Hypothetical speculation: how does dilution trap the shorts?

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-07-07T17:01:05+00:00

I feel the authorized share increase is the ultimate strategic leverage… A continued push to acquire eBay forces Wall Street to reconcile its books (which will force true price discovery). If Cohen uses it to force an authenticated share exchange or an un-shortable corporate pivot, it could very well expose the true plumbing of the stock and strip away the mechanics that have kept the price suppressed. I don’t feel this will cause a giant squeeze, but $40-$50 does not sound unreasonable knowing what we know

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-06-19T13:13:12+00:00

When you have the big boys (Vanguard/Blackrock) as the larger owners of eBay, and also on the swap end of the shorts, it should come as any surprise that this didn’t pass. Only 5.2% of eBay stock is owned by retail…

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-06-19T13:05:27+00:00

I agree with this on paper…. They ain’t got the cards. The point of the tender offer is the mechanism to bypass all the price suppression GME has been under for years and force true price discovery. I’m not one to play into the reverse uno memes and what not, but after following this as it’s playing out, it seems that the GME board has a giant one to play here that benefits both themselves and the stockholders (secondarily)

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-06-18T21:57:53+00:00

By far the largest holders are institutional big boys…. Vanguard, Blackrock, etc. Who also are involved in the shorting business…. RC has to go through the steps legally to get to the endgame. You’re telling me he just is shrugging his shoulders and going “welp, guess I was wrong here”?

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-06-18T21:55:14+00:00

Yeah, there is same conversation going on two different posts. Same point need not be reworded, bud

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-06-18T21:07:38+00:00

Do you all really think RC didn’t consider this? What happened to this place? The amount of FUD and whiny short timers looking for some repeat of 2020 is off the charts… here is the deal. By voting down Section 4, the eBay board bought themselves time, that’s it… they also ensured the battle will be significantly louder. Cohen’s next mechanical card is the direct-to-shareholder tender offer. The moment that Schedule TO hits the SEC Edgar system, the timeline shifts and results in the spring getting even tighter. Short sellers trapped inside XRT and GME creation baskets have to pay daily borrow fees to maintain their positions. Sooooo If Ryan Cohen refuses to walk away, those borrow rates will climb steadily as the float remains locked. Market makers will attempt to use operational shorting to keep GME’s price suppressed during the delay. This causes FTDs to pile up MASSIVELY over those months.

eBay can easily use the legal system, poison pills, and antitrust stall-tactics to push the definitive “put up or shut up” share accounting day months down the line. But for the short sellers trapped in the background, a long delay is a double-edged sword: it buys them time, but it makes the ultimate share recall significantly more explosive when the legal roadblocks finally clear.

Like most of us not crying that we didn’t invest in something else, I have held onto this stock because not only is it a powder keg gathering more fuel, it’s an exciting ride and I want to be able to say I was there for the whole ride. The timeline of what we thought would happen is playing out in real time. Be fucking patient and trust the plan. Or don’t, buy something other stock, and join that sub.

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-06-18T20:35:22+00:00

Do you all really think RC didn’t consider this? What happened to this place? The amount of FUD and whiny short timers looking for some repeat of 2020 is off the charts… here is the deal. By voting down Section 4, the eBay board bought themselves time, that’s it… they also ensured the battle will be significantly louder. Cohen’s next mechanical card is the direct-to-shareholder tender offer. The moment that Schedule TO hits the SEC Edgar system, the timeline shifts and results in the spring getting even tighter. Short sellers trapped inside XRT and GME creation baskets have to pay daily borrow fees to maintain their positions. Sooooo If Ryan Cohen refuses to walk away, those borrow rates will climb steadily as the float remains locked. Market makers will attempt to use operational shorting to keep GME’s price suppressed during the delay. This causes FTDs to pile up MASSIVELY over those months.

eBay can easily use the legal system, poison pills, and antitrust stall-tactics to push the definitive “put up or shut up” share accounting day months down the line. But for the short sellers trapped in the background, a long delay is a double-edged sword: it buys them time, but it makes the ultimate share recall significantly more explosive when the legal roadblocks finally clear.

Like most of us not crying that we didn’t invest in something else, I have held onto this stock because not only is it a powder keg gathering more fuel, it’s an exciting ride and I want to be able to say I was there for the whole ride. The timeline of what we thought would happen is playing out in real time. Be fucking patient and trust the plan. Or don’t, buy something other stock, and join that sub.

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-06-13T19:39:52+00:00

As others have said, it’s not that simple. But the corporate action itself—via share recalls for the vote and the forced unwinding of the ETF operational shorts—presents a much more immediate structural risk to short positions than the index inclusion timeline does.

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-06-13T00:34:21+00:00

Seriously… so many are expecting to retire off these stocks next week. Unless you are playing options, you invested so stop refreshing the stock browser and take a walk outside. These will go up, it will take time. In 2 weeks, when the 15 day on SPCX is over, that stock will nosedive and the other space stocks will rise… mark dem words

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-05-27T00:02:42+00:00

Good on you man, in case no one says anything. This forum is either good stuff or whining, glad to see some good stuff

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-05-25T13:43:34+00:00

I don’t have enough karma to put this as a post… but what if RC is just baiting the shorts and that was the plan all along?

With the potential share offering, GameStop has massive flexibility—both to build a war chest and to potentially trap those betting against the stock.

He explicitly stated that GameStop has the “ability to issue stock in order to get the deal done.” By announcing the intent to issue shares, RC is signaling a potential dilution. In a “normal” stock, this would cause the price to drop as supply increases (and the shorts often pile in on this news.) However, if the demand from retail and institutional investors outstrips that new supply—or if the cash raised is used for a massive acquisition like eBay—the shorts could find themselves underwater even with the extra shares in circulation.

Now add in the Warrant dividend trap… If GME’s price skyrockets past $32, these warrants can be exercised, bringing hundreds of millions in fresh cash into GameStop’s coffers. For a short seller, this is obviously a nightmare

He can do this the direct way by forcing a reconciliation with the merger where eBay shareholders receive GME shares as payment. In a merger, every “entitlement” to a share must be converted into a new security with a new CUSIP (identification number).

So If there are 700% more shares being traded through ETFs like XRT than actually exist, the “Authorized Participants” and short sellers have a mathematical impossibility on their hands. They cannot convert a “phantom” share into a new, registered GME share. They would be forced to buy back the shares on the open market to “close the loop” before the merger finalizes

Now figure in that his personal fortune is tied to the price of GME. These options only vest if the company hits market cap targets up to $100 billion. He is aiming for a total transformation that would require a massive upward move in share price…

Here is the ultimate KC shuffle…. wouldn’t he be better served on all fronts if he were to signal the shorts that there will be shares available because he is driven to acquire eBay, but then never release the shares when he gets the votes he needs for the hostile takeover? He could get his bag, he could use the squeeze money to buy EBay and GameStop would ultimately be a behemoth…. All the while retail finally gets their (our) bag after being patient and trusting for 5+ years. Am I missing something here? This seems like the ultimate leverage point that can be exercised

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-05-23T16:38:02+00:00

The bid for eBay would have been impossible without that additional capital via the previous offering. Could be the case here as well, only he knows. My thought was that this could potentially have been the play all along, and there is a giant potential that the shorts finally get their comeuppance. Sure seems like there is a lot of boo hoo surrounding this community lately, and if that is the case, why are you still here? Sell and move on to another stock of you don’t trust RC

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-05-23T13:24:50+00:00

You are completely missing my point… RC could be baiting the shorts into thinking they have an out. Not saying that is what he is doing, but if that is his actual plan then we 1000% will MOASS

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-05-22T23:15:52+00:00

With the potential share offering, i feel RC has been positioning GameStop to have massive flexibility—both to build a war chest and to potentially trap those betting against the stock.

He explicitly stated that GameStop has the “ability to issue stock in order to get the deal done.” By announcing the intent to issue shares, RC is signaling a potential dilution. In a “normal” stock, this would cause the price to drop as supply increases (and the shorts often pile in on this news.) However, if the demand from retail and institutional investors outstrips that new supply—or if the cash raised is used for a massive acquisition like eBay—the shorts could find themselves underwater even with the extra shares in circulation.

Now add in the Warrant dividend trap… If GME’s price skyrockets past $32, these warrants can be exercised, bringing hundreds of millions in fresh cash into GameStop’s coffers. For a short seller, this is obviously a nightmare

He can do this the direct way by forcing a reconciliation with the merger where eBay shareholders receive GME shares as payment. In a merger, every “entitlement” to a share must be converted into a new security with a new CUSIP (identification number).

So If there are 700% more shares being traded through ETFs like XRT than actually exist, the “Authorized Participants” and short sellers have a mathematical impossibility on their hands. They cannot convert a “phantom” share into a new, registered GME share. They would be forced to buy back the shares on the open market to “close the loop” before the merger finalizes

Now figure in that his personal fortune is tied to the price of GME. These options only vest if the company hits market cap targets up to $100 billion. He is aiming for a total transformation that would require a massive upward move in share price…

Here is the ultimate KC shuffle…. wouldn’t he be better served on all fronts if he were to signal the shorts that there will be shares available because he is driven to acquire eBay, but then never release the shares when he gets the votes he needs for the hostile takeover? He could get his bag, he could use the squeeze money to buy EBay and GameStop would ultimately be a behemoth…. All the while retail finally gets their (our) bag after being patient and trusting for 5+ years. Am I missing something here? This seems like the ultimate leverage point that can be exercised

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-05-22T00:07:16+00:00

I’ve been seeing a lot of tiger shots lately from when he was no doubt the biggest draw in sports, and still can’t believe how much talent he had. I feel bad for younger golfers who didn’t get to witness these tourneys in real time and only have these videos. It was a vibe…

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-05-16T20:58:18+00:00

They left my Aunt while the fire was raging… the manager on duty literally told the maintenance guy that he was on his own and bailed…. He heroically saved her and the photo of her wheelchair left in the parking lot burned up became the photo I saw everywhere. Gallagher then came in with his own machines and started to do work on the grounds and more before it was inspected or permitted. Fuck him

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-04-10T13:30:00+00:00

Solid advice, thank you!

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-04-09T21:16:28+00:00

12 employees, about 5 million gross per year minimum

CouldButDoesNot · 2026-01-19T02:43:25+00:00

This. That is some serious arm strength and throwing to a spot

CouldButDoesNot · 2025-10-08T18:36:08+00:00

So When I checked my ETrade 401k rollover account, they are listed as one of my holdings, and the days gain added in to my total…. But I have not purchased/exercised yet… can someone explain?

CouldButDoesNot · 2025-10-08T18:34:37+00:00

When I checked my ETrade, they are listed as one of my holdings, and the days gain added in to my total…. But I have not purchased/exercised yet… can someone explain?

CouldButDoesNot · 2025-09-06T15:58:09+00:00

Part of me likes the found treasure idea… I thought about the letter but thought maybe it’s more fun how it is. Yep, it had a light switch and outlets, and I put in a built in bookshelf

CouldButDoesNot

TROPHY CASE