The Bear Cave #341
Welcome to The Bear Cave! The last premium articles for paid readers were: “ Problems at Tenable (TENB) ” and “ Problems at Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities Fund (GOF) .” Our next special investigation is scheduled for this Thursday, September 3. Subscribe now New Activist Reports BMF Reports published on SELLAS Life Sciences (NASDAQ: SLS — $2.7 billion), a clinical-stage biotech whose nearly $3 billion valuation rests on a still-blinded Phase 3 cancer-vaccine trial. BMF argues the market is mistaking slower-than-expected deaths in a still-blinded trial for proof the vaccine works, when it’s unclear who even received it. It notes the drug advanced on thin early evidence, just ten treated patients versus fifteen historical cases, and pegs downside near 76% if the trial fails. BMF Reports writes: “SELLAS describes at least 90% statistical power at an assumed hazard ratio of 0.636 with only 80 deaths. Our reconstruction using conventional survival-analysis mathematics produces roughly 51% power, not 90%.” Fugazi Research published on TEN Holdings (NASDAQ: XHLD — $111 million), an events company whose stock spiked more than 900% in two August weeks while the DOJ and SEC probe its IPO. It argues XHLD is a pump-and-dump headed for a Nasdaq halt, citing underwriter Bancroft Capital, whom Bloomberg linked to a string of “apparent pump-and-dump” deals. A Value Investors’ Club author laid out a bearish case on Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR — $17.6 billion), warning the company is heading into a difficult stretch while holding about $109 billion of gross debt. With fiber and fixed-wireless rivals pressing both pricing and subscriber volumes, the author argues even a modest dip in EBITDA would hit the heavily leveraged equity hard, as climbing refinancing costs absorb free cash flow and make management’s goal of cutting leverage increasingly unrealistic. Notable Recent Resignations and Departures Notable executive departures disclosed in the past week include: Chief Financial Officer of D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS — $6.3 billion) will retire effective September 2, disclosed with roughly a week’s notice, after about five years in the seat. The exit follows a May 10b5-1 sale of 19% of his stake for $9.1 million. President and Chief Executive Officer of Azenta (NASDAQ: AZTA — $1.4 billion) resigned on August 22 with immediate effect after roughly 23 months in the role, with a sitting director named interim CEO. The life-sciences tools company said the departure was “not the result of any disagreement.” Chief Financial Officer of Amrize (NYSE: AMRZ — $24.4 billion) stepped down effective August 24 after only about 5 months. The company’s chief strategy and M&A officer was named successor. Chief Financial Officer of GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV — $243 billion) will retire, the power-equipment maker disclosed on August 25, after just under three years in the seat. Senior Director of AI Hardware Design for the Dojo and Autopilot programs apparently left Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA — $1 trillion) after 16 months to join AI startup DensityAI. The exit adds to a run of quiet senior departures at the automaker this year across product, finance, North American sales, and vehicle operations. Unannounced departures courtesy of Canary Data . News of the Week “Nvidia Has Become a Banker to the AI Boom, Putting It on Dangerous Ground” ( WSJ ) “Nvidia recently provided backstops that could put it on the hook for some $230 billion in lease obligations and residual-value deals, including a $105 billion backstop for an OpenAI lease in Ohio and potentially up to $125 billion in ‘residual-value support’ for financing deals with Wall Street heavyweights. That support would likely entail Nvidia’s assuring that the value of assets backing loans won’t fall below a predetermined level.” Tweets of the Week @nytimes - 'Proposed Rollback of SEC Rules Raises Fears of Another Enron Crisis'\nUnder the radar, Trump's SEC is about to exempt 80% of companies from post-Enron auditing standards. The Business Roundtable has been supportive...but not all of Wall St. some PMs are wary: ","username":"talmonsmith","name":"talmon joseph smith","profile_image_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/1826476912115351552/x7hYzm2r_normal.jpg","date":"2026-08-28T14:53:02.000Z","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/HQ0Tx01XMAACPMT.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/pdF18JFQnh"},{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/HQ0Tx02X0AAOzwj.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/pdF18JFQnh"},{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/HQ0Tx02WAAEY3fW.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/pdF18JFQnh"},{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/HQ0Tx00XIAADGvD.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/pdF18JFQnh"}],"quoted_tweet":{},"reply_count":7,"retweet_count":37,"like_count":80,"impression_count":32676,"expanded_url":null,"video_url":null,"video_preview_media_key":null,"belowTheFold":true}" data-component-name="Twitter2ToDOM"> Until Thursday, The Bear Cave New? Sign Up Here Got Feedback? Just Hit Reply The Bear Cave is Not Investment Advice. See Full Disclosures Here . Based on Hunterbrook Media’s reporting, Hunterbrook Capital is short $GOF and $TENB at the time of this publication. Positions may change at any time. Twitter: @BearCaveEmail