An incredible new article came out last night about the scandal.
Some of the highlights are:
1.) PSA has guarantees that "refund the difference between the market value price commensurate to their grade and a new grade". Based on the allegations in the scandal a judge may hold them to that guarantee and it would cost PSA tens of millions in refunds.
They are so concerned about these refunds that "their 2018 Annual Report confirms that they don’t have insurance on the guarantee and lists the fact that they could come into a situation where they wouldn’t have enough reserves to pay it back as a material risk to their business".
2.) Joe Orlando has been selling off tons of CU stock. "While Orlando expresses confidence publicly, he has sold off more than 34% of his stock holdings in the last 10 months. On July 1, the CEO sold off 15.6% of his stock, a significant number when considering that, in September, he sold 22.8 percent of his stock."
3.) The article seems to implicate PWCC and Brent in the pumping of specific cards through elaborate bidding schemes to prop up the values of specific high end examples of certain cards. "Rigging the market, as it was rigged, wasn’t illegal but it was certainly unethical. In card rigging, a small group of sellers pick a card to target. They buy up the best exemplar, let’s say a rookie card in a 9.5 grade. Next, they buy lower-end versions of that card. From there, there’s two ways it can go. They can shill-bid (bidding, or having someone else bid, on your own item to drive up value) the card and even win it, but not pay for it. The public then thinks the card went for that value."
The entire article is available below and is a must read for all collectors.
https://www.actionnetwork.com/genera...tor-convention