Is A Massive Fund Liquidating Stocks?

Something odd is going on.

During today’s US session we noticed an unusual number of large block trade headlines.

• Shopify – SHOP 762k @ $1,000

• FarFetch – FTCH 26mm @ $45

• Discovery – DISCA 16mm @ $45-50, DISCK 32mm @ $40-44

• Vipshop – VIPS 32mm @ $27.60

• Tencent – TME 50mm @ $17.60

• Baidu – BIDU 10mm @$185

That is around $7 billion of block trades executed in the open in the morning session alone.

After reaching out to one desk, as were told “someone is liquidating,” and another desk suggested the trades were a “result of forced deleveraging.”

Lots of speculation as to the seller.

Is it Cathie Wood? (we do not think so since very few of these positions are in her ARKK fund).

One other suggestion was that it might be Credit Suisse, liquidating positions to fund the bailouts for the angry Greensill-deal clients? (all six of the positions are among CS largest positions, but the size of the blocks dwarf CS positions so it’s not them).

So who is it?