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AMD's stock was negative multiple times today ($11.38 on March 13, 2018 10AM,and at 12Noon on NASDAQ). Shorting the stock would be an obvious play. I have heard

AMD's stock was negative multiple times today ($11.38 on March 13, 2018 10AM,and at 12Noon on NASDAQ). Shorting the stock would be an obvious play. I have heard of people thinking about trading on security flaws in products but never seen it done in real life.

swyx 9y ago
yes and its $11.77 now (up 2%) this is not in the same league but i recall AMD/INTC also traded up on the spectre/meltdown debate. a lot of insecure chips ironically leads to a lot of demand for new secure-er chips.
this_user 9y ago
There is also some questionable research group involved in all of this: https://viceroyresearch.org/2018/03/13/amd-the-obituary/ https://viceroyresearch.org/2018/03/13/amd-the-obituary/ It's not uncommon for short sellers to take a position first before releasing a report like this to drive the stock lower. Of course, there are legitimate groups that, in the past, have unearthed real issues and corporate misconduct, but there are also questionable groups that will release reports with little to no substance. This case certainly does looks dubious, but I'd like to see an assessment by reputable security expert.
dsacco 9y ago
I've done it once or twice when I reported a vulnerability directly to a company and I knew they'd have to report it to downstream customers pretty quickly. I've also been in discussions for larger vulnerabilities with security-focused hedge funds such as Muddy Waters. Generally I'm weakly skeptical about profiting from it consistently. In particular, funds like Muddy Waters have a pretty high bar for the sort of vulnerability they're willing to work with. You need not only a severe vulnerability, but the right kind of vulnerability, so you know that it can't be swept under the rug. That said, it's pretty striking to me how aggressive this disclosure is. It may be an attempt to narrow the window and increase the profitability of a short sell.
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swyx 9y ago

yes and its $11.77 now (up 2%) this is not in the same league but i recall AMD/INTC also traded up on the spectre/meltdown debate. a lot of insecure chips ironically leads to a lot of demand for new secure-er chips.

this_user 9y ago

There is also some questionable research group involved in all of this: https://viceroyresearch.org/2018/03/13/amd-the-obituary/ https://viceroyresearch.org/2018/03/13/amd-the-obituary/ It's not uncommon for short sellers to take a position first before releasing a report like this to drive the stock lower. Of course, there are legitimate groups that, in the past, have unearthed real issues and corporate misconduct, but there are also questionable groups that will release reports with little to no substance. This case certainly does looks dubious, but I'd like to see an assessment by reputable security expert.

dsacco 9y ago

I've done it once or twice when I reported a vulnerability directly to a company and I knew they'd have to report it to downstream customers pretty quickly. I've also been in discussions for larger vulnerabilities with security-focused hedge funds such as Muddy Waters. Generally I'm weakly skeptical about profiting from it consistently. In particular, funds like Muddy Waters have a pretty high bar for the sort of vulnerability they're willing to work with. You need not only a severe vulnerability, but the right kind of vulnerability, so you know that it can't be swept under the rug. That said, it's pretty striking to me how aggressive this disclosure is. It may be an attempt to narrow the window and increase the profitability of a short sell.

deleted 9y ago
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