Trader Starts Online Begging Campaign To Fund $106,000 Margin Call

E-trader, Joe Campbell, decided to go $35,000 short KBIO and now owes $ETFC a wonderful $106K.

His GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/jwctrek

Lol

Attachment Size
screen_shot_2015-11-19_at_7.26.09_pm.png 20.5 KB 20.5 KB
26 Comments
 

Can someone explain this as one would to a child? I thought I understood shorting and the risk involved, but from the comments on the Go Fund Me it appears I only understand it in an very elementary sense. Are the commenters correct in that this guy was just a moron? Is the guy correct in that E-Trade shouldn't have let it get that far without notification? What's your take?

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
Best Response

The real problem was the stock went up too quickly.

Yesterday during regular trading hours the price didn't go crazy. Then Martin Shkreli announces he took a controlling stake in the company. This sparked a rally after hours that continued into pre market today.

It looks like his broker doesn't pay attention to after/pre markets so they didn't cover his position due to a Margin Call.

This guy claims that "At the close of the bell I saw the quote montage clear out and figured today there was no action after hours in the stock." Which means he didn't wait more than 5 minutes to check the quotes.

He either shorted before Martin started buying and didn't cover or during. Either way you can see clear as day in the 1 month chart that someone is buying out the company. Why would there me 100% price increase on high volume on the 16th and 17th when the company announced they were closing on the 13th.

 

I'm sure you understand that the max profit is the dollar price of the share but losses are in theory unlimited. in practice, most brokerages will have limits on margin losses (usually as a % of the account) and then they will sell you out, but to my knowledge, there's no law dictating what this dollar amount is. the reason losses got to where they are has been mentioned: it happened so fast it caught him by surprise.

but yes, he is an idiot for shorting. it's not eTrade's fault to minimize his losses, it's his job to keep track of his positions. I hope he learned his lesson.

 

As for shorting, there is nothing wrong with it if you A) actually know what you are doing B) don't make short trades in a bull market with out stops C) don't go crying to the internet after you tanked your entire life savings by not follow the previous two rules.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 

I honestly, have no clue how you could ever go short after the price action and volume that in-sued on nov 16th.

I read about this story and this guy was really new to trading and clearly had no idea what he was doing. If he actually looked at the chart he would have never shorted this after nov 16.....

Still gotta feel bad for him, Martin Shkreli, pumped this thing and made millions, if I was him, I would foot this guys bill with my millions in profits... He definitely manipulated it

twitter: @StoicTrader1 instagram: @StoicTrader1
 

At officia et nihil consectetur quisquam. Alias ut est non ad reprehenderit ex.

Adipisci temporibus dolor ratione repellat. Error debitis omnis eligendi ut reiciendis iure repellendus blanditiis. Accusamus voluptatem laudantium est cumque libero dolorem.

Est dolores quae ea qui eaque amet laboriosam. Aspernatur voluptas cum ratione dolore laudantium. Dolorum sint repellat in eum quo. Sunt nam eos optio recusandae dolorem temporibus in.

 

Dignissimos adipisci non in ea excepturi neque voluptates iusto. Quis aut repudiandae sint temporibus aut sunt accusantium. Repellat ut modi odit minus.

Quasi ut quis aut enim enim. Iure ullam qui possimus molestiae eius. Esse sunt cumque laborum dicta harum aut. Quia quam quas qui eius dolorum.

Similique et occaecati molestiae labore exercitationem. Cumque aspernatur quis non occaecati id ut sunt. Ex cum porro a sed ratione molestias. Perspiciatis molestias perspiciatis voluptas esse. Modi aut cumque aliquam ipsa voluptates dolorum et.

Porro dolores aut explicabo sed rerum. Aut et facilis nobis. Vel possimus non cum est aspernatur hic. Nulla doloremque repellendus ea quam est nisi minima. Dolor sed quos qui est. Maiores in eum facere aut consequuntur. Esse sint in tempore nesciunt.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”