Friday, June 12, 2020

Hertz does a reverse Robinhood

A reverse Robinhood is where you steal from the poor and give to the rich.

Hertz stock (HTZ) was worth $20.29/share on 2/20/20 but fell to as low as $0.56/share on 5/26/20 after it declared bankruptcy.  It has since then surged to $5.53 before later dropping to $2.06.  Because of its volatility it is popular with daytraders and Hertz plans to take advantage of its popularity and stockowner's naivety to issue another $1 billion of stock.  Everyone is talking about how stooopid people are for buying the stock.

But the daytraders and small speculators may have the last laugh.  Consider the following:  1) Hertz is filing for a Chapter 11 (reorganization) not a Chapter 7 (liquidation).  So the company will still exist post-bankruptcy. 2) The stock will be de-listed from the NYSE but the stock can still be bought and sold OTC (over the counter).  3) The company will be in better shape post-bankruptcy without all the debt.  So the speculators are betting that Hertz continues as a going concern.  4) Hertz may be getting some bailout money.  This is just my speculation as I haven't heard anything about it.

So I don't think the daytraders and speculators are stupid.  They may be on to something.

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