Exhibit 12 (Document 568-12): Virtual Videotaped Deposition, Doi Nguyen, March 28, 2023 — Case No. 1:21-MD-2989-CMA
Summary
Exhibit 12, Document 568-12, in Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA, entered on the docket June 8, 2023: the transcript of the virtual videotaped deposition of Doi Nguyen, taken by the defendant on March 28, 2023 in In re January 2021 Short Squeeze Trading Litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Counsel from Cravath, Swaine & Moore examine the witness for the defendants, with The Rosen Law Firm for the plaintiffs and a Veritext videographer recording. In the opening pages the witness is sworn, the ground rules are explained and Nguyen describes multiple meetings with his lawyer to prepare. The transcript, marked confidential, runs 155 pages and goes off the record at 2:05 p.m.
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
- Date
- 2023-06-08
Cite this document
“Exhibit 12 (Document 568-12): Virtual Videotaped Deposition, Doi Nguyen, March 28, 2023 — Case No. 1:21-MD-2989-CMA.”
Original at archive.org, dated 2023-06-08. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2023-06-08-covid-era-misc-a14c25f6-1/
, SHA-256 a14c25f6929fc1afa1118304924bbe0a6e5bf4bcefa38353d32f2e91ea4a9f24.Full text
Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 568-12 Entered on FLSD Docket 06/08/2023 Page 1 of
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Exhibit 12
Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 568-12 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
4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
IN RE JANUARY 2021 SHORT SQUEEZE
5 TRADING LITIGATION
6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
7 March 28, 2023
10:12 a.m.
8
9
10
11 ***** CONFIDENTIAL *****
12
13 Virtual Videotaped Deposition of
14 DOI NGUYEN, taken by Defendant, pursuant
15 to Notice, held remotely, before Sharon
16 Pearce, RDR, CRR, CRC, NYRCR, a Registered
17 Diplomate Reporter, Certified Realtime
18 Reporter, an dNotary Public of the State
19 of New York.
20
21
22
23
24
25
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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
7 BY: PHILLIP KIM, ESQ.
MICHAEL COHEN, ESQ.
8 LAURENCE M. ROSEN, ESQ.
9
10 CRAVATH, SWAINE & MOORE LLP
Attorneys for Defendants
11 825 Eighth Avenue
Suite 4043B
12 New York, New York 10019
13 BY: KATHLEEN E. YOUNG, ESQ.
CHARLOTTE LEPIC, ESQ.
14
15
16
17 ALSO PRESENT:
18 ADAM VENTURINI, Videographer
19 NICHOLAS LIN, Robinhood
20
* * *
21
22
23
24
25
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2 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Good morning.
3 We are going on the record at
4 10:12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on
5 March 28, 2023. Please note that this
6 deposition is being conducted
7 virtually. The quality of recording
8 depends on the quality of camera and
9 internet connection of participants.
10 What is seen from the witness and
11 heard on screen is what will be
12 recorded. Audio and video recording
13 will continue to take place unless all
14 parties agree to go off the record.
15 This is Media Unit 1 of the
16 video recorded deposition of
17 Doi Nguyen taken by counsel for
18 defendant in the matter of In Re
19 January 2021 Short Squeeze Trading
20 Litigation. It's filed in the
21 United States District Court for the
22 Southern District of Florida, Case
23 No. 1:21-MD-2989-CMA. This deposition
24 is being conducted using virtual
25 technology.
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2 My name is Adam Venturini
3 representing Veritext, and I'm the
4 videographer today. The court
5 reporter is Sharon Pearce, also from
6 the firm Veritext. I'm not authorized
7 to administer an oath. I'm not
8 related to any party in this action,
9 nor am I financially interested in the
10 outcome.
11 Will the court reporter please
12 swear in the witness, and then counsel
13 may proceed.
14 D O I N G U Y E N,
15 having first been duly sworn by
16 Sharon Pearce, the Notary Public,
17 was examined and testified as
18 follows:
19 EXAMINATION
20 BY MS. YOUNG:
21 Q. Thank you. Good morning,
22 Mr. Nguyen.
23 A. Good morning.
24 Q. My name is Kathleen Young. I'm
25 from the law firm of Cravath, Swaine &
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2 Moore representing defendants in this
3 action.
4 Can you start by please stating
5 your full name for the record.
6 A. Doi Nguyen.
7 Q. And what is your current
8 address?
9 A.
10
11 Q. And have you ever been deposed
12 before?
13 A. No.
14 Q. So I'll start by going over some
15 basics before we really get started with
16 the substance.
17 So you understand that you've
18 been sworn in and the testimony you will
19 give today is under oath?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Is there any reason why you
22 cannot give complete and truthful
23 testimony today?
24 A. I didn't understand what you
25 said earlier.
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2 Q. Is there any reason why you
3 couldn't give accurate testimony today?
4 A. I could.
5 Q. And the court reporter is taking
6 down everything that we say, so it's
7 important that you provide actual verbal
8 responses to questions that I ask. So,
9 you know, rather shaking your head, that's
10 not something that the court reporter will
11 pick up. You actually have to give a
12 verbal answer. Does that make sense?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Also during the course of the
15 deposition, your counsel may periodically
16 object to the form of the question that I
17 ask. That objection is just for the
18 record and you should still answer the
19 question unless your counsel instructs you
20 specifically not to answer a question on
21 the basis of privilege. Does that make
22 sense?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. If you don't understand any
25 question that I ask, please just let me
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2 know, and I'll make every effort to
3 clarify it. And if you don't hear a
4 question fully, please just ask me to
5 repeat it.
6 A. Okay.
7 Q. Also, if you would please allow
8 me to finish each question before
9 answering, I'll also try to do the same
10 with respect to your answers. That's
11 sometimes easier said than done on these
12 video platforms, so it's good to kind of
13 pause before answering. And if you need
14 to take a break at any point, just let me
15 know, and I'll try to find a place to
16 stop. You just can't take a break while a
17 question is pending.
18 Does that make sense?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And did you take any steps to
21 prepare for your deposition today,
22 Mr. Nguyen?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. What were those steps?
25 A. See my lawyer yesterday.
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2 Q. Just one meeting yesterday?
3 A. No. Multiple meetings.
4 Q. How many meetings did you have?
5 Excuse me. I'm sorry.
6 A. Multiple meetings.
7 Q. When were those meetings?
8 A. I mean, I don't remember exactly
9 how many. But we had multiple encounters.
10 Q. Were they in the past week?
11 A. Past week.
12 Q. Month?
13 A. Month.
14 Q. All in preparation for your
15 deposition today?
16 A. Well, it was a week, like, for
17 the preparation -- deposition. Yeah.
18 Q. And approximately how long were
19 those meetings?
20 A. A couple of hours.
21 Q. And who was present at those
22 meetings?
23 A. My attorney.
24 Q. Anyone besides your attorney?
25 A. Yeah. Phil -- Phil and Michael.
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2 Q. No one else?
3 A. There is one other. I don't
4 remember his name.
5 Q. That's okay.
6 Did you speak with anyone else
7 in preparing for this deposition besides
8 the attorneys that were in those meetings?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Did you review any documents in
11 preparation for your deposition today?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Did any of those documents help
14 refresh your recollection about past
15 events?
16 A. No.
17 Q. Did you take any other
18 preparatory steps for this deposition that
19 we have not already discussed?
20 A. No.
21 Q. And have you discussed this
22 lawsuit with anybody other than your
23 lawyers?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Have you ever been a plaintiff
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2 in a lawsuit before, Mr. Nguyen?
3 A. No.
4 Q. Have you ever been sued before?
5 A. No.
6 Q. So you've never been -- you've
7 also never been a class representative
8 before?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Have you otherwise participated
11 in a class action lawsuit?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Are you currently employed?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And what is your job?
16 A. Manicures.
17 Q. You're a manicurist?
18 A. Mm-hmm.
19 Q. And how long have you been a
20 manicurist?
21 A. At least ten years.
22 Q. And have you ever -- have you
23 held any other roles aside from the
24 manicurist position in the past ten years?
25 A. No.
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2 Q. And what is the highest level of
3 education that you obtained?
4 A. Some college.
5 Q. Some college.
6 And what college was that?
7 A. Camden County College.
8 Q. Camden.
9 Do you have any other
10 educational credentials, like licenses or
11 certifications?
12 A. No.
13 Q. So no certifications or licenses
14 that relate to finance or investing?
15 A. No.
16 Q. And do you have a Twitter
17 account, Mr. Nguyen?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. What what's your handle, if you
20 recall off the top of your head?
21 A. I -- I do not recall.
22 Q. Do you know if you had that
23 account in January of 2021?
24 A. I believe so.
25 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, would you
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2 mind going ahead and moving into the
3 exhibit folder previously marked
4 Exhibit 2, Tab 19.
5 (Defendant's Exhibit 2, A letter
6 dated February 27, 2023, was
7 previously marked for identification.)
8 Q. Yeah. So you'll have to refresh
9 the window every time we load an exhibit,
10 Mr. Nguyen.
11 A. Okay.
12 Q. It looks like it should be
13 available now. If you wouldn't mind
14 refreshing that page.
15 Do you see it?
16 A. Yes, I do see it.
17 Q. Okay. Perfect. So in front of
18 you is a letter that your counsel
19 previously provided in this action on
20 February 27th of this year that lists
21 social media handles. And if you turn to
22 page 3, which I think is page 4 of the
23 PDF, do you see your name about halfway
24 down the page?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And the handle of your Twitter
3 account that is provided here is
4
5 Is that the correct account
6 name?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Have you ever tweeted from that
9 account?
10 A. No.
11 Q. What do you usually -- what do
12 you generally use that account for?
13 A. Just general reading.
14 Q. What kind of general reading?
15 A. Like, I follow Elon Musk, and I
16 see what he tweets, and that's about it.
17 Q. So is it for, you know,
18 investing? Are you particularly
19 interested in Tesla or SpaceX?
20 A. No. I just like what he do.
21 Q. Any other particular interests
22 for in terms of who you follow or who you
23 like to look at on Twitter?
24 A. No. Not in particular.
25 Q. And do you follow sort of
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2 general news on Twitter?
3 A. No.
4 Q. And are you active on this
5 account today? I don't mean in terms of
6 actually tweeting, but just going on
7 Twitter and looking at the people you
8 follow.
9 A. No.
10 Q. Do you recall when you created
11 your Twitter account?
12 A. No, I do not recall.
13 Q. Okay. Let's take a look at
14 another document.
15 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, would you
16 mind marking Tab 13, which -- will
17 this be Exhibit 22? Okay.
18 (Defendant's Exhibit 22, Twitter
19 printout, was hereby marked for
20 identification, as of this date.)
21 Q. Sorry. It will just be a
22 second.
23 (Pause)
24 MS. YOUNG: One second. We're
25 having an issue with resetting the
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2 number. Sorry about that. One
3 second.
4 (Pause)
5 Q. Sorry about that, Mr. Nguyen.
6 It should be available now.
7 A. Okay.
8 Q. And do you recognize this
9 document.
10 Did you say something,
11 Mr. Nguyen?
12 A. No. I'm looking over it. No.
13 I don't.
14 Q. Do you see the handle at the top
15 of the page?
16 A. Yes, I do.
17 Q. And can you confirm that that's
18 your handle?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. So can you identify this as your
21 Twitter profile?
22 A. Yes. But I don't recognize it
23 in this form.
24 Q. Understood. Thank you for
25 clarifying.
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2 And do you see the calendar
3 underneath your handle?
4 A. The date?
5 Q. Correct.
6 A. Mm-hmm.
7 Q. When does it say you joined
8 Twitter?
9 A. June 24, '23, 9:44 p.m.
10 Q. No. Sorry. I should have
11 clarified. This is the little calendar
12 icon beneath your handle on the page.
13 A. Oh, January 2021.
14 Q. So does that refresh your
15 recollection that you joined Twitter in
16 January of 2021?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Do you dispute that you joined
19 Twitter in January 2021 --
20 A. No.
21 Q. -- this account? Okay.
22 And why did you join Twitter at
23 this time?
24 A. I just wanted to follow a few
25 people that I'm interested in reading.
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2 Q. And was anything happening
3 around this time that you wanted to follow
4 on social media sites like Twitter?
5 A. Nothing in particular.
6 Q. Do you use any other form of
7 social media, Mr. Nguyen?
8 A. No.
9 Q. So you don't have a Facebook
10 account?
11 A. No.
12 Q. You don't have a Reddit account?
13 A. No.
14 Q. You don't have a YouTube
15 account?
16 A. No.
17 Q. What about Discord?
18 A. No.
19 Q. Instagram?
20 A. No.
21 Q. TikTok?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Even if you do not have a Reddit
24 account, have you ever used Reddit before?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. What do you -- what kind of
3 sub-Reddits do you look at on Reddit?
4 A. AMC.
5 Q. AMC? Is that what you said?
6 A. Mm-hmm.
7 Q. And when did you start looking
8 at AMC-related content on Reddit?
9 A. Around that time, around January
10 of 2021.
11 Q. And why was that?
12 A. I was interested in what the
13 stock was doing.
14 Q. And what piqued your interest in
15 what AMC stock was doing?
16 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: I'm
17 sorry. Could you just repeat that a
18 little louder?
19 A. I was a first-time investor, so
20 I just looked into it to see what was in
21 it.
22 Q. And to clarify, a first-time
23 investor in the stock market or a
24 first-time investor in AMC?
25 A. In the stock market.
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2 Q. So you didn't ever trade
3 securities prior to January of 2021?
4 A. I did, yeah.
5 Q. So I'll ask again.
6 To clarify, were you a
7 first-time investor in the stock market in
8 January of 2021?
9 A. What do you mean? Please
10 clarify that. I don't understand.
11 Q. Sure. Sure.
12 I guess I'll rephrase.
13 When did you start trading
14 securities on the stock market?
15 A. When I opened a Robinhood
16 account.
17 Q. Do you recall when that was
18 approximately?
19 A. No, I don't recall.
20 Q. Okay. We'll circle back to that
21 in a bit.
22 Going back to AMC. So were you
23 a first-time investor in AMC in
24 January 2021?
25 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
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2 Asked and answered.
3 Q. You can answer.
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Thank you.
6 Have you heard of Wallstreetbets
7 on Reddit?
8 A. Well, I heard of their name, but
9 I'm not recalling in particular what
10 they're doing.
11 Q. Okay. When did you first learn
12 about Wallstreetbets?
13 A. When I was on Reddit, I heard
14 about them but never went into full detail
15 what they are really.
16 Q. Okay. So you heard about
17 Wallstreetbets, but you didn't necessarily
18 read, you know, all the content on that
19 sub-Reddit. Is that fair?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Okay. So I think you testified
22 earlier that you didn't call -- recall
23 exactly when you started investing in the
24 stock market, but you believe it was
25 around the time that you opened your
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2 Robinhood account; is that correct?
3 A. Yeah.
4 Q. Okay.
5 A. Somewhere around there.
6 Q. And does January 2020 sound
7 about right?
8 A. I mean, I don't recollect it,
9 but --
10 Q. Okay.
11 A. -- that's about right. Yeah.
12 Q. And how did you first start
13 investing?
14 A. When I heard about Robinhood app
15 and how easy it was for you to invest,
16 so --
17 Q. And are you still a Robinhood
18 customer today?
19 A. No.
20 Q. And when you were a Robinhood
21 customer, how frequently would you use the
22 platform or the app?
23 A. Almost every day.
24 Q. And were you actively trading
25 every day, or were you just looking at
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2 your portfolio every day and looking at
3 content? How was -- you know, what was
4 the scope of your engagement?
5 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
6 Q. I'll break that down for you,
7 Mr. Nguyen.
8 Were you actively trading every
9 day on the Robinhood app when you were a
10 Robinhood customer?
11 A. Yes, I was. Yeah. Some days I
12 was trading.
13 Q. So not every day.
14 A. Not every day.
15 Q. But you were looking at the app
16 nearly every day?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Did you keep lists of stocks to
19 follow?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Did you review company-specific
22 information on the Robinhood app?
23 A. I looked through it, yes.
24 Q. So did you review news stories
25 and things like that about the market on
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2 Robinhood?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Were there any other features
5 that you used when you were a Robinhood
6 customer when you were using the Robinhood
7 app?
8 A. I mean, whatever they would
9 provide me.
10 Q. You also have used Webull to
11 invest; right?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. When do you -- when did you open
14 your Webull account?
15 A. Sometime right after January --
16 I mean, after February -- like, around
17 March -- February, March something.
18 Q. Of 2021?
19 A. 2021. Yeah.
20 Q. How long did it take you
21 approximately to open that account?
22 A. I think it was, like, a couple
23 of weeks, because Robinhood was -- they
24 didn't allow me to transfer everything
25 over.
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2 Q. So was that an issue with Webull
3 or an issue just transferring your funds
4 from Robinhood?
5 A. Transferring the fund from
6 Robinhood.
7 Q. Got it.
8 Other than Robinhood and Webull,
9 have you ever used any other brokerages to
10 invest?
11 A. No.
12 Q. Do you invest on behalf of
13 anyone else?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Does anyone invest on your
16 behalf?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Have you ever hired an
19 investment or a financial advisor?
20 A. No.
21 Q. How much time do you devote to
22 investing?
23 A. I don't have a number in
24 particular. But --
25 Q. It can be approximate.
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2 A. I mean, a couple of hours a day,
3 30 minutes, ten minutes, you know.
4 Q. So anywhere from ten minutes to
5 a couple of hours a day? Is that right?
6 A. Ten minutes to 30 -- like, an
7 hour, you know.
8 Q. And was that the case in January
9 of 2021?
10 A. Can you elaborate that? I
11 didn't --
12 Q. Sure. So was that the case in
13 January of 2021, meaning, were you
14 spending approximately ten minutes to one
15 hour a day investing back in 2021, January
16 of 2021?
17 A. I mean, yeah. I spent -- I
18 don't know exactly --
19 Q. Sure. Right.
20 A. -- you know, but I do spend time
21 on the app. Yeah.
22 Q. And that's been fairly
23 consistent since January 2021.
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Okay. How would you describe
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2 your investment strategy?
3 A. I don't have any particular
4 investment strategies.
5 Q. What's your main objective in
6 investing?
7 A. Making money.
8 Q. And when you decide to buy a
9 particular stock, can you walk me through
10 how you make that decision?
11 A. Well, I read, and then I decide.
12 I mean, it's a gut feeling. I mean, I
13 didn't look up any resource. I just read
14 and just make my own educated guess.
15 Q. So what do you read?
16 A. Anything that's on the market.
17 I mean, a type of stock market, whatever
18 will pop on the screen, I read it.
19 Q. So do you read SEC filings that
20 the company puts out?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Do you read earnings
23 announcements?
24 A. Yeah, sometimes.
25 Q. Do you consider the company's
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2 cash flow projections?
3 A. I don't understand what that
4 means.
5 Q. Do you look at any of the
6 underlying financials of the company?
7 A. Somewhat.
8 Q. What metrics do you consider?
9 A. The earnings.
10 Q. Anything besides the earnings?
11 A. It's one of them. But --
12 Q. And what are your other sources
13 of information?
14 A. Whatever is available for me
15 online.
16 Q. So is that on, you know, social
17 media?
18 A. Social media, you know, any
19 media platform, you know.
20 Q. So do you look at Bloomberg, for
21 instance?
22 A. Anything that's free access. I
23 mean, I didn't pay for any subscription,
24 no.
25 Q. Nothing that requires a
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2 subscription? Is that what you said?
3 A. Mm-hmm.
4 Q. And you testified earlier that
5 you make your investment decisions from a
6 gut sense; is that right?
7 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Excuse me. You said it's a gut
10 feeling.
11 A. Mm-hmm.
12 Q. And that you don't -- you didn't
13 look up any resource.
14 A. How I feel at that time, yes,
15 it's part of my -- you know, whatever I
16 know.
17 Q. And at that time, are you
18 referring to the time you make a
19 particular investment decision?
20 A. I mean, it's more like random.
21 I mean --
22 Q. So the investment decisions you
23 make are random?
24 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
25 Q. You can answer, Mr. Nguyen.
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2 A. Yes. Somewhat my gut feeling,
3 yeah.
4 Q. And what about when you decide
5 to sell a particular stock rather than buy
6 one? How do you make that decision?
7 A. When I lose money.
8 Q. When you lose money? Is that
9 what you said?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. By that, do you mean that you're
12 purely looking at the price trajectory of
13 the stock and whether or not it was
14 increasing?
15 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
16 Objection to form.
17 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: I'm
18 sorry. And whether or not --
19 Q. The price is increasing or
20 decreasing?
21 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
22 A. Can you repeat that? That
23 was --
24 Q. I asked you a few moments ago
25 how you decide to sell a particular stock.
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2 And you said, "When I lose money."
3 I asked if by that -- if by when
4 you lose money, does that mean that to
5 decide whether or not to sell a stock, you
6 look at whether or not the price of the
7 stock is decreasing?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Is that the only factor that you
10 consider in deciding whether or not to
11 hold or sell a stock?
12 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
13 A. No. That's not the only factor.
14 But that's one of the factors.
15 Q. So one of the factors that you
16 consider in deciding whether or not to
17 sell a stock is whether or not the price
18 of the stock is decreasing; correct?
19 A. Yes, because I'm losing money.
20 Q. And you mentioned other factors
21 that you consider as well in making a
22 decision to sell a stock.
23 What are those other factors?
24 A. I mean, whatever -- at that
25 time, I don't know the exact factor that,
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2 you know -- the exact decision that I, you
3 know, make that day or decide when to buy,
4 when to sell.
5 Q. Can you point to any other
6 factors that you consider when you're
7 deciding whether or not to sell a stock?
8 A. No, other than losing money.
9 You know, I -- I feel like I can't hold
10 anymore. When I'm losing money, I've got
11 to sell it.
12 Q. Are there any particular news
13 segments or programs that you follow for
14 investing?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Do you subscribe to any
17 newsletters about investing?
18 A. No.
19 Q. Do you listen to any podcasts
20 about the market or investing?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Do you watch television shows
23 but market or investing?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Do you follow any social media
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2 sources for advice about the market or
3 investing?
4 A. No.
5 Q. And your general investment
6 strategy or -- I think you said that you
7 didn't have a strategy, so maybe lack of a
8 strategy that we just discussed, did that
9 change at all in January 2021?
10 A. No.
11 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
12 Are you saying changed since? Changed
13 then? Maybe I misheard the question.
14 Q. Was the testimony you just
15 provided, Mr. Nguyen, about how you make
16 investment decisions, was that consistent
17 with how you made investment decisions in
18 January of 2021?
19 A. It's somewhat consistent, yes.
20 Q. In what ways was it not
21 consistent?
22 A. I don't know what I was thinking
23 that day, so I don't know if it was
24 consistent or not. Like --
25 Q. So you don't --
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2 A. I really don't have a particular
3 strategy. There's no guideline that I
4 follow.
5 Q. And to clarify, you don't have a
6 particular investment strategy in general,
7 or you didn't have a particular investment
8 strategy in January 2021?
9 A. In general.
10 Q. Including in January 2021; is
11 that right?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Are you familiar -- I think you
14 mentioned it earlier today -- a company
15 called AMC?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. What kind of company is it?
18 A. It's a movie theater.
19 Q. Do you know who the CEO is?
20 A. Adam Aron.
21 Q. And can you explain to me what
22 research you've done into AMC as a
23 potential investment?
24 A. I don't remember.
25 Q. Do you know anything about the
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2 finances or profits of AMC?
3 A. Very little.
4 Q. Have you ever looked at any SEC
5 filings by AMC?
6 A. No.
7 Q. Any earnings announcements?
8 A. Yes, but I don't remember.
9 Q. What about press releases?
10 A. Yes, somewhat.
11 Q. Company financials?
12 A. Yeah.
13 Q. So not SEC filings, but you have
14 looked at AMC earnings announcements,
15 press releases, and company financials?
16 Is that your testimony today?
17 MR. KIM: Objection. Asked and
18 answered.
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. You can answer, Mr. Nguyen.
21 Thank you.
22 In January 2021, do you recall
23 any company announcements from AMC?
24 A. Can you say that again?
25 Q. Do you recall any company
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2 announcements from AMC in January 2021?
3 A. No. I don't recall.
4 Q. Are you aware of anything AMC
5 was doing differently as a company in
6 January 2021?
7 A. No. I wasn't aware.
8 Q. So you weren't aware of any new
9 products or developments?
10 A. Not that I can recollect, no.
11 Q. Are you familiar with a company
12 called Blackberry?
13 A. A little bit.
14 Q. What kind of company is it?
15 A. A phone company.
16 Q. Have you done any research into
17 Blackberry as a potential investment?
18 A. No.
19 Q. None at all?
20 A. No.
21 Q. In January 2021, do you recall
22 any company announcements from Blackberry?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Are you familiar with a company
25 called Nokia?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. What kind of company is it?
4 A. It's a satellite phone company.
5 Q. Have you ever done any research
6 into Nokia as a potential investment?
7 A. No.
8 Q. None whatsoever?
9 A. No.
10 Q. In January 2021, do you recall
11 any company announcements from Nokia?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Are you familiar with a company
14 called GameStop?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. What kind of company is it?
17 A. It's a retail company selling
18 video games.
19 Q. Did you consider investing in
20 GameStop in January 2021?
21 A. No.
22 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, can we go
23 ahead and mark Tab 24 as Exhibit 23.
24
25
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2 (Defendant's Exhibit 23, Twitter
3 post by Maggie Fitzgerald, was hereby
4 marked for identification, as of this
5 date.)
6 MS. YOUNG: Oh, excuse me. Not
7 24. Yeah. 24.
8 Q. It should be available now,
9 Mr. Nguyen, if you want to refresh your
10 page.
11 A. Exhibit 23?
12 Q. Exhibit 23.
13 A. Mm-hmm.
14 Q. Do you see it?
15 A. Yes, I do.
16 Q. Do you recognize this document?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Can you identify it as a Tweet
19 from Maggie Kate Fitzgerald from
20 January 25, 2021, at 11:35 p.m.?
21 MR. KIM: Objection to form. I
22 mean, the document speaks for itself.
23 Q. You can answer, Mr. Nguyen.
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Thank you.
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2 And do you see the text of the
3 Tweet that states, "Short squeezes are
4 happening all over the market, largely
5 orchestrated by motivated retail stocks
6 buyers who are explicitly trying to crush
7 Wall Street shorts"?
8 A. Mm-hmm.
9 Q. And then beneath that, it
10 states, "Bed Bath & Beyond, AMC join
11 GameStop." And then there's a link to an
12 article in CNBC.
13 Do you see that?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And do you recall seeing this
16 Tweet in January 2021?
17 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
18 A. No.
19 MR. KIM: Asked and answered.
20 Q. You testified earlier that you
21 joined Twitter in January 2021.
22 Around this time, do you recall
23 seeing Tweets like this one that discussed
24 short squeezes orchestrated by retail
25 investors?
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2 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
3 A. No.
4 Q. Let's take a look at the article
5 link to this Tweet.
6 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, if you
7 wouldn't mind marking Tab 25 as
8 Exhibit 23 or 24, rather. Excuse me.
9 (Defendant's Exhibit 24, An
10 article titled "Bed Bath & Beyond, AMC
11 rally with GameStop as little
12 investors squeeze hedge funds in more
13 stocks," was hereby marked for
14 identification, as of this date.)
15 Q. And we'll wait for this to load.
16 But because it's a little bit
17 longer, I think it might be easier for
18 Charlotte to screen share so she can
19 scroll us through the document.
20 MR. KIM: I think it's on here
21 already. Exhibit 24?
22 MS. YOUNG: Oh, yeah. We don't
23 have to screen share. But it's kind
24 of long, so I thought it might be --
25 Q. Do you see it, Mr. Nguyen?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And feel free to take a moment
4 to look at it.
5 But can you tell me whether this
6 appears to be the article hyperlinked to
7 the Tweet we just reviewed in the prior
8 exhibit?
9 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
10 Calls for speculation. I mean, he
11 said he doesn't recall the Tweet or
12 the article. So now you're asking him
13 to authenticate it in some way, and
14 he's not going to be able to do that.
15 Q. You can answer, Mr. Nguyen.
16 A. No. I don't recognize the
17 article.
18 Q. Do you see that it's dated
19 January 25, 2021, and authored by a Maggie
20 Fitzgerald and published on CNBC?
21 MR. KIM: Again, the document
22 speaks for itself.
23 Q. Sorry. Did you say no,
24 Mr. Nguyen?
25 A. I see it.
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2 Q. Thank you.
3 And you see that it's titled
4 "Beth Bath & Beyond, AMC rally with
5 GameStop as little investors squeeze hedge
6 funds in more stocks"?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Thank you.
9 Let's take a look at the first
10 two paragraphs there.
11 Do you see where it states, "Bed
12 Bath & Beyond and AMC Entertainment are
13 the newest targets of speculation for
14 retail investors, creating a nightmare
15 scenario for hedge funds betting against
16 these once beat-up stocks"?
17 MR. KIM: What page are we on?
18 MS. YOUNG: Oh, I'm sorry.
19 These are the first two paragraphs.
20 Q. Sorry. Can you say that again,
21 Mr. Nguyen? I didn't hear you.
22 A. I see it.
23 Q. Okay. And continuing there,
24 "Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond popped as
25 much as 40 percent and shares of AMC
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2 Entertainment soared as much as 70 percent
3 on Monday, as individual investors pile
4 into the names while hedge funds rush to
5 cover their losses from shorting the
6 stocks." Excuse me. "Shares of Bed Bath
7 & Beyond closed up 1.5 percent and AMC
8 closed up 25.9 percent on Monday."
9 And then further down, this
10 would be on the second page of the PDF
11 beneath the table.
12 Do you see where the article
13 states, similar to the excerpt we saw in
14 the Tweet in the last exhibit --
15 MR. KIM: I mean, is there a
16 question, or are you just going to sit
17 here and read the article into the
18 record? Like, where are we heading?
19 MS. YOUNG: We'll get at what
20 I'm getting at when I ask him a
21 question. But thank you for your
22 unsolicited commentary.
23 MR. KIM: I mean, if you want to
24 testify, you can read the whole
25 article into the record. Where is the
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2 question?
3 MS. YOUNG: I'm getting to a
4 question, if you'd let me continue
5 questioning the witness. I'm allowed
6 to spend my time showing him some
7 articles. That's completely fine.
8 MR. KIM: You're showing him an
9 article that he said he doesn't
10 recognize. He didn't see. And then
11 we're going to waste time, you're
12 going to ask him about an article he
13 doesn't recall seeing before?
14 MS. YOUNG: It's not a waste of
15 my time, but thank you, again, for the
16 unsolicited feedback.
17 MR. KIM: You're welcome.
18 BY MS. YOUNG:
19 Q. So further down, do you see
20 where the article states, "Short squeezes
21 are happening all over the market, largely
22 orchestrated by motivated retail stocks
23 buyers who are explicitly trying to crush
24 Wall Street shorts. The rookie investors
25 are using online chatrooms and websites to
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2 garner information and support, pushing
3 these embattled stocks to the brink."
4 Do you see that?
5 A. Yes, I do.
6 Q. Now, do you recall any news
7 coverage or articles around this time
8 concerning a run-up in the price of AMC or
9 Blackberry?
10 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
11 A. Not that I remember. I've seen
12 the articles, but I don't remember in
13 particular what it says, you know.
14 Q. By "these articles," you just
15 mean articles generally from around this
16 time about these topics?
17 A. Yes.
18 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
19 A. Yeah. Articles pertaining or
20 whatever, whatever you type in the search
21 I mean whatever pop up I read.
22 Q. So to clarify that I understand,
23 Mr. Nguyen, you recall in January of 2021
24 reading articles that covered similar
25 topics about price run-ups and AMC and
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2 Blackberry.
3 A. I mean --
4 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
5 Q. You can answer.
6 A. I mean, I've seen all different
7 types of articles. I mean, I don't keep
8 tabs on what doesn't -- like, what certain
9 articles I read. You know, I don't
10 remember.
11 Q. Did you hear about social media
12 interest on sites like Reddit about AMC or
13 Blackberry in January of 2021?
14 A. I mean --
15 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
16 Asked and answered.
17 A. I mean, I see what I see. I
18 mean, I don't recollect any information
19 that you give me right now.
20 Q. Mr. Nguyen, I'm not -- I don't
21 mean the specific article. I mean in
22 general, do you recall any sort of news or
23 social media attention concerning --
24 A. No, I don't --
25 Q. These types of -- these stocks
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2 we have discussed so far?
3 A. No. I don't have any
4 recollection on certain articles, no.
5 Q. You testified earlier that in
6 2021, you were looking at AMC Reddit
7 pages; correct?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. So what kind of topics did those
10 Reddit pages discuss?
11 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
12 Asked and answered.
13 A. I mean, AMC in particular, I
14 mean, like, they just talking about AMC,
15 how it goes up, and it's just general
16 information. I mean, people just talking
17 to each other.
18 Q. And when you say how it goes up,
19 do you mean how the price of AMC stock was
20 increasing in January of 2021?
21 A. It was increasing 27.
22 Q. Sorry. Can you say that last
23 part again? Did you say 27?
24 A. Like, around January 28th, 27th,
25 you know, around there. I don't remember
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2 exact day when it went up.
3 Q. Sure. Sure. So let's say late
4 January, between January 27th, 28th, you
5 recall the price of AMC stock increasing.
6 A. No. I do not recall.
7 Q. You testified a few moments ago,
8 "I mean, like, they were just talking
9 about AMC, how it goes up" on Reddit.
10 And that was in late
11 January 2021; correct?
12 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
13 A. I don't remember an exact date.
14 Q. Okay. Do you remember the price
15 of AMC stock increasing in late
16 January 2021?
17 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
18 A. No.
19 MR. KIM: Asked and answered.
20 Q. No, you don't remember that.
21 A. No, I don't remember.
22 Q. So what do you recall about what
23 you were reading on Reddit concerning AMC
24 in January 2021?
25 A. I recall reading about AMC, but
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2 I don't recall any -- anything in
3 particular. So --
4 Q. So then when you testified a few
5 moments ago that you recall how it goes
6 up, what did you mean by that?
7 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
8 Asked and answered. I mean, how many
9 times are you going to ask him the
10 same question?
11 A. I see it goes up, and then, you
12 know, I see -- I see the price goes up.
13 Q. So now you recall that the price
14 was going up in January 2021.
15 A. That particular --
16 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
17 Stop arguing with the witness.
18 MS. YOUNG: Mr. Kim, I'd
19 appreciate if you stopped arguing with
20 me about this. I'm not --
21 MR. KIM: It's obviously clear
22 what he testified to. So I'll let you
23 ask the question one more time, and
24 that's it.
25 MS. YOUNG: No. I can ask the
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2 question as long as I want. You can
3 continue to lodge your objections, and
4 we'll continue.
5 MR. KIM: Look, if you ask him
6 the same question again, I'm going to
7 direct him not to answer. So you've
8 got one more chance. You've got one
9 more chance to ask your question. Ask
10 your question. You ask it again, I'm
11 directing him not to answer. So you
12 have one chance. You can ask him the
13 question again.
14 MS. YOUNG: Mr. Kim, are you
15 telling me that you're going to --
16 you're going to instruct the witness
17 not to answer on the basis of
18 privilege?
19 MR. KIM: No. Not on privilege.
20 On the basis you asked him the same
21 question five times. I'll let you ask
22 it for the sixth time. If you ask it
23 for the seventh time, I'll direct him
24 not to answer. So ask your question.
25 MS. YOUNG: That is obviously
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2 improper.
3 MR. KIM: Asking the same
4 question seven times is improper.
5 MS. YOUNG: That's why you're
6 there to object. And then you can
7 just leave it at your objection.
8 MR. KIM: No. That's why I'm
9 going to tell him not to answer the
10 question if you ask it for the seventh
11 time.
12 MS. YOUNG: If you really want
13 to stop wasting time, Mr. Kim, you can
14 just let the deposition continue.
15 MR. KIM: I'm just telling you.
16 So ask your question. You ask it for
17 the seventh time, I'm going to ask him
18 not to -- I'm going to direct him not
19 to answer.
20 MS. YOUNG: I have to go back.
21 So much back and forth with you,
22 Mr. Kim.
23 MR. KIM: Don't ask the same
24 question seven times. We didn't have
25 this beef in the other two
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2 depositions.
3 MS. YOUNG: I read those
4 transcripts, and I'm pretty sure you
5 did.
6 MR. KIM: I don't think anyone
7 asked the same question seven times.
8 BY MS. YOUNG:
9 Q. So are the portions of the
10 articles -- or the article, I should say,
11 that we just read generally consistent
12 with your recollection of this period in
13 late January 2021, Mr. Nguyen?
14 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
15 A. No. I don't -- there's no --
16 no, I don't -- I don't recognize it.
17 Q. To be clear, I'm not asking if
18 you recognize this article.
19 A. Not consistent, no, because I'd
20 remember.
21 Q. So you don't remember anything
22 in January of 2021 about the stocks that
23 have been discussed in the excerpts of the
24 article you reviewed.
25 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
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2 Mischaracterizes prior testimony.
3 Asked and answered.
4 Q. Mr. Nguyen?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. So you don't remember price
7 increases in any of these stocks in
8 January 2021.
9 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
10 A. No.
11 MR. KIM: That's not his
12 testimony.
13 A. No.
14 Q. No, you do not recall that,
15 Mr. Nguyen?
16 A. No, I do not recall.
17 Q. So this article that we just
18 looked at referenced short squeezes or
19 attempted short squeezes in January of
20 2021.
21 Did you hear about a potential
22 short squeeze in AMC around this time?
23 A. No.
24 Q. What about Blackberry? Did you
25 hear about a possible short squeeze in
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2 Blackberry?
3 A. No.
4 Q. And what about Nokia? Did you
5 hear about a potential short squeeze in
6 Nokia?
7 A. No.
8 Q. Did you hear about a possible
9 short squeeze in GameStop?
10 A. No.
11 Q. And again, to ensure that I have
12 this clearly on the record, did you hear
13 anything that made you think that the
14 stock price of AMC would increase in
15 January 2021?
16 A. No.
17 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
18 Q. You didn't read anything about
19 AMC in January of 2021.
20 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
21 Asked and answered.
22 A. No. I don't remember.
23 Q. And you don't recall seeing any
24 investors or influencers posting about AMC
25 on social media sites like Twitter or
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2 YouTube.
3 A. No.
4 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
5 Asked and answered.
6 Q. Are you aware of any attempted
7 short squeezes in other stocks around this
8 time?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Do you recall news or media
11 attention about the price of any of these
12 stocks increasing beyond what most people
13 thought they were actually worth?
14 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
15 Asked and answered. Calls for
16 speculation.
17 MS. YOUNG: I have not asked
18 that question, Mr. Kim.
19 Q. You can answer, Mr. Nguyen.
20 MR. KIM: I think so.
21 A. No.
22 Q. So at the time in late
23 January 2021, you didn't hear that any of
24 these companies were heavily shorted.
25 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
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2 Asked and answered.
3 A. No.
4 Q. Do you recall hearing around
5 this time that retail investors on social
6 media were hoping to target investors that
7 were short stock in any of these companies
8 to endorse -- induce a short squeeze?
9 MR. KIM: Objection. Calls for
10 speculation.
11 A. I don't make speculation. But I
12 just --
13 Q. I asked if you recalled hearing
14 around that time that any retail investors
15 on social media --
16 A. No, I do not recall.
17 Q. I'll finish my question, just so
18 that I can have a clean answer on the
19 record.
20 Do you recall hearing around
21 this time that retail investors on social
22 media were hoping to target investors that
23 were short stock of any of these companies
24 to induce a short squeeze?
25 A. No, I do not recall.
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2 MR. KIM: Objection.
3 Q. And by January 27th, had you
4 heard that the stock price for any of
5 these companies had increased dramatically
6 around this time?
7 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
8 Asked and answered.
9 A. No.
10 Q. Have you heard the term "Meme
11 stock" before?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. When did you first hear the term
14 Meme stock?
15 A. Right around that time.
16 Q. What do you understand a Meme
17 stock to be?
18 A. It's a mock, joke.
19 Q. A joke?
20 A. Yeah.
21 Q. So does that suggest that
22 there's something comical about stocks
23 that are considered Meme stocks?
24 MR. KIM: Objection. Form.
25 A. Can you say that again?
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2 Q. Does that suggest that there's
3 something comical about stocks that are
4 considered Meme stocks?
5 A. I --
6 MR. KIM: Same objection.
7 A. I don't make speculation. I
8 don't -- I don't know.
9 Q. What stocks did you understand
10 to be considered Meme stocks around this
11 time?
12 A. AMC, BB, Nokia.
13 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: I'm
14 sorry. What was the second one?
15 THE WITNESS: BB, Blackberry;
16 Nokia. I mean, I don't remember it
17 all, but those are some of them that
18 they considered a Meme.
19 Q. And what -- what is your
20 understanding of what made those companies
21 Meme stocks?
22 A. I have no understanding of that,
23 why they made it a Meme stock.
24 Q. Or why they were considered Meme
25 stocks?
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2 A. I do not know.
3 Q. Was there -- did you consider
4 there to be something funny about these
5 types of stocks, these Meme stocks?
6 A. No. As an investor, I find
7 nothing funny about it.
8 Q. Why did you believe that they
9 were Meme stocks?
10 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
11 A. I didn't believe it.
12 Q. You didn't believe that they
13 were considered Meme stocks or you didn't
14 personally consider them Meme stocks?
15 A. I don't personally consider them
16 Meme stocks.
17 Q. And who in your understanding
18 was considering them Meme stocks?
19 A. At that time, they said, you
20 know, like, AMC, BB or whatever was
21 considered a Meme stock. But me
22 personally, I don't consider them as a
23 Meme stock.
24 Q. And when you say "they said,"
25 are you talking about --
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2 A. The media.
3 Q. The media?
4 A. The people posting the posts,
5 you know.
6 Q. On Reddit or social -- other
7 social media sites?
8 A. Yeah. Any social media.
9 Q. And did you have an
10 understanding of why people on social
11 media were posting about these Meme
12 stocks?
13 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
14 A. No, I don't.
15 Q. You have no sense of the -- you
16 know, any context for why there was a lot
17 of chatter about these Meme stocks in late
18 January of 2021?
19 A. No.
20 MS. YOUNG: I think now is
21 probably a good time for a break.
22 We've been going for about an hour.
23 Do you guys want to take ten minutes?
24 MR. KIM: Sure. Yeah.
25 MS. YOUNG: All right. Back at
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2 11:15, let's say.
3 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: All right.
4 Off the record at 11:04 a.m.
5 (Recess)
6 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We are back
7 on the record at 11:17 a.m. Eastern
8 Standard Time.
9 BY MS. YOUNG:
10 Q. Mr. Nguyen, you understand that
11 you're still under oath; correct?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Have you ever purchased shares
14 of AMC?
15 A. When? Yes, I did during that
16 time.
17 Q. By that time --
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. -- do you mean late
20 January 2021?
21 A. Somewhere around there.
22 Q. Was that the first time you
23 purchased AMC stock?
24 A. I'm not sure.
25 Q. Do you recall ever previously
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2 purchasing AMC stock?
3 A. No, I don't recall.
4 Q. And have you ever purchased
5 shares of Blackberry?
6 A. Yes, I did.
7 Q. When was that?
8 A. I don't recall the exact time.
9 Q. Do you recall approximately?
10 A. Around January 2021.
11 Q. And to the best of your
12 recollection, was that the first time you
13 purchased shares of Blackberry stock?
14 A. Yes.
15 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, can we go
16 ahead and mark Tab 9 as Exhibit 25.
17 (Defendant's Exhibit 25,
18 Certification, was hereby marked for
19 identification, as of this date.)
20 Q. I think it should be available
21 now, Mr. Nguyen.
22 Do you recognize this document?
23 A. What is it? 25?
24 Q. Correct.
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And what is it?
3 A. A certification.
4 Q. And you signed this
5 certification; correct?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And it authorizes the Rosen Law
8 Firm to file this action on your behalf?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. I'll direct you to paragraph 4.
11 Do you see where the
12 certification says it lists all of the
13 transactions plaintiff has made in the
14 affected stocks during the class period
15 set forth in the consolidated complaint?
16 A. Yes, I see that.
17 Q. At the bottom of the page, is
18 that your signature?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And I'll ask you now to turn to
21 the next page.
22 Is that a complete list of all
23 the transactions you made in the affected
24 stocks during the class period?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And those transactions include
3 trades in AMC and Blackberry; right?
4 A. Yes.
5 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, let's
6 mark Tab 5, which will be Exhibit 26.
7 (Defendant's Exhibit 26,
8 Executed trades, Bates
9 RHMDL00097434.001, was hereby marked
10 for identification, as of this date.)
11 Q. Looks like it's there. Sorry.
12 The right document is in there, but it's
13 without a stamp. So we're adding a stamp
14 now.
15 (Pause)
16 Q. It should be available now.
17 A. Exhibit 26?
18 Q. 26.
19 A. Yes, I see it.
20 MR. KIM: Is there supposed to
21 be a sticker on that or no?
22 MS. YOUNG: Yeah, there is, but
23 I think Charlotte accidentally dragged
24 one in that didn't have the exhibit,
25 so I think there should be -- the one
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2 I'm seeing now does have a stamp on
3 it.
4 MR. KIM: Okay.
5 MS. YOUNG: If you refresh the
6 page, you might be able to see it.
7 MR. KIM: Oh, yeah.
8 BY MS. YOUNG:
9 Q. Now, Mr. Nguyen, I put in front
10 of you trading data that Robinhood
11 produced in connection with this matter.
12 And I can represent to you that the
13 account number in the left-hand column is
14 your Robinhood account number. But I can
15 also show you one of your account
16 statements if you would like to confirm
17 that for yourself.
18 MR. KIM: I mean, we'll accept
19 your representation that it's his
20 account.
21 MS. YOUNG: Thank you for saving
22 us both ten minutes of our time.
23 Q. Okay. And I can also represent
24 to you that this document shows your
25 orders in your Robinhood account during
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2 this period that we've been discussing
3 today.
4 And just -- I think your counsel
5 is probably aware of this, but in case,
6 you know, this gets a little bit
7 confusing, I'm going to explain now that
8 the data has some orders that appear in
9 more than one row because sometimes I
10 think Robinhood executed a particular
11 order in several chunks within the same
12 second, so that's why you might see the
13 same order in more than one row.
14 And I think that Charlotte is
15 also maybe going to screen share just so
16 that it's easier to highlight what trades
17 we're looking at a given time, because I
18 know it's a lot of rows.
19 But the first one we're going to
20 look at will be the seventh column.
21 Well, I guess before I get
22 there, also if you look at the seventh
23 column on the spreadsheet, you'll see that
24 it's called "order created at" and its
25 UTC, and that shows the time you placed
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2 the order and the coordinated universal
3 time zone, which is five hours ahead of
4 the Eastern Standard Time zone that we're
5 in now.
6 MS. YOUNG: And if we look at
7 the very first row, Charlotte, if you
8 wouldn't mind zooming in a little bit,
9 if you can.
10 Q. If you look at the very first
11 row, you bought 30 shares of AMC at a
12 price of $16 per share.
13 Do you see that?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And you bought those shares on
16 January 27, 2021, at 15:55 UTC, which is
17 10:55 a.m. Eastern; is that right?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. So why did you decide to buy AMC
20 on January 27, 2021?
21 A. I mean, there's no, you know,
22 reason why I bought it. I just bought it.
23 I liked the stock. I bought it.
24 Q. You had no reason at all?
25 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
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2 A. No reason.
3 Q. Aside from liking the stock?
4 A. No.
5 Q. Why did you like the stock?
6 A. I mean, it's been around for a
7 while. You know, I just feel like
8 that's -- that time, I want to buy, I
9 bought it.
10 Q. Respectfully, Mr. Nguyen, many
11 stocks have been around for a long time.
12 Were there any other --
13 A. That is my decision that day. I
14 just bought -- I liked the stock. I
15 bought it.
16 Q. But you had no sort of
17 motivating rationale for why you liked the
18 stock.
19 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
20 A. I don't remember my motivation
21 at that time, no.
22 Q. So you can't walk us through
23 your thinking as to why you bought AMC on
24 January 27th.
25 A. No.
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2 Q. Did you consider this a
3 long-term investment in AMC?
4 A. No. I don't -- I don't -- I
5 mean, long term? I don't consider it long
6 term, no. I didn't.
7 Q. So you plan to sell your shares
8 of AMC in a relatively short timeframe
9 after acquiring them; is that right?
10 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
11 A. Mm-hmm.
12 Q. And is that because you thought
13 that the price of those AMC shares would
14 increase in the short term?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And why did you believe the
17 stock price would increase in the short
18 term for AMC?
19 A. I do not know my decision at
20 that time. I don't know why I believed it
21 was to go up. I don't know.
22 Q. Now, let's look at one of the
23 Blackberry trades. This is five rows
24 down. You'll see an order to buy 0.82
25 shares of Blackberry.
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2 And then if you look at the
3 "order cancelled" column, there's a
4 timestamp there. I'm just explaining that
5 that -- that means that order was
6 cancelled, because I know that otherwise,
7 we'll kind of confuse some of the
8 subsequent trades.
9 But if you look at the next row
10 down, do you see the order to buy 1,068
11 shares of Blackberry at $21.49 per share?
12 A. Mm-hmm.
13 Q. And this was also on
14 January 27, 2021, but at 14:31 UTC, which
15 is 9:31 a.m. Eastern; right?
16 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: Is that
17 a yes?
18 MS. YOUNG: Sorry. Can you say
19 that again, Sharon?
20 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: Is that
21 a yes? I didn't hear an answer.
22 THE WITNESS: Yes.
23 MS. YOUNG: Oh, thank you. I
24 also didn't hear that.
25
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2 BY MS. YOUNG:
3 Q. Mr. Nguyen, why did you decide
4 to buy Blackberry shares on
5 January 27, 2021?
6 A. I don't remember.
7 Q. Did you think that the price of
8 Blackberry was going to increase?
9 A. I don't remember my thinking at
10 that time. I'm hoping to make money,
11 yeah.
12 Q. But you can't talk us through
13 any of your rationale beyond, you know,
14 that you assumed that you thought that
15 you'd make money and the price would
16 increase.
17 A. Yeah. Basically, that's it.
18 Q. Now, if you look at the two
19 trades -- the trade two rows beneath that,
20 there's an order to sell 1,068 shares of
21 Blackberry.
22 Do you see that?
23 A. Mm-hmm.
24 Q. And you look -- if you look at
25 the second-to-the-last column, "execution
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2 price," you can see that you sold those
3 shares for $21.85; correct?
4 A. Mm-hmm.
5 Q. And you sold those shares on
6 January 27, 2021, at 17:11 UTC or
7 12:11 p.m. Eastern; right?
8 A. Mm-hmm.
9 Q. So that was about two and a half
10 hours after you bought 1,068 shares of
11 Blackberry and the trade we just looked at
12 above; is that correct?
13 A. Mm-hmm.
14 Q. So why did you decide to sell
15 1,068 shares of Blackberry after just a
16 few hours?
17 A. I do not remember that trade,
18 you know. But I don't remember.
19 Q. So you -- do you often sell your
20 shares after a few hours to profit from
21 fluctuations in the price during the
22 trading day?
23 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
24 A. It all depends. I mean, I don't
25 know my feeling that day.
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2 Q. Do you at least sometimes sell
3 your shares after a couple of hours to
4 profit from fluctuations in the price
5 during the trading day?
6 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
7 A. Sometimes.
8 Q. So do you just watch the stock
9 price, and that's how you decide whether
10 or not to hold or sell?
11 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
12 A. I mean, that could have been my
13 determination, but I don't know.
14 Q. So do you recall learning
15 anything about Blackberry since buying the
16 shares that made you think they were less
17 valuable than you thought they were when
18 you bought them two and a half hours
19 earlier that day?
20 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
21 A. No.
22 Q. Then typically, if you're
23 selling within a couple of hours of making
24 a -- purchasing a stock, you know, what
25 besides price informs your decision?
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2 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
3 A. I mean, I don't know my decision
4 -- whatever my decision at that time,
5 that's what happened. I mean, I don't
6 really remember the decisions I make.
7 Q. But speaking more generally, you
8 said -- you testified a couple of minutes
9 ago that it's -- you know, you have at
10 times sold stocks within a couple of hours
11 of acquiring them.
12 A. Yeah.
13 Q. So is there typically anything
14 besides price that informs your decision?
15 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
16 Asked and answered.
17 A. There's no deciding factor. I
18 mean, price goes up, you know, price goes
19 down. I don't -- I don't know -- it
20 depends of how I feel that day.
21 Q. Let's look at a trade a few rows
22 beneath that.
23 Do you see where you bought 929
24 shares of Blackberry at 24.79 per share?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And that was on
3 January 27, 2021, at 18:38 UTC, which is
4 1:38 p.m. Eastern; right?
5 A. Mm-hmm.
6 Q. And that's about an hour and a
7 half after you sold shares of Blackberry
8 for 21.85 per share; right?
9 A. Mm-hmm.
10 Q. So the price of Blackberry stock
11 increased by close to $3 per share in
12 roughly one and a half hours since you
13 sold, you know, the 1,068 shares; correct?
14 A. Mm-hmm.
15 Q. And you bought the 929 shares at
16 its higher price; right?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. So did you have reason to
19 believe that the stock price would rise
20 even higher?
21 A. Yes. That's probably why I
22 bought it.
23 Q. And why did you think that?
24 A. Because from the chart.
25 Q. From the chart?
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2 A. Mm-hmm.
3 Q. By "chart," do you mean the
4 price chart?
5 A. The price chart. Yeah.
6 Q. Did believe that there was a
7 short squeeze or an attempted short
8 squeeze in Blackberry at this time?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Why did you think your -- let me
11 rephrase.
12 If a stock's price is
13 increasing, is it always your view that it
14 will continue to increase?
15 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
16 A. It might.
17 Q. But you don't recall any reasons
18 that you had to believe that the stock
19 price of Blackberry would increase at this
20 point in time --
21 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
22 Q. -- I should say.
23 A. No, I did not recall.
24 Q. You don't remember seeing any
25 information about Blackberry's financials
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2 or company fundamentals that made you
3 think that shares were undervalued at this
4 point in time; is that correct?
5 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
6 A. No.
7 Q. And do you recall whether on
8 January 27th you thought the price of
9 Blackberry was going to increase
10 substantially?
11 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
12 Asked and answered.
13 A. Yeah. From the chart, yes. I
14 see it's going up. I mean --
15 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, let's go
16 ahead and get Tab 2 ready.
17 Q. But Mr. Nguyen, do you know what
18 options trading is?
19 A. I've read a little bit about it,
20 understand very little. But I never play
21 option trade.
22 Q. Do you know what options are?
23 A. Somewhat, not fully detailed.
24 But --
25 Q. Is it consistent with your
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2 understanding that an option gives you
3 the, you know, right but not the
4 obligation to buy a particular stock at a
5 specific price on or before a certain
6 date?
7 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
8 A. I don't understand -- I don't --
9 I don't know what option is.
10 Q. Have you ever placed an order
11 for an options trade?
12 A. No.
13 Q. An option?
14 Are you sure about that,
15 Mr. Nguyen?
16 A. Yes.
17 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, let's go
18 ahead and look at Tab 2. This will
19 be, I guess, 27.
20 (Defendant's Exhibit 27, An
21 email dated January 27, 2021, Bates
22 RHMDL00092469, was hereby marked for
23 identification, as of this date.)
24 Q. I think if you refresh your
25 page, Exhibit 27 should be there now.
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2 Do you see an email, Mr. Nguyen?
3 A. 27; right?
4 Q. Right.
5 A. Yes, that's my email.
6 Q. So you can identify this as an
7 email you received from Robinhood on
8 January 27, 2023 -- or 2021 -- excuse
9 me -- with the subject line "Option Order
10 Placed"?
11 A. Can you repeat that question?
12 Q. I just asked if you can identify
13 this as an email you received from
14 Robinhood on January 27, 2021, with the
15 subject line "Option Order Placed."
16 A. I never -- I don't remember what
17 this is. I don't recall this.
18 Q. That's okay.
19 Can you read the body of the
20 email aloud to us.
21 A. "You submitted a limit order to
22 buy one contract of BB $40 call 1/29 at
23 $0.29 per contract. You can check your
24 status for this order on Robinhood. We'll
25 notify you if your order is executed."
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2 Thank you.
3 And do you know if this order
4 gave you an option to buy one share of
5 Blackberry for $40 at some point before
6 January 29th?
7 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
8 A. I don't remember this. I don't
9 remember I signed up to options. But --
10 Q. Well, do you know if --
11 A. I think --
12 Q. Go ahead.
13 A. -- when you sign up to options,
14 they give you a questionnaire that you
15 answer. I think I failed that, and then I
16 wasn't even supposed to have options, but
17 I don't know how -- how it got options,
18 but I never play options. So --
19 Q. Do you know that if you -- do
20 you know -- so you don't know whether or
21 not this would have allowed you to get one
22 share of Blackberry at $40 a share prior
23 to one -- prior to January 29th.
24 MR. KIM: Objection to form. I
25 think that's not -- I'll just object.
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2 A. I don't remember. I mean, I
3 just --
4 Q. We can move on.
5 Let's go back to the prior
6 exhibit we were looking at, which is 26, I
7 believe.
8 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, if you
9 wouldn't mind pulling that back up.
10 Q. And we're going to look at the
11 fourth row from the bottom.
12 MS. YOUNG: Do you see a Nokia
13 trade? I'm not sure if it's
14 highlighted, Charlotte.
15 Q. It looks like you purchased
16 3,367 shares of Nokia at $7.15 -- $7.15
17 per share.
18 Do you see that?
19 A. Mm-hmm.
20 Q. And that was on
21 January 27, 2021, at 17:11 UTC?
22 A. Mm-hmm.
23 Q. And that's at 12:11 p.m.
24 Eastern; correct?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And was that the first time you
3 ever bought Nokia?
4 A. Yes. I believe that's what it
5 says on there.
6 Q. And why did you decide to buy
7 Nokia shares on January 27th?
8 A. On my Twitter account, I've seen
9 something like Elon Musk saying something
10 about Nokia or something. I don't really
11 recall the exact thing that he said. But,
12 you know, I bought it that day.
13 Q. And your recollection is that
14 you bought it because of something that
15 Elon Musk tweeted on or around the 27th?
16 A. Something like that.
17 Q. Do you recall at all the
18 substance of the Tweet?
19 A. No, not in full detail, no.
20 Q. Did Elon's Tweet being about
21 Nokia make you think that the price of
22 Nokia was going to increase?
23 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
24 A. Somewhat.
25 Q. And why was that?
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2 A. I mean, he know what -- I mean,
3 based on the guy's performance, I mean,
4 you know, what he's doing -- it seemed
5 like he know what he's doing.
6 Q. So you understood Mr. Musk's
7 Tweet to be an endorsement of the -- of
8 Nokia as a company or its stock.
9 A. No, not endorsement. I mean, he
10 just probably randomly Tweet that, but I
11 don't know what he mean by that. He
12 didn't endorse or affiliate anything
13 Nokia, I don't think.
14 Q. So did you just believe that
15 because somebody as high profile as
16 Mr. Musk was tweeting about Nokia, that
17 the stock price would increase?
18 A. Something is going on.
19 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
20 Q. What do you mean by something is
21 going on?
22 A. I mean, yes. That's
23 something -- in my mind, he said -- by him
24 saying that, it's something about Nokia.
25 I just bought it. So I had no reason why.
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2 You know, I just bought it.
3 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: I'm sorry to
4 interrupt, but I have a Nicholas Lin
5 attempting to join.
6 MS. YOUNG: Oh, that's from
7 Robinhood.
8 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: All right.
9 I'd admitting him now. Sorry to
10 interrupt.
11 MS. YOUNG: That's okay.
12 BY MS. YOUNG:
13 Q. Now, if we turn to the
14 second-to-last row on that page, do you
15 see a sale of 3,367 shares of Nokia?
16 A. Mm-hmm.
17 Q. And that was on
18 January 27, 2021, at 18:28 UTC, which is
19 1:28 p.m. Eastern; right?
20 A. Mm-hmm. Yes.
21 Q. So why did you sell these Nokia
22 shares approximately one hour and
23 20 minutes after buying them?
24 A. I'm not sure.
25 Q. Do you recall learning anything
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2 about Nokia since buying the shares that
3 made you think they were less valuable
4 than you thought they were when you bought
5 them earlier that afternoon?
6 A. No.
7 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
8 Q. Sorry. Did you say no,
9 Mr. Nguyen?
10 A. Yes, I did say no.
11 Q. In the second-to-the-last
12 column, it reflects that those 3,367 Nokia
13 shares were sold for $6.73 per share.
14 Do you see that?
15 A. Mm-hmm.
16 Q. And that's $0.42 less per share
17 than you bought those shares for earlier
18 that afternoon at 7.15 per share; right?
19 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Oh, sorry.
22 Earlier, you testified that you
23 tend to sell based on when the price is
24 declining. Is that fair to say,
25 Mr. Nguyen?
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2 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. So is it fair to say you're
5 watching the price of Nokia decline and
6 you wanted to sell your shares before the
7 price fell even further?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Did you think that any short
10 squeeze or attempted short squeeze of
11 Nokia was ending?
12 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
13 Asked and answered.
14 A. I mean, I have no -- no thinking
15 behind that, no.
16 Q. But you can't explain why on
17 January 27th, you believed that the price
18 of Nokia was going to decline.
19 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
20 Q. Correct?
21 MR. KIM: That's not his
22 testimony.
23 A. You see it's declining.
24 Q. I should say did you have any
25 reason to believe that the price of Nokia
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2 would decline further?
3 A. I wasn't sure what I was
4 thinking at that time. No, I wasn't.
5 Q. And again, you recall nothing --
6 no news about the company or its
7 underlying fundamentals that made you
8 think that the shares of Nokia were less
9 valuable than you thought they were
10 earlier that afternoon when you bought
11 them.
12 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
13 Asked and answered.
14 A. No.
15 Q. Thank you.
16 Mr. Nguyen, you're aware that
17 Robinhood implemented certain purchasing
18 restrictions on its platform on
19 January 28th; correct?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Can you describe any of those
22 restrictions?
23 A. The buy button.
24 Q. The buy button?
25 A. Yeah. And you can only sell or
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2 liquidate what you got.
3 Q. Which stocks do you recall being
4 restricted?
5 A. AMC, Nokia, Blackberry, GME,
6 Trivago, and Tootsie Roll.
7 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: I'm
8 sorry. Could you repeat the last few
9 after GME?
10 THE WITNESS: Trivago, and, like
11 Tootsie Roll or something like that.
12 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: I'm
13 sorry. I can't understand the word.
14 Can you spell it?
15 MR. KIM: Like the candy.
16 THE WITNESS: Like the candy.
17 Tootsie Roll.
18 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: Oh,
19 Tootsie Roll. Okay.
20 BY MS. YOUNG:
21 Q. Did you recall how long those
22 restrictions lasted for, Mr. Nguyen?
23 A. Hours.
24 Q. And --
25 MS. YOUNG: Sorry. Sharon, did
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2 you have a question? Oh, no. You're
3 muted. Okay. Sorry. I think I just
4 heard an echo back.
5 Q. Do you recall any changes in
6 those restrictions?
7 A. Restrictions. I don't -- you
8 know, they took it off and on. Those are
9 the changes. But --
10 Q. Did you say ceiling
11 restrictions?
12 A. No, no, no. I did not say
13 ceiling restriction.
14 Q. I'm sorry. I didn't catch --
15 what did you say? What kind of
16 restrictions? When you say they took it
17 off and on?
18 A. Yeah. They took -- I mean, no.
19 They -- they took away the buy button.
20 That's it.
21 Q. Okay. The buy button.
22 A. That's the restriction. Yeah.
23 Q. Do you know if any other brokers
24 implemented similar restrictions around
25 this same time in late January 2021?
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2 A. No.
3 Q. And at the time, do you recall
4 hearing anything about the reason that
5 Robinhood implemented purchasing
6 restrictions?
7 A. Something about the
8 clearinghouse. I didn't go into further
9 detail of what they -- their decision.
10 Q. All you remember is that it had
11 something to do with the clearinghouse; is
12 that correct?
13 A. Yeah.
14 Q. And did you believe that reason?
15 A. It's not for me to judge. I
16 mean, it's speculation. I mean, I could
17 believe it. I couldn't believe it. I
18 don't know what to believe that day. I
19 just wait.
20 Q. Thank you.
21 And did you first hear about
22 Robinhood's restrictions on January 28th?
23 A. Somewhere around that day.
24 Q. And how did you hear about those
25 restrictions?
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2 A. It was posted on my app.
3 MS. YOUNG: Let's look at --
4 Charlotte, can you mark Tab 3. This
5 will be 28.
6 (Defendant's Exhibit 28, A
7 Robinhood screen shot, Bates
8 P00001320, was hereby marked for
9 identification, as of this date.)
10 Q. Okay. I think it should be
11 there now, Mr. Nguyen.
12 Do you recognize this document?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. What is it?
15 A. It's my portfolio.
16 Q. And -- so this is a screen shot
17 you took from your phone?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And do you see the notification
20 on the bottom that says, "Some securities
21 like AMC and GME are position closing
22 only"?
23 A. Mm-hmm.
24 Q. And if you look at the number of
25 hours next to the notification, you took
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2 this screen shot about three hours after
3 Robinhood sent out this notification on
4 January 28th; is that right?
5 A. Mm-hmm.
6 Q. And so at this point, on
7 January 28th, you were aware that
8 Robinhood had imposed trading restrictions
9 on AMC and other securities; correct?
10 A. Mm-hmm.
11 Q. Do you recall reading this
12 actual post?
13 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
14 A. What post? Oh, the --
15 Q. Whatever --
16 A. Yeah. I seen that.
17 Q. Okay.
18 MS. YOUNG: Let's look at
19 exhibit previously marked 6, Tab 11,
20 Charlotte.
21 (Defendant's Exhibit 6, An
22 article titled "Keeping Customers
23 Informed Through Market Volatility"
24 dated January 28, 2021, was previously
25 marked for identification.)
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2 Q. Okay. It should be there now.
3 I don't know why -- it's called 29, but
4 it's previously marked 6.
5 A. It's 29?
6 Q. Right.
7 Do you recognize this post,
8 Mr. Nguyen?
9 A. I don't.
10 Q. Can you look down -- so this is
11 dated January 28, 2021. And it's titled
12 "Keeping Customers Informed Through Market
13 Volatility."
14 And if you turn to the second
15 page, so this is -- I think it's actually
16 page maybe 3 of the PDF.
17 About -- in the second
18 paragraph, do you see where it states, "We
19 are restricting transactions for certain
20 securities to position closing only,
21 including AMC, Blackberry, Bed Bath &
22 Beyond, Express, GME, Koss"?
23 Do you see those?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And are -- these are the
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2 restrictions that you were referring to
3 earlier, the -- shutting off the buy
4 button I think is how you described it?
5 A. Mm-hmm. Yes.
6 Q. Thank you. You can set that
7 aside for now.
8 And what about after
9 January 28th? Do you recall whether
10 stocks were, you know, subject to certain
11 other restrictions besides, you know, the
12 suspension of the buy button?
13 Mr. Nguyen, did you answer?
14 A. No. What did you say? Sorry.
15 Q. Sure.
16 Do you recall whether -- you
17 know, after the 28th, whether some stocks
18 were subject to other restrictions besides
19 the suspension of the buy button?
20 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
21 A. Yes. I recall that.
22 Q. Do you recall any details about
23 those restrictions?
24 A. Not -- not in full details.
25 Q. Okay.
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2 MS. YOUNG: Let's look at
3 Tab 14, which will be Exhibit -- I
4 believe Exhibit 29.
5 (Defendant's Exhibit 29, An
6 article titled "Changes due to ongoing
7 market volatility," was hereby marked
8 for identification, as of this date.)
9 Q. It should be there. Oh, wait.
10 No. It should not be there yet. One
11 second.
12 Okay. So this is the one --
13 it's Exhibit 9 but Tab 14.
14 MR. KIM: There are two
15 Exhibit 29s, but --
16 MS. YOUNG: It's actually
17 stamped 29 that's Tab 14.
18 A. Okay. I see it.
19 Q. And do you recognize this
20 document, Mr. Nguyen?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Do you see that it's titled
23 "Changes due to ongoing market
24 volatility"?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And under the subheading, do you
3 see where it states, "The table below
4 shows the maximum number of shares and
5 options contracts to which you can
6 increase your positions"? It says in that
7 kind of first paragraph under the main
8 heading.
9 A. Mm-hmm. Yes.
10 Q. So do you agree that this blog
11 post describes limits to customers'
12 existing positions?
13 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
14 The document speaks for itself.
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And do you see where under
17 shares for AMC, it says 115?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And do you see where under
20 shares for Blackberry, it says 65?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And you viewed this blog post on
23 January 29th; correct?
24 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
25 A. No, I didn't.
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2 MR. KIM: Assumes facts.
3 Q. Okay.
4 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, can we go
5 ahead and mark Tab 12, which will be
6 Exhibit 30.
7 (Defendant's Exhibit 30, An
8 event check Excel spreadsheet, Bates
9 RHMDL00097949, was hereby marked for
10 identification, as of this date.)
11 Q. It should be there now. You can
12 access it in Exhibit Share. But I think
13 Charlotte is going to also screen share
14 this one, because it's a really big Excel
15 that might be kind of hard to navigate.
16 A. It's too large. I have to
17 download it.
18 Q. Yeah. I think Charlotte is
19 going to pull it up on the screen there.
20 It will just take a second.
21 I'll explain I guess in the
22 interim while she's pulling it up that I
23 can represent to you that it's a
24 spreadsheet called an event check that
25 compiles the actions that a customer can
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2 take on Robinhood's platform.
3 This is a massive Excel, so
4 apologies for that. I'm try to walk us
5 through this as efficiently as possible.
6 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, can you
7 expand Column B so we can see the
8 whole thing. And can you please sort
9 the spreadsheet by date and freeze the
10 top row so we can continue seeing the
11 column headings.
12 Q. And in Column B -- oh, sorry.
13 I'll also go ahead and represent to you,
14 Mr. Nguyen, that consistent with your
15 equity trade spreadsheet that we looked at
16 a few moments ago, that one of these
17 columns, B, I believe, has your account
18 number. Again, we can pull up one of your
19 account statements if you want to verify
20 that for yourself. But I think that might
21 just take -- take longer than it's worth.
22 MS. YOUNG: Okay. And
23 Charlotte, I think the dates are now
24 properly formatted. And if you can
25 scroll to Row 97409.
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2 Okay. If you could zoom in a
3 bit.
4 Q. Mr. Nguyen, do you see in the
5 column titled "event_timestamp" -- I don't
6 know if you need to make this even bigger.
7 Event timestamp, it notes
8 January 29, 2021, 11:15?
9 MR. KIM: Objection to form. I
10 mean, it's not clear what that column
11 says. Can you lock the headings?
12 MS. YOUNG: I thought they were
13 locked. I'm sorry.
14 Charlotte, do you need to go
15 back to the top to freeze the
16 headings? Sorry, guys. It's
17 obviously a high-stress task that
18 Charlotte is doing over here, trying
19 to work in the native.
20 Okay. There we go.
21 Q. Okay. Now can you see that in
22 the column titled "event_timestamp" --
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. -- January 29, 2021, 11:15?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And then do you also see that
3 there's a link here in the event_data_URL
4 column, and that that goes to a Robinhood
5 post call changes due to recent market
6 volatility?
7 A. Yes, I see that.
8 Q. And that's the name of the
9 second blog post we reviewed a few moments
10 ago; correct?
11 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
12 Lack of foundation.
13 A. Yeah. It is.
14 Q. Thank you.
15 MS. YOUNG: And Charlotte, could
16 you go across to Column Y.
17 Q. And Mr. Nguyen, in the
18 event_event column, you can see this
19 indicates "card action."
20 Do you see that?
21 A. I don't see that. Where is
22 that?
23 Q. "Card action" in Column Y.
24 A. Okay. Yeah. I see it.
25 Q. And I can represent to you that
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2 that means that you clicked on this blog
3 post. So I'm --
4 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
5 A. Clicked on what?
6 Q. Clicked on this URL for this
7 blog post, to view this blog post.
8 A. Okay. But I don't remember if I
9 clicked on it. I mean --
10 Q. Understood. Understood. I
11 appreciate that you may not recall viewing
12 this specific blog post.
13 But would you agree that you at
14 some point on January 29th opened this
15 blog post?
16 MR. KIM: Objection to form. He
17 said he doesn't recall.
18 A. I don't recall opening it. I
19 mean --
20 Q. But you have no reason to
21 believe that you didn't click and open
22 this blog post; correct?
23 MR. KIM: He also has to reason
24 to believe that he did. So, I mean --
25 A. I mean --
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2 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
3 A. -- if I can remember, I have no
4 reason --
5 Q. But on January -- on
6 January 28th, again, you were aware of
7 position closing only restrictions that
8 Robinhood implemented for AMC; right?
9 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
10 Q. You can answer, Mr. Nguyen.
11 A. Yeah. I mean, I know -- yeah.
12 Robinhood posted some kind of restriction,
13 but --
14 Q. I think you called that getting
15 rid of the buy button. That's what I mean
16 by position closing only.
17 A. Mm-hmm.
18 Q. You testified earlier that you
19 knew that those restrictions were in place
20 on January --
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Yeah. And you were also aware
23 of, you know, other certain types of
24 restrictions -- I understand that you
25 don't recall specifics necessarily, but
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2 after the 28th; right?
3 A. Yes.
4 MR. KIM: Objection. Asked and
5 answered.
6 Q. Sorry. Just to make sure that's
7 clear, did you say yes, Mr. Nguyen?
8 A. Yes.
9 MR. KIM: Same objection.
10 Q. Okay.
11 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, let's
12 turn back to the Excel we were looking
13 at a few minutes ago. I think it this
14 was Exhibit 26. So these were the
15 trading data.
16 Q. And we'll start with AMC.
17 So earlier, we discussed shares
18 of AMC that you purchased on January 27th.
19 A. Mm-hmm.
20 Q. If you look at the second row of
21 this spreadsheet, do you see where you
22 purchased another 52 shares at $15.24 per
23 share on January 29, 2021?
24 A. Mm-hmm.
25 Q. Why did you buy another 52
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2 shares of AMC at this time?
3 A. I didn't know why. By that
4 time, I was in the process of transferring
5 my account, and then I would just, you
6 know, buy a little bit here and there.
7 Q. Did you believe that the price
8 of AMC would increase after you made that
9 purchase of an additional 52 shares on
10 January 29th?
11 A. Yes, I did.
12 Q. But you don't recall why you
13 thought that AMC's price would increase at
14 this point?
15 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
16 A. I mean, I don't recall, no. I
17 don't recall.
18 Q. And you don't recall hearing or
19 learning anything about a potential short
20 squeeze in AMC around this time.
21 A. No.
22 Q. And you bought these shares
23 after you learned about the restrictions
24 Robinhood imposed on its platform
25 beginning on January 28th; correct?
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2 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
3 A. Yes, I bought it.
4 Q. And you bought these shares on
5 January 29th after you learned about the
6 restrictions Robinhood imposed on its
7 platform beginning on January 28th;
8 correct?
9 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Thank you.
12 And you understand that the
13 putative class of individuals that you
14 represent in this litigation consist of
15 those that held shares of the affected
16 stocks as of the close of trading on
17 January 27th and sold such shares between
18 January 28th and February 4, 2021;
19 correct?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. So in this litigation, you're
22 not suing on the AMC shares that you
23 bought on January 29th and then sold;
24 right?
25 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
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2 A. Can you repeat that?
3 Q. So in this litigation, you're
4 not suing on the AMC shares that you
5 bought on January 29th; right?
6 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
7 A. No.
8 Q. No, you are not; correct?
9 A. No, I'm not.
10 Q. Thank you.
11 So if you look at the next row,
12 this is three from the top.
13 Do you see where you sold 82
14 shares of AMC on February 1, 2021?
15 A. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
16 Q. And again, this is after you
17 learned of the restrictions on Robinhood's
18 platform; right?
19 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
20 A. I didn't know what made my
21 decision that day, no.
22 Q. This is a matter of timing,
23 Mr. Nguyen.
24 This trade, you executed it on
25 February 1, 2021. That is after what you
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2 testified earlier you learned about the
3 restrictions on Robinhood's platform
4 beginning on January 28th.
5 A. I --
6 MR. KIM: Question to form.
7 A. I knew about the restriction.
8 Q. Sure.
9 A. But what the -- what are you
10 asking me?
11 Q. I'm asking if you executed this
12 trade after you learned about the
13 restrictions.
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Yeah. Thank you.
16 And those 82 shares that you
17 sold included the 30 purchased on
18 January 27th and the additional 52 you
19 purchased on January 29th. I think those
20 are the two rows above this.
21 Do you see that?
22 MR. KIM: Objection. Objection
23 to form.
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And you sold these shares for
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2 the price of $15.02 per share; right?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. So why did you sell these shares
5 at this time on January 29th?
6 A. I did not know why.
7 Q. You don't recall any new
8 information that you learned about the
9 company that led you to believe that AMC
10 was now overvalued?
11 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
12 A. No.
13 Q. Do you recall if you wanted to
14 close out your position to limit your
15 losses?
16 A. No.
17 Q. Let's take a look at Blackberry
18 as well.
19 About two-thirds down the page,
20 five rows from the bottom, do you see
21 where you sold 929 shares of Blackberry on
22 January 29, 2021?
23 A. Mm-hmm. Yes.
24 Q. And again, this is after you
25 learned that the restrictions on
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2 Robinhood's platform; correct?
3 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
4 A. Well, I told you I didn't know,
5 like, why it was my decision to sell that
6 day.
7 Q. That wasn't my question,
8 Mr. Nguyen.
9 My question was you executed
10 this trade at a point in time that is
11 after you learned about Robinhood's
12 restrictions on its platform that began on
13 January 28th; correct?
14 A. Yes, I did. Yes.
15 Q. And you executed that trade at a
16 point in time after you learned about
17 Robinhood's restrictions; right?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Thank you.
20 And --
21 MR. KIM: We're pushing up on
22 another hour. If you want to --
23 MS. YOUNG: I have, like, three
24 more questions.
25 MR. KIM: -- close out this
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2 topic?
3 MS. YOUNG: Yeah.
4 MR. KIM: And maybe we can take
5 a break after that.
6 MS. YOUNG: Yeah. We can take
7 lunch. I have a couple more -- a
8 handful more questions.
9 BY MS. YOUNG:
10 Q. Again, just to make sure, I
11 think you said -- you don't recall
12 anything about why you decided to sell
13 these Blackberry shares on January 29th.
14 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
15 A. I did not recall.
16 Q. You don't recall any -- learning
17 any new information about the company that
18 led you to believe it was overvalued.
19 A. No.
20 Q. And you don't recall why you
21 only held these shares for two days.
22 A. No.
23 Q. And you don't recall anything
24 about an attempted short squeeze in
25 Blackberry around this time.
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2 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
3 Asked and answered.
4 A. No.
5 Q. Okay. I think we can break for
6 lunch now.
7 MR. KIM: Well, do we just want
8 to, you know -- want to maybe just
9 take, like, ten minutes and then --
10 MS. YOUNG: No. I'd prefer to
11 take lunch now and get back to it.
12 MR. KIM: How long?
13 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Let me take
14 us off the record first.
15 Off the record 12:09 p.m.
16 Eastern Standard Time.
17 (Luncheon recess: 12:09 p.m.)
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 1:05 p.m.
4 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We're back on
5 the record at 1:05 p.m. Eastern
6 Standard Time.
7 BY MS. YOUNG:
8 Q. Mr. Nguyen, is it correct that
9 in January 2021 and February 2021, you
10 didn't buy or sell any shares of Bed Bath
11 & Beyond?
12 A. That's right.
13 Q. And same question but for
14 Express.
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. Yes as in you did not buy any
17 shares of Express?
18 A. I did not buy any shares, no.
19 Q. Nor did you buy any shares of
20 GameStop in January or February 2021?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Koss?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Tootsie Roll?
25 A. No.
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2 Q. And is it correct that in
3 January of 2021, you didn't buy or sell
4 any shares of Trivago?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. Did you say maybe?
7 A. No. I said yes. I didn't -- I
8 didn't --
9 Q. Oh, yes, you didn't? Okay.
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Thank you.
12 Did you consider buying any of
13 those shares in January 2021?
14 A. I don't know.
15 Q. You don't recall.
16 A. I don't recall.
17 Q. Okay. And since purchasing
18 shares of AMC in January 2021, have you
19 ever purchased additional AMC shares?
20 A. Not that I know of.
21 Q. Okay. And since January 2021,
22 when you purchased shares of Blackberry,
23 have you ever purchased additional shares
24 of Blackberry?
25 A. No.
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2 Q. Since January 2021, when you
3 purchased shares of Nokia, have you ever
4 since purchased Nokia shares?
5 A. No.
6 Q. And I think you testified
7 earlier that you have a Webull account
8 today?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And so are you still actively
11 trading stocks today?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And do you currently hold stock
14 in any of the companies we've discussed in
15 this deposition?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Which are those?
18 A. AMC, GME.
19 Q. How long have you held those?
20 A. AMC, almost close to probably
21 years. Well, I sold -- I sold it as a
22 loss and then re-bought it.
23 Q. And you said about two years
24 ago, you re-bought or bought additional
25 shares?
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2 A. No. Just recently, I just
3 re-bought it. I sold it and then
4 re-bought it again.
5 Q. So I thought, when I asked you a
6 few moments ago, I said since January of
7 2021, when you purchased shares of AMC,
8 have you since purchased AMC shares, and
9 you said no.
10 Is that not --
11 A. Oh, I thought -- I thought you
12 said that time, that time in January --
13 Q. Since those trades we reviewed
14 earlier, have you since purchased shares
15 of AMC?
16 A. Yeah. I purchased AMC and GME.
17 Q. Okay. So --
18 A. Well, GME just recently.
19 Q. GME recently.
20 How recently?
21 A. Probably like a week or two ago.
22 Q. Okay. So well after you were --
23 you became a lead plaintiff in this
24 action; correct?
25 A. Yes.
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2 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
3 Q. So going back to AMC.
4 To clarify, when did you buy
5 more shares in AMC?
6 A. I don't have a particular day,
7 but I just bought more of AMC, like,
8 probably, like, a month --
9 Q. A month ago?
10 A. Yeah. Like, a month, couple of
11 weeks, three or four weeks. I don't know.
12 Q. A couple of weeks ago.
13 So again, that was after you
14 became a lead plaintiff in this action.
15 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
16 Q. You can answer, Mr. Nguyen.
17 A. Yeah. What do you mean, like,
18 after I became a plaintiff, and then I
19 bought it?
20 Q. Correct. In terms of the
21 sequence.
22 A. Yeah. I bought it after. Yeah.
23 Q. Okay. And also -- so circling
24 back, because I think you might have -- or
25 maybe I didn't articulate my initial
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2 question very well.
3 But since the trades -- the
4 Blackberry purchases we reviewed earlier,
5 that was back in January 2021, have you
6 since purchased any shares of Blackberry?
7 A. No.
8 Q. Okay. And same question for
9 Nokia.
10 A. No.
11 Q. Okay. Besides AMC and GME, do
12 you hold any of the other stock or stock
13 in any of the other companies we've
14 discussed today?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Okay. So what stocks make up
17 the biggest portion of your portfolio
18 currently?
19 A. AMC.
20 Q. Do you know roughly how many
21 shares of AMC you hold?
22 A. Well, AMC, I hold about, like,
23 100 or 200, around there, so, like, 100
24 something. And A -- which is a split of
25 AMC, I have, like, 6,000 of that share.
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2 And GME, I have close to, like, 50 I
3 think.
4 Q. So you said --
5 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: Did you
6 say 50 or 15?
7 THE WITNESS: 50.
8 Q. 50 shares of GME? And around
9 100 to 200 shares of AMC?
10 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. And approximately what is the
13 value of your portfolio today?
14 A. Plus the loss?
15 Q. No. Just your current
16 portfolio, not, like, how much you've
17 lost.
18 A.
19 Q. Got it.
20 What is your role in this
21 lawsuit, Mr. Nguyen?
22 A. To talk to my lawyer about the
23 case, about this class -- representative
24 class for their best interest.
25 Q. So --
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2 A. And to -- to approve any
3 recovery for the class.
4 Q. And when did you first hear
5 about this lawsuit?
6 A. Well, I joined the lawsuit on
7 January 13, 2023, after I signed a
8 certificate -- certification.
9 Q. So presumably, you heard about
10 the lawsuit prior to January 13, 2023;
11 right?
12 A. Yeah.
13 Q. So when did you first hear about
14 the lawsuit?
15 A. I don't -- I don't know the
16 exact day.
17 Q. Do you have an approximate
18 sense?
19 A. No.
20 Q. Was it days before you signed
21 that document? Weeks? Months?
22 A. I mean, like, a week after --
23 after, like, January 28th, like, something
24 like a week after --
25 Q. A week --
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2 A. -- 2021.
3 Q. -- after February 28th of --
4 A. -- 2021.
5 Q. -- 2021?
6 A. Yeah.
7 Q. And how did you hear about the
8 lawsuit?
9 A. Through a website.
10 Q. What website was that?
11 A. I forgot what website it was.
12 Q. Was it, like, a social media
13 website or a separate website?
14 A. I'm not sure. It wasn't social
15 media. It was probably around the news.
16 Q. And did you contact the Rosen
17 firm?
18 A. Yes, I did.
19 Q. And why did you want to be
20 involved in this lawsuit as a named
21 plaintiff?
22 A. To recover the loss.
23 Q. Have you been compensated for
24 the time you've been spending on this
25 case?
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2 A. No.
3 Q. Have you been told whether
4 you'll receive compensation at any point
5 for your involvement in this case?
6 A. None that I know of.
7 Q. So excluding your deposition
8 today, how much time have you spent on
9 things related to this lawsuit?
10 A. Well, I don't have that on
11 record. I mean, like, I spent a couple of
12 hours here and there talking to my lawyer,
13 fifteen, ten minutes, you know.
14 Q. And that's all since
15 January 13, 2023?
16 A. Yeah.
17 Q. Have you read the complaint or
18 other filings?
19 A. Yes, I read it.
20 Q. When did you read that?
21 A. Like, a week.
22 Q. A week ago?
23 A. Yeah, like, a week ago.
24 Q. Have you reviewed other
25 documents related to the events at issue
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2 in this action?
3 A. No. Only the document my lawyer
4 gave me.
5 Q. And that being the complaint?
6 A. Yes. That's the complaint.
7 Q. And aside from your deposition
8 today, have you had other meetings or
9 phone calls with counsel?
10 A. No.
11 Q. I thought you testified a little
12 while earlier that you sometimes had phone
13 calls with your counsel.
14 Is that not the case?
15 A. What did you say?
16 Q. Have you had meetings or phone
17 calls -- aside from your deposition prep
18 that we discussed earlier, have you had
19 other meetings or phone calls with your
20 counsel?
21 A. Yes. I mean, anything
22 pertaining to this case, I mean.
23 Q. And how frequently do you
24 communicate with counsel, aside -- setting
25 aside conversations about your deposition
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2 today?
3 A. Anything concerning the case,
4 he'll call me, but I don't know, you know,
5 like, when he's going to call.
6 Q. So do you understand what the
7 class is in this lawsuit?
8 A. The class are people that is
9 harmed during the time that Robinhood put
10 restriction on its stock.
11 Q. So do you know that the
12 timeframe or kind of the more specific
13 parameters of the class?
14 A. I don't know the exact
15 timeframe, no.
16 Q. Or when you needed to have
17 bought or sold certain shares?
18 A. Excuse me?
19 Q. Do you know when you need to
20 have bought or sold certain shares to
21 qualify as a class member?
22 A. Well, that's a job much my
23 attorney to -- I don't know -- I don't
24 know the clarification. Like, what
25 whatever I said to them, they assist me
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2 through that.
3 Q. And what do you understand this
4 lawsuit to be about?
5 A. Robinhood committed security
6 fraud by taking away the buy button.
7 Q. What's your understanding of
8 Robinhood's business?
9 A. It's a mobile app where you
10 trade stocks.
11 Q. And what are you alleging that
12 Robinhood did wrong?
13 A. They took away the buy button.
14 Q. And why is that wrong?
15 A. That caused the stock to fall,
16 supply and demand.
17 Q. Mr. Nguyen, you purchased shares
18 of AMC on January 29, 2021; correct?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And that was after you knew of
21 the restrictions Robinhood imposed
22 beginning on January 28th; correct?
23 A. Mm-hmm.
24 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
25 Q. So if you believed that these
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2 restrictions had caused the price of the
3 stock to decline, why did you purchase
4 more shares of AMC at that time?
5 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
6 Asked and answered.
7 A. Well, I didn't miss out. I was
8 in the process of transferring my account.
9 Q. Why would you need to purchase
10 more shares of AMC to transfer your
11 account?
12 A. To make sure I have AMC shares.
13 Q. So then that means that at that
14 time, you thought the share of -- or the
15 price of AMC would increase.
16 A. Well, I didn't know what was
17 going to happen. I just wanted just to
18 make sure I -- once they transferred, I
19 still have the stock.
20 Q. Would you agree that on
21 January 29th, you thought that the price
22 of AMC stock would increase?
23 A. Well, I wouldn't know that.
24 Q. Did you think that at the time?
25 Not did you know that. Was your
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2 expectation that the price of AMC stock --
3 A. Well, I didn't know what I was
4 thinking, though.
5 Q. Well, if you thought that the
6 price of AMC stock would decline,
7 presumably, you wouldn't have purchased it
8 on January 29th.
9 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
10 Q. Is that fair to say?
11 A. Of course not.
12 Q. Of course not.
13 So on January 29th, when you
14 were well aware of Robinhood's
15 restrictions, you did not think that those
16 restrictions would cause the price to
17 decline. You thought the price of AMC
18 stock was going to increase at that point.
19 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
20 A. No. I bought it because I make
21 sure -- I didn't know what was going to
22 happen. I was just making sure I have AMC
23 shares. And, you know, whatever at that
24 time, I was just making sure that it was
25 transferred. I didn't know what's going
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2 to happen. It was in the hope of making
3 money, yes.
4 Q. So you purchased shares of AMC
5 on January 29th in the hopes of making
6 money.
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And did Robinhood force you to
9 sell AMC at the time you sold it on
10 February 1, 2021?
11 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
12 A. Well, I felt that way.
13 Q. And why is that?
14 A. Because they took away the buy
15 button.
16 Q. On January -- I'm sorry.
17 A. They took away the buy button
18 and wouldn't allow you to sell. So --
19 Q. Well, Mr. Nguyen, the buy button
20 was not taken away on January 29th when
21 you bought shares of AMC. Isn't that
22 true?
23 A. Yeah.
24 Q. Okay. And so two days later, on
25 February 1st, are you saying that the buy
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2 button was taken away at that time?
3 A. Well, during -- during the
4 time -- I didn't know exactly what day
5 they took away the buy button, but they
6 did took away the buy button during the
7 time that I was in play. Yeah.
8 Q. But you said that they took away
9 the buy button on January 28th.
10 Obviously, the buy button --
11 MR. KIM: Objection.
12 Q. -- was reinstituted by the 29th,
13 because that's when you purchased more
14 shares of AMC.
15 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
16 A. What did you say?
17 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
18 Q. The buy button -- the buy button
19 was not suspended on January 29th when you
20 bought more shares of AMC; correct?
21 A. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
22 Q. Okay. And so are you saying
23 that the buy button was suspended again on
24 February 1st, and that's why you were
25 forced to sell shares of AMC?
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2 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
3 Asked and answered.
4 A. Well, I did not know. I don't
5 remember what -- what exactly I did that
6 day. And I don't remember how I made that
7 decision either.
8 Q. And did Robinhood force you to
9 sell Black -- your shares of Blackberry
10 during the class period?
11 A. It's the same -- it's the same
12 answer as -- you know, I felt it. I felt
13 like that's what they did. But --
14 Q. Even if the buy button -- even
15 if the buy button was on the platform and
16 investors could buy the stock, you still
17 felt like you had to sell?
18 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
19 A. No. I sold because I sold. I
20 didn't have to sell. I mean, I didn't --
21 I didn't know why I had to -- I sold that
22 day. I didn't know why.
23 Q. You had no --
24 A. I don't recall why I sold it or
25 why I bought anything.
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2 Q. So you have absolutely no
3 recollection of any reason why you bought
4 any of these shares, nor why you sold any
5 of these shares that we've been discussing
6 today.
7 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
8 A. No.
9 Q. Is it your position that there
10 are no other events that could have caused
11 the stock prices of AMC and Blackberry to
12 decline on or after January 28th aside
13 from Robinhood's restrictions?
14 A. I don't understand what that
15 means.
16 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
17 Calls for a legal conclusion.
18 Q. Is it your view that there were
19 no other possible factors that could have
20 contributed to the stock price decline in
21 AMC or Blackberry on, let's say,
22 January 29th through February 1st --
23 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
24 Q. -- by Robinhood's restrictions?
25 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
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2 A. I do not understand what that
3 means.
4 MS. YOUNG: Charlotte, let's go
5 to Tab 21. This will be Exhibit 31.
6 (Defendant's Exhibit 31,
7 Defendants' First Set of Requests for
8 the Production of Documents and
9 Electronically Stored Information
10 Directed to Plaintiffs, was hereby
11 marked for identification, as of this
12 date.)
13 Q. And -- just a second. I think
14 it should be here. Oh, I see it now.
15 Tab 31.
16 MR. KIM: Tab 21. Exhibit 31.
17 A. I see it. Oh, it's Tab 6.
18 Q. I think it's Exhibit 31, Tab 21.
19 A. Oh, I see it.
20 Q. Okay.
21 A. Tab 12. Wait. Exhibit 31.
22 MR. KIM: Yeah. That's the one.
23 Q. Can you identify this document?
24 A. It's Defendants' first set of
25 requesting order production electronically
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2 stored information directed to plaintiffs.
3 Q. Do you recognize this document?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Have you seen it before?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. When did you see it?
8 A. It was sent to me by my --
9 probably, like, a week ago.
10 Q. So Mr. Nguyen, a few minutes
11 ago, you testified that the only documents
12 or filings that you received from your
13 counsel in connection with this litigation
14 was the complaint; right?
15 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
16 A. The complaint. Yeah. The
17 complaint and the -- whatever is in the
18 exhibit.
19 Q. And this is the only other
20 document that you've seen before? Is that
21 what you were saying?
22 A. What did you say?
23 Q. And you said -- you said the
24 complaint -- the complaint and whatever is
25 in the exhibit.
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2 Is this the exhibit you're
3 referring to?
4 A. I mean, the exhibit has a lot of
5 stuff in it, but --
6 Q. I guess my question is what do
7 you mean by "the exhibit"? This document
8 or --
9 A. The complaint. The complaint.
10 No. I've never seen this, actually.
11 Q. Never seen it before.
12 A. No.
13 Q. So you didn't receive this a
14 week ago.
15 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
16 A. No.
17 Q. Were you informed of these
18 requests?
19 A. I don't know what that means.
20 Q. Did your counsel discuss with
21 you certain document requests that
22 Robinhood served upon you?
23 A. Yes. And I sent that all to my
24 lawyer.
25 Q. So what is your understanding of
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2 what those requests are?
3 A. Document as to anything that's
4 relevant to the case.
5 Q. Such as?
6 A. Tax statement, statement from
7 Robinhood -- that's about all I remember.
8 Q. So where did you look for
9 potentially relevant documents?
10 A. On my phone, anywhere that I
11 think it was relevant.
12 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: I'm
13 sorry. Could you repeat that?
14 THE WITNESS: Anywhere I think
15 that the document is relevant.
16 Q. Did you look in your home for
17 any potentially relevant hard copy
18 documents?
19 A. I do not have any hard copy.
20 Q. Do you have a personal computer
21 or laptop?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Did you search electronic files
24 stored on your computer?
25 A. Yes, but I don't do any trading
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2 on my computer, so nothing is stored on my
3 computer.
4 Q. Have you ever texted about AMC
5 or Blackberry before with anybody?
6 A. No.
7 Q. Have you ever exchanged any
8 emails with anybody about AMC, Blackberry,
9 Robinhood, anything like that?
10 A. No.
11 Q. You've never received any emails
12 concerning Robinhood or the securities at
13 issue in this litigation?
14 A. No.
15 Q. What about emails that you might
16 have received from Robinhood?
17 A. Well, basically, any email that
18 was received after that -- after I
19 transferred account, I just ignored it.
20 I --
21 Q. What do you mean you ignored it?
22 A. I blocked Robinhood from sending
23 me any -- any information regarding them.
24 Q. That -- I'm not sure that that
25 answers my question with respect to the
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2 relevant time period.
3 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
4 Q. You -- you have received emails
5 from or concerning Robinhood.
6 A. Yes. During that time. But I
7 don't know if I --
8 Q. Correct.
9 A. -- looked over it.
10 Q. But you didn't look over those.
11 A. I don't know if I did.
12 Q. Okay. So you didn't go through
13 your email accounts for documents that
14 Robinhood requested?
15 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
16 That's not what he said. I think what
17 he said was --
18 MS. YOUNG: Let him speak for
19 himself.
20 MR. KIM: He doesn't recall
21 actually reading those emails when he
22 received them, which is different than
23 whether he looked for documents that
24 were responsive to the requests.
25 MS. YOUNG: Which is what I'm
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2 asking him, and we can see what he
3 says.
4 A. Ask it again. I didn't --
5 Q. Sure. Did you search through
6 your personal -- through your email
7 account for potentially relevant documents
8 requested in Robinhood's discovery
9 requests?
10 A. Yes, I did.
11 Q. How did you go about doing that?
12 A. I look in my inbox.
13 Q. So you looked through every
14 email in your inbox that you've ever
15 received?
16 A. That I never received?
17 Q. That you ever received.
18 A. Yeah. I looked through my
19 inbox.
20 Q. How many emails do you think you
21 have in your inbox, would you guess?
22 A. Like 3,000.
23 Q. And you clicked through each and
24 every one of those? Did you --
25 A. No. I scrolled through them. I
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2 don't --
3 Q. You didn't search any terms, for
4 instance, "Robinhood," "AMC," things like
5 that?
6 A. No.
7 Q. What about folders besides your
8 inbox?
9 A. I don't have any external
10 folders.
11 Q. Like, what about your sent box?
12 A. My sent box?
13 Q. Right.
14 A. I never -- I never sent
15 anything.
16 Q. You've never sent an email
17 before?
18 A. I sent an email but not to them.
19 Q. But the requests don't
20 exclusively seek email correspondence with
21 Robinhood.
22 A. Well, I didn't send any email,
23 you know, that pertained to this case to
24 anyone, only to my -- to my lawyers.
25 Q. Do you maintain all of your
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2 investment records?
3 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
4 A. Yes. Most of it.
5 Q. And did you look through all of
6 those?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And you have a cellphone; right?
9 I guess we know that from your screen
10 shot.
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And since January 2021, have you
13 gotten a new cellphone?
14 A. Yes, just recently.
15 Q. Is it -- or I should back up.
16 Was your prior phone an iPhone?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And was it backed up to the
19 iCloud or backed up in some capacity?
20 A. To my understanding, I don't --
21 I never back up anything to the iCloud.
22 Q. So where is that phone now?
23 A. At home.
24 Q. It still functions?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And did you search that old
3 phone for text messages about, for
4 instance, Robinhood or AMC or Blackberry?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And how did you go about doing
7 that?
8 A. I searched my -- I mean, I
9 searched my message, my internet,
10 whatever, you know, my email.
11 Q. What search terms did you use?
12 A. I didn't use no search terms.
13 Q. So you read every text you've
14 ever sent or received?
15 A. One by one.
16 Q. How long did that take you?
17 A. Well, I only look at the day.
18 That didn't take me too long, because I
19 look at a specific day, and if it don't
20 fall between that time, then it's
21 irrelevant.
22 Q. So what date did you look at?
23 A. Like, January 2021 through
24 February.
25 Q. You mean January 1st through
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2 February 28th?
3 A. Yeah. Anything, like, the year
4 2021, January 2021 and February, you know,
5 2021 or even March.
6 Q. What about December 2020?
7 A. December 2020. I'm not sure if
8 I looked.
9 Q. What about -- I'm sorry. Go
10 ahead.
11 A. No.
12 Q. No. I didn't mean to interrupt
13 you.
14 A. No. I forgot what I was going
15 to say.
16 Q. And did you search through other
17 messaging platforms, like WhatsApp?
18 MR. KIM: Objection. Form.
19 A. I don't have WhatsApp.
20 Q. Anything else? Like, for
21 instance, I don't know if on Twitter you
22 even can, like, direct message somebody,
23 but any type of communication that way?
24 A. No.
25 Q. When did you give responsive
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2 documents that you identified to your
3 counsel?
4 A. I believe after I signed my
5 January -- January 13, 2023.
6 Q. Sometime after -- like, on --
7 A. After. After.
8 Q. Was it near the time to that?
9 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
10 A. I mean during -- somewhere
11 around that time. After -- after
12 January 13th.
13 Q. After.
14 Within a number of days? Weeks?
15 A. Weeks, day -- yeah. Weeks and
16 days, you know, like, week -- whatever
17 they contact me, whatever information they
18 need, I send it to them.
19 Q. Did you take any actions to
20 preserve documents that relate to the
21 events that you've alleged in this
22 lawsuit?
23 A. What do you mean? What type of
24 actions?
25 Q. For instance, if your email
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2 inbox had been set to automatically delete
3 emails after a certain time, did you care
4 to, you know, remove those sorts of --
5 A. No.
6 Q. No.
7 Is there any --
8 A. No.
9 Q. Are there any documents or
10 information from the relevant time period
11 that would no longer be available?
12 A. I don't get what that -- I don't
13 get what you mean.
14 Q. So, for instance, let's say if
15 you wiped all of your texts from
16 January 2021, there would be nothing left
17 to search.
18 A. Well, I mostly -- most of the
19 time, I don't delete my texts. Whatever
20 is on there is on there.
21 Q. Right.
22 A. Yeah.
23 Q. And I'm asking things like so
24 you didn't delete any messages from the
25 relevant time period or --
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2 A. No. No. I didn't.
3 Q. -- throw away any documents from
4 the period that might be relevant, things
5 like that.
6 A. No. I didn't delete anything.
7 No.
8 Q. And Mr. Nguyen, earlier today, I
9 believe that you testified that you do not
10 recall any sort of attempted short squeeze
11 around January 2021 in any of the stocks
12 we've discussed today; is that correct?
13 A. Yes.
14 MR. KIM: Object to form. Asked
15 and answered.
16 Q. Yes as in that --
17 A. Yes, that is correct.
18 Q. Okay. You're a lead plaintiff
19 in this case; right?
20 MR. KIM: Object to form. He's
21 a named plaintiff.
22 Q. Excuse me. A named plaintiff.
23 A. The lead plaintiff is Blue
24 Beverage, I believe.
25 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: I'm
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2 sorry. Could you repeat that?
3 THE WITNESS: Blue Beverage.
4 MR. KIM: That's his name.
5 Blue -- Blue Beverage. Well, Blue
6 Lane Beverage.
7 MS. YOUNG: Right.
8 MR. KIM: Just the court
9 reporter needs you to say the full
10 name. That's all.
11 Q. I should have said that you're a
12 named plaintiff. Excuse me.
13 You're a named plaintiff in this
14 action; correct?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And what's the name of this
17 litigation?
18 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
19 A. What do you mean the name of
20 this litigation?
21 Q. So, for instance, on the
22 subpoena that we were just looking at,
23 under the case number where it says "In
24 Re:" what's the title of the litigation
25 after that?
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2 A. Where are you seeing this?
3 Q. In the exhibit we were just
4 looking at. So this would be Exhibit 31.
5 A. 31? Uh-huh.
6 Q. Can you read after the -- at
7 the -- near the top of the page on the
8 left-hand side?
9 A. The case number?
10 Q. Beneath the case number where it
11 says "In Re," and then there's a colon.
12 A. Oh, January 21st -- no.
13 "January 2021 Short Squeeze Trading
14 Litigation."
15 Q. Right. But you don't recall any
16 attempted or actual short squeeze in
17 January 2021 in any of the stocks we've
18 discussed today; correct?
19 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
20 Asked and answered.
21 A. No.
22 Q. Do you have any sense of why
23 this case is named --
24 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
25 Calls for speculation.
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2 Q. -- short squeeze trading
3 litigation?
4 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: I'm
5 sorry. There as crosstalk. I need
6 the question repeated.
7 MS. YOUNG: Yeah. Mr. Kim, I'd
8 appreciate if you'd let me actually
9 finish the question before you lodge
10 your objection.
11 Q. Do you have any sense of why
12 this case -- what is your understanding as
13 to why this case is titled In Re
14 January 2021 -- January 2021 -- excuse
15 me -- Short Squeeze Trading Litigation?
16 MR. KIM: Objection. Form.
17 Argumentative.
18 A. No. I don't know why.
19 Q. Okay. You testified earlier
20 today, Mr. Nguyen, that around January of
21 2021, you were looking at some
22 AMC-specific sub-Reddits; right?
23 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
24 A. I don't remember.
25 Q. You don't remember testifying to
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2 that, or you don't remember
3 specifically --
4 A. I don't know the specific AMC
5 that I looked at, no.
6 Q. Do you remember looking at any
7 AMC-related content on Reddit
8 around that --
9 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
10 Asked and answered.
11 A. I mean, what I looked at is very
12 brief. I don't spend days or hours in
13 reading every single post that they post.
14 It's very general. I do my reading, like,
15 really quick in general. I don't really
16 remember what I've read. There's millions
17 of thousands of posts.
18 Q. But you specifically mentioned
19 discussion about AMC around that time.
20 A. Yes. Anything titled AMC. They
21 had -- they had, like, a blog just for
22 AMC. So I just go through there.
23 Whatever is under that, you know, I just
24 read it. But I don't really particularly
25 know what I read, remember.
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2 MS. YOUNG: We're going to put
3 up another document. I think this
4 will be 32.
5 (Defendant's Exhibit 32, Reddit
6 post on AMC stock, was hereby marked
7 for identification, as of this date.)
8 Q. Okay. I think it should be up
9 there now.
10 Do you see it, Mr. Nguyen?
11 A. Yeah, I see it. Yes.
12 Q. And is AMC -- is r/AMCTheatres
13 an AMC-specific sub-Reddit?
14 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
15 A. I don't know. I've never seen
16 it. Or I don't remember seeing it.
17 Q. Do you see the post right here?
18 MR. KIM: Right where? Are you
19 pointing to something?
20 Q. At the very top, beneath the
21 timestamp, it's kind of hovering.
22 Do you see where it says "AMC
23 stock," rocket ship, rocket ship, rocket
24 ship?
25 A. Yeah.
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2 Q. Do you have an understanding of
3 what the rocket ship Emoji means?
4 A. Somewhat.
5 Q. Could you tell us what your
6 understanding is.
7 A. It's a rocket ship.
8 Q. Okay. Do you have any other --
9 besides it being a rocket ship, what does
10 it communicate?
11 A. Something is going up. Rocket
12 ship. I don't know. I don't -- go ahead.
13 Q. So when used in conjunction with
14 AMC stock, what would you understand to be
15 going up?
16 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
17 Calls for speculation.
18 A. What is going up you say?
19 Q. What is your understanding of
20 what is going up?
21 A. The stock is going up.
22 Q. The price of the stock was going
23 up?
24 A. Well, I mean, yeah.
25 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
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2 A. It's speculation. I don't know.
3 I don't -- something is going up.
4 Apparently, it's AMC stock, and then a
5 rocket ship, it must be AMC stock going
6 up.
7 Q. In this -- if you look at the
8 timestamp is on January 25, 2021.
9 So I believe that's two days
10 prior to you making your first --
11 purchasing your first set of shares in
12 AMC; is that right?
13 A. Yes. Yes.
14 Q. And is this consistent with your
15 recollection from around that time that
16 the price of AMC was increasing?
17 A. Well, I never seen the article.
18 Q. Correct. I don't mean the
19 specific post. Just your recollection in
20 general from that time period.
21 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
22 Asked and answered.
23 A. Well, when I bought it, I
24 didn't -- I didn't look into any of this
25 stuff. I mean, somewhere around that
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2 time, you know, like, I read Reddits and
3 stuff like that, but not -- after, I never
4 heard, you know, like -- I never heard of
5 any of this.
6 Q. So you said around this time,
7 you read Reddits and stuff like that.
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Reddits?
10 Around this time, you read
11 Reddit concerning AMC; is that right?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And to the best of your
14 recollection, did any of those Reddits or
15 other social media posts concern the
16 rising price of AMC stock?
17 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
18 Asked and answered.
19 A. I don't know what that means.
20 Q. Okay. Let's break that down,
21 then.
22 Do you recall any of the Reddit
23 posts that you remember from around this
24 time period mentioning or discussing an
25 increase in AMC stock price?
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2 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
3 A. No, I do not recall.
4 Q. So you don't recall kind of the
5 subject matter or the topics of any
6 AMC-related content that you looked at on
7 Reddit around this time.
8 MR. KIM: Objection to form.
9 Asked and answered.
10 CERTIFIED STENOGRAPHER: What
11 was the answer?
12 THE WITNESS: No.
13 Q. On these Reddit -- sub-Reddit,
14 you know, threads, would you ever comment
15 or participate?
16 A. No.
17 Q. You were just an observer?
18 A. Yes.
19 MS. YOUNG: I think I'm nearing
20 the end, Counsel. Could I have, like,
21 ten minutes?
22 MR. KIM: Sure.
23 MS. YOUNG: Okay.
24 MR. KIM: Is this good right
25 here?
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2 MS. YOUNG: Yeah. I think this
3 is good.
4 MR. KIM: All right. We'll be
5 back, I guess --
6 MS. YOUNG: Let's just say 2:00
7 at this point.
8 MR. KIM: All right. Sounds
9 like a plan. Ten minutes till 2:00 or
10 2:00.
11 MS. YOUNG: Yeah.
12 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: All right.
13 Off the record at 1:48 p.m. Eastern
14 Standard Time.
15 (Recess)
16 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Back on the
17 record at 2:05 p.m. Eastern Standard
18 Time.
19 BY MS. YOUNG:
20 Q. Mr. Nguyen, I don't have any
21 further questions for you. Thank you very
22 much for your time today, and I hope you
23 enjoy the rest of your afternoon.
24 A. Thank you. You too.
25 MS. YOUNG: Thanks, Phillip.
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2 Thanks, everybody. Thanks, Sharon.
3 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: I take it
4 that we're concluded, and I will take
5 us off the record at 2:05 p.m. Eastern
6 Standard Time.
7 (TIME NOTED: 2:05 p.m.)
8
9
10 ________________________
11 DOI NGUYEN
12
13 Subscribed and sworn to
14 before me this _________
15 day of ________________, 2023.
16
17 _______________________
18 Notary Public
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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