VinFast: The Fix is In

What Goes up is sure to go down

America has the largest stock market in the world, by far.

It should be the most honest and most transparent.

It’s not.

The ease with which shysters manipulate our markets is appalling.

I saw it last year with AMTD Digital and Magic Empire. Both came public through a Hong Kong investment house. They had a limited float, but a ton of shares behind that float. Thus, when the share price here rose over scarcity, so did the market cap of the whole.

It was ridiculous, until the rug got pulled. MEGL traded for $97. HKD went for over $172. Now MEGL is under $2, and HKD is at $6. That’s still more than they’re worth.

The same thing is happening now with a company called VinFast and the markets, as well as the press, are pretending not to know what’s going on.

VinFast is a Vietnamese car company. It’s part of that country’s largest conglomerate. They did try to make some cars 5 years ago. The electric vehicle effort has alliances with an Indian designer, an Austrian manufacturer, and a German car brand. They claim to be building a plant in North Carolina.

But then there’s that Hong Kong connection. In this case it’s even more naked than with AMTD and MEGL. The guy behind it all, Lawrence Ho, is literally the son of Macau’s former casino king. He’s got 2.32 billion shares outstanding, but only 7.32 million in the float. Buy some of those New York shares and the value of the whole skyrockets. As I write this it’s around $85 per share. That’s a market cap of nearly $200 billion, nearly as big as Toyota!

Ho and his friends are making a mint. But when they pull the rug, a lot of American investors are going to take a bath. Is Reuters reporting on what’s behind the scenes? Nope. How about Barron’s? No. Bloomberg? Not on your tintype.

I don’t like to brag but I had this from the jump. I tried to warn investors again today but I don’t think even my editors are listening. They should be screaming this story from the rooftops. It’s the scam of the year.

Crickets.

A few reporters are noting the lack of sales. A few have seen bad reviews. But the lack of float, the background of the sponsors, the history of these Hong Kong megadeals?

Nothing. Well, almost nothing. David Faber on CNBC noted the lack of float this morning, said it’s all a game and it’s going to end. Stock went up anyway.

If you want to know why “meme traders” don’t trust the market, why they all think it’s manipulated, and why some know a little collective action can get them in on the game, that’s it. It’s all there, in one story.

If the cops, the analysts, and the journalists all keep quiet, you can get away with murder in this market. It's all perfectly legal.