through basic
8 supply-and-demand principles. So even if
9 my shares were with Merrill Lynch, my
10 Robinhood -- my GameStop share price was
11 not different because I was with Merrill
12 Lynch compared to Robinhood. So --
13 Q. So is it fair to say that the
14 contentions that you as a plaintiff are
15 making in this case also apply to the
16 other brokerages that impose trading
17 restrictions on the relevant stocks?
18 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Calls
19 for a legal conclusion.
20 Q. I asked if that was your
21 contention.
22 Is it your contention that this
23 applies -- what -- you know, the theory
24 you're bringing applies to the other
25 brokerages who imposed restrictions on the
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2 relevant stocks?
3 MR. ROSEN: Same objection.
4 A. I would say that's up for a
5 lawyer or a judge to determine. I do not
6 have the legal background to answer that.
7 Q. Do you think that the other
8 brokerages imposing trading restrictions
9 on the relevant stocks affected the price
10 of GameStop?
11 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Calls
12 for expert testimony.
13 A. Again, I would say that I am
14 also not qualified to make that
15 speculation.
16 Q. Didn't you testify at length
17 before that that was what you thought
18 happened in the market?
19 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
20 Mischaracterizes his prior testimony.
21 If you want to show him a transcript
22 in which he made that testimony,
23 that's fine. But you can't -- there's
24 no basis that I know of to say that.
25 Q. Do you recall whether or not you
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2 testified today, Mr. Cash, that as a
3 result of the brokerages who imposed
4 restrictions on trading GameStop, that
5 that affected the share price of GameStop
6 stock?
7 A. Well, I don't recall anyone
8 other than Robinhood turning off the buy
9 button for shares.
10 Q. You said that it's possible that
11 Merrill did that as well, although you
12 didn't remember; correct?
13 A. I said I don't remember, but I
14 also believe there has been investigations
15 and other testimony that can more answer
16 that in a solid manner compared to my
17 speculation.
18 Q. What are you claiming are your
19 losses in this case?
20 A. That's for a judge to decide.
21 Q. Well, it's for a judge to
22 decide. But what are you -- what are your
23 contentions?
24 A. That the stock was heavily
25 manipulated by people not being able to
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2 buy but still being able to sell their
3 shares.
4 Q. So do you recall earlier today,
5 we discussed the fact that you purchased
6 your GameStop shares at a price lower than
7 what you sold them at during the class
8 period?
9 A. Correct.
10 Q. And do you recall that you said
11 you could have sold them still at a higher
12 price had Robinhood not imposed the trade
13 restrictions?
14 A. Sure.
15 Q. Is it your contention that the
16 difference between what you could have
17 sold it at -- GameStop stock at and what
18 you did sell GameStop stock at constitutes
19 a loss?
20 A. Just to clarify, are you asking
21 if I view what I ended up selling GameStop
22 at was a loss compared to what I think
23 GameStop should have gone without the
24 manipulation?
25 Q. Yes.
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2 A. That would -- my personal
3 opinion, yes.
4 Q. And is that what you're hoping
5 to recover in bringing this lawsuit?
6 A. Recover my hypothetical where I
7 think the stock would go?
8 Q. Yes.
9 A. Again, that's not for me to
10 decide.
11 Q. But you think of that as a loss.
12 A. I think of that as a direct
13 negative impact on the fair market playing
14 out in supply and demand.
15 (Exhibit 266, A Wallstreetbets
16 Sub-Reddit post titled "We are
17 Preparing a Class Action Lawsuit
18 against Robinhood," was hereby marked
19 for identification, as of this date.)
20 Q. You'll see in your folder soon
21 Exhibit 266.
22 MR. ROSEN: Scott, how much
23 longer are we going to go? Because
24 we've been going about an hour and
25 15 minutes, and we're due for a break.
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2 So how much -- I mean, if this is your
3 last exhibit, I guess we don't have to
4 break. But if you've got a ways to
5 go, we should take a break.
6 MR. S. COHEN: We could take a
7 five, ten-minute break.
8 MR. ROSEN: Okay. Sounds good.
9 Thanks.
10 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Stand by,
11 please. The time is 4:29. We're
12 going off the record. This will end
13 Media Unit No. 4.
14 (Recess)
15 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
16 4:38 p.m. We are back on the record,
17 and this will be the start of Media
18 Unit No. 5.
19 BY MR. S. COHEN:
20 Q. Mr. Cash, if you could open up
21 your folder to Exhibit 266.
22 A. Okay.
23 Q. This is a Wallstreetbets
24 sub-Reddit post; correct?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. Posted January 28, 2021?
3 A. Correct.
4 Q. And the title is "We are
5 preparing a class action lawsuit against
6 Robinhood," exclamation point.
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. If you go to page 3, do you see
9 that you commented on this thread?
10 A. I do.
11 Q. And you commented, "Let's lump
12 Merrill, TDA, Tastyworks, and every other
13 corrupt shitty broker into it."
14 Do you see that?
15 A. I do.
16 Q. And then you say, "This isn't
17 class action just against Robinhood. It's
18 against the entire fucking industry."
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. So is it fair to say that you
21 believe your harm was the result of all of
22 these brokers?
23 MR. ROSEN: Objection. When you
24 say -- there's a couple of things.
25 First of all, your question is
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2 imprecise. You say you believe.
3 You're referring to something that
4 happened two years ago, and then
5 you're saying do you believe. So are
6 you asking what he believed at that
7 point in time or what he believes
8 today?
9 Q. Let's start with at that point
10 in time. You believed that it was -- all
11 of these brokers that you listed who
12 contributed to the stock price decline of
13 GameStop?
14 A. Well, I couldn't say for certain
15 what I believed I was thinking at the time
16 I wrote that post, and -- but it certainly
17 would read that way.
18 Q. Let's go to Tab 24.
19 (Exhibit 267, A Wallstreetbets
20 Sub-Reddit post titled "GME Megathread
21 IV for January 28, 2021," was hereby
22 marked for identification, as of this
23 date.)
24 Q. And is it your contention now
25 that all of these companies' trading
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2 restrictions impacted the price of
3 GameStop stock?
4 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Calls
5 for expert testimony.
6 Q. Is it your contention?
7 A. I couldn't say that it is,
8 because I don't know what the details of
9 their restrictions were, which I think was
10 put out in reports and things, and how
11 those would have impacted the stock price
12 based on what they ended up doing.
13 Q. You'll see in your folder
14 Tab 267.
15 A. Got it.
16 Q. This is another Wallstreetbets
17 sub-Reddit post; correct?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. From January 28, 2021?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And it's titled "GME Megathread
22 IV for January 28, 2021"?
23 A. Correct.
24 Q. If you go to the second page.
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. Do you see that you -- you see
3 that you commented on that post?
4 A. Correct.
5 Q. And what did you say?
6 A. I said, "I called a huge law
7 firm about suing Merrill Lynch for
8 blocking the purchase if" -- I meant of --
9 "GME and AMC. Lawyer is going to call me
10 back."
11 Q. And were you referring to
12 reaching out to the Rosen Law Firm?
13 A. I can't recall.
14 Q. But at this point in time, you
15 were focused on suing Merrill Lynch for
16 blocking purchasing of GME and AMC.
17 A. I was focused on suing anyone
18 and everyone involved at the time.
19 Q. You only list Merrill Lynch;
20 right?
21 A. Correct.
22 Q. Why did you want to sue Merrill
23 Lynch?
24 A. Well, I'm not a legal expert.
25 But part of my assumption at the time was
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2 that I was a direct customer of theirs,
3 and I can't remember if they restricted
4 stocks or options. But any kind of
5 restriction obviously upset me.
6 Q. So you wanted to sue Merrill
7 Lynch because what they did upset you.
8 A. Well, it seemed illegal and
9 unethical at the time.
10 Q. But you're not a lawyer.
11 A. Nor did I stay at the Holiday
12 Inn, so I can't pretend to be.
13 Q. I don't understand that.
14 A. Oh, it's just -- sorry. It was
15 just a joke from Holiday Inn commercials.
16 They used to say, "I'm not a doctor, but I
17 stayed at Holiday Inn."
18 Q. Sounds like it would have been a
19 good joke if I was aware of the reference.
20 A. That's okay.
21 Q. Are you aware that the
22 defendants in this case served a request
23 for the production of documents?
24 A. Yes.
25 MR. S. COHEN: Could we bring up
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2 Exhibit 31.
3 (Exhibit 31, Defendants' First
4 Set of Requests For the Production of
5 Documents and Electronically Stored
6 Information Directed To Plaintiffs,
7 was previously marked for
8 identification.)
9 Q. You'll see in your folder soon
10 an exhibit previously marked Exhibit 31 in
11 this case.
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Did it come up as 267? Or --
14 A. 268. It came up as 268.
15 MR. ROSEN: But it's marked --
16 it's marked as 31. So it's been --
17 it's been previously marked. So I
18 guess you're going to have some --
19 MR. S. COHEN: Some
20 administrative work to do. All right.
21 MR. ROSEN: Yeah. But anyway,
22 it doesn't matter for purposes of
23 right now.
24 BY MR. S. COHEN:
25 Q. Have you seen this document
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2 before, Mr. Cash?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Is this the request for the
5 production of documents that we were
6 previously speaking about?
7 A. I believe so.
8 Q. And when was this -- when did
9 you first see this?
10 A. I don't recall specifically.
11 Q. Do you know how you got it?
12 A. From my lawyers.
13 Q. The Rosen Law Firm sent it to
14 you.
15 A. Correct.
16 Q. But you don't recall when?
17 A. Correct.
18 Q. Was it within the last month,
19 say?
20 A. I couldn't say for certain.
21 Q. Do you know if this was after
22 you retained the Rosen Law Firm?
23 A. I don't recall.
24 Q. What is your understanding of
25 what this document is?
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2 A. It's defendants' first set of
3 requests for the production of documents
4 and electronically stored information
5 directed to plaintiffs.
6 Q. And what does this obligate you
7 to do, if anything?
8 A. Provide documents that are
9 requested.
10 Q. And did you go through this
11 request for production?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Did you go through it with
14 counsel, without disclosing anything you
15 may have spoken with -- spoken about with
16 counsel?
17 MR. ROSEN: Hold on a second. I
18 have to object. So -- so if you're
19 asking him if he discussed this with
20 us, that's not allowed. So -- well,
21 since you're asking a question that
22 doesn't ask for attorney-client
23 privilege.
24 Q. Did you seek to respond to this
25 document alone or with assistance?
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2 MR. ROSEN: How does he --
3 how -- I mean, I still have to object.
4 So I'll just instruct, Mr. Cash. So
5 if you understand the question, you
6 can answer it. But you're not allowed
7 to -- you should not -- I'm
8 instructing you not to disclose
9 anything that we've discussed, you've
10 discussed with any of the lawyers in
11 our office relating to this document
12 or anything else. So if you can
13 answer the question without doing
14 that, that's fine.
15 A. I don't know how I would answer
16 that question comfortably without doing
17 that.
18 Q. Okay. I'll ask you a different
19 question.
20 When you received this request
21 for production, did you go through this
22 alone and find the documents that are
23 requested in here?
24 A. Are you asking if I went through
25 my documents alone?
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2 Q. Did you go through this document
3 alone and interpret the requests here on
4 your own?
5 A. I don't recall. We went over a
6 lot of stuff.
7 Q. Can you tell me the process of
8 how you went about producing the documents
9 in accordance with those requests?
10 A. I downloaded statements from the
11 financial institutions required and social
12 media posts.
13 Q. Did you go through your text
14 messages?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Okay. Are you aware that you
17 were supposed to go through your text
18 messages for responsive documents in this?
19 A. There was nothing in my texts
20 related to anything.
21 Q. How did you know if you didn't
22 go through them?
23 A. The only things I've ever done,
24 I've been on social media, that I've
25 provided, and my bank statements, which
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2 are not in a text message.
3 Q. Did you look for hard copy
4 documents that were responsive to these
5 requests?
6 A. I don't keep hard copy
7 documents.
8 Q. Did you go through your
9 electronic files that were -- for
10 documents that were responsive to this
11 request?
12 A. I don't store those.
13 Q. You don't store documents on
14 your computer?
15 A. Not related to this. Bank
16 statements I get from the broker's
17 website, and I got the social media
18 downloads from the social media companies.
19 I don't save anything outside of that.
20 Q. Did you go through your email
21 accounts?
22 A. Same situation. I don't email
23 about any of this kind of stuff.
24 Q. And you don't receive emails
25 from your brokerage accounts?
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2 A. Sometimes. They don't contain
3 anything in them.
4 Q. What types of emails do you
5 receive from them?
6 A. I might get an email that says
7 "Your statement is ready" with a link
8 going back to their website to view said
9 statement.
10 Q. Okay. And do you retain
11 investment records anywhere else?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Have you communicated in writing
14 with anybody regarding GameStop outside of
15 social media?
16 A. No.
17 Q. Did you turn over all of your
18 direct messages through these social media
19 accounts relating to the requests at
20 issue?
21 A. To the best of my knowledge,
22 yes.
23 Q. What social media accounts do
24 you engage in direct messages with?
25 A. None that I can think of.
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2 Q. Reddit?
3 A. Very rarely, if someone sends
4 you a private message, but most of that is
5 just like a public message board forum.
6 Q. Did you in December of 2020 or
7 January of 2021 communicate with people
8 through direct messages on Reddit?
9 A. Not that I recall.
10 Q. Okay. What about through your
11 Twitter?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Or Facebook?
14 A. Correct. No.
15 Q. And you don't -- do you have any
16 messaging platforms like WhatsApp or
17 anything like that that's just
18 specifically for messaging?
19 A. No. I'm a basic text message
20 kind of guy.
21 Q. And when did you give your
22 documents to counsel?
23 A. I don't recall. Multiple --
24 multiple times.
25 Q. But it was within the last few
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2 months, would you say?
3 A. I don't recall specifically.
4 Q. You said you had a Tastyworks
5 account; correct?
6 A. Correct.
7 Q. Did you look through that
8 account for responsive information?
9 A. I submitted statements for that.
10 It's a brokerage account.
11 Q. And you produced the responsive
12 documents from Tastyworks?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. When did you give counsel the
15 statements from Tastyworks?
16 A. I believe that was yesterday.
17 Q. Do you know how many statements
18 you produced from Tastyworks?
19 A. I think it was three.
20 Q. And for which months you did
21 that for?
22 A. Maybe it was two. January --
23 no. I think it was three. I think it was
24 December, January, and March. And it was
25 odd. There was no statement for February.
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2 MR. ROSEN: Actually, I think
3 there was one statement covered
4 February and March.
5 THE WITNESS: Oh, got it. There
6 was no separate statement from them.
7 MR. ROSEN: Yeah.
8 THE WITNESS: Okay.
9 BY MR. S. COHEN:
10 Q. So based on the Reddit comments
11 that you made that we just looked at, you
12 were interested in pursuing litigation
13 related to the GameStop matter starting in
14 January 28, 2021; right?
15 A. I was interested in pursuing
16 litigation. Yes.
17 Q. At that time and since, have you
18 deleted any relevant information or
19 documents that would have been responsive
20 to these requests?
21 A. No.
22 Q. From January 28, 2021, did you
23 make sure to preserve relevant documents
24 that would have been related to a future
25 lawsuit on this matter?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And how did you make sure to
4 preserve those documents?
5 A. Well, I didn't really know what
6 documents would be needed, because I'm not
7 a lawyer. But again, all the statements
8 my brokers have on file, and Reddit and
9 others have data downloads of your
10 comments that I was able to get.
11 Q. Mr. Cash, that's it from me
12 today. I appreciate you taking the time
13 for this deposition.
14 MR. ROSEN: I have two quick
15 questions.
16 BY MR. ROSEN:
17 Q. Mr. Cash, earlier today, you had
18 referred to Reddit Wallstreetbets
19 participants or people who post there as a
20 frat house of degenerate gamblers.
21 What did you mean by that?
22 A. Yeah. I mean, that was
23 mostly -- that was a joke. But I was just
24 trying to characterize that, you know,
25 posts on Reddit should be taken with a
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2 grain of salt and should probably not be
3 taken seriously as investment advice, and
4 it was not anything that drove my
5 decisions. My decisions were based on my
6 own research and analysis of the GameStop
7 situation.
8 Q. Okay. I don't have any further
9 questions.
10 MR. S. COHEN: Nor do I.
11 MR. ROSEN: Okay. Thank you,
12 Mr. Cash.
13 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Stand by
14 while I close the record.
15 This concludes today's
16 deposition by Thomas Cash. The number
17 of media units used was five. They
18 will be retained by Veritext Legal
19 Solutions. We are going off the
20 record at 4:58 p.m. Eastern Daylight
21 Time. Thank you, everybody. Stay
22 safe.
23 (TIME NOTED: 4:58 p.m.)
24
25
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