Weekly Wrap-Up: Sunday, 10/26/25

This week brought fresh evidence that not all market catalysts trade the same. Wolfpack Research's takedown of Ramco Resources produced a clean 12% drawdown, Culper's report on DoorDash barely registered, and Fugazi Research's attack on Richtech Robotics backfired entirely, the stock rallying 20% as investors dismissed the thesis or squeezed the shorts. Short reports are micro-catalysts: company-specific, thesis-dependent, and increasingly crowded. But this weekend, a different kind of risk takes center stage. Argentina votes Sunday in legislative midterms that will determine whether President Javier Milei's reform agenda survives, with the Trump administration making a $40 billion support package explicitly conditional on electoral success. For traders, that means Argentine equities, the peso, and sovereign debt are now moving on pure political sentiment—with limited ways to hedge and even fewer ways to short.

Wolfpack Research Short Report on Ramco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: METC)

Report Impact on Stock Price

Wolfpack Research Wolfpack's report triggered immediate selling pressure, with METC falling 10.7% in the initial session and extending losses to 12.4% by the third trading period. The sustained decline suggests the market found the short thesis credible, with no meaningful recovery attempt despite the sharp drawdown.

Who is Ramco Resources?

Ramaco Resources is a coal mining company that purchased the failed Brook Mine thermal coal operation in 2011 for $2 million and has since repeatedly pivoted its business narrative. After failed attempts to promote "coal to cars" carbon fiber schemes and rare earth mining claims, the company now alleges it has discovered commercially viable deposits of scandium, gallium, and germanium—metals that experts interviewed by Wolfpack Research dismiss as "fraudium, scamium, and storium." The company projects these metals will generate 83% of revenue despite having no proven mining operations and ore grades below Earth's average crust concentrations.

Key Points from the Report

  • Fraudulent Pricing Projections – METC projects 59% of revenue from scandium oxide at $3,750/kg when the actual market price is below $700/kg, creating a phantom $611 million annual market that is 25× larger than total global demand for the mineral.

  • Expert Consensus of Fraud – Wolfpack interviewed 15 industry experts including 6 PhDs with over 400 years of combined experience, and not one believed Brook Mine was economically feasible; experts used terms like "fraud," "pump and dump," and "shit show" to describe the project.

  • Theatrical Operations with No Real Mining – The July 2025 "grand opening" ceremony featuring DOE Secretary Chris Wright was pure theater, with heavy machinery leased only for the event; weekly drone surveillance reveals zero mining activity since, with the ceremonial coal pile still untouched.

  • Serial Failed Schemes – Ramaco's history includes the debunked 2017 "Coal to Cars" carbon fiber scheme and 2023 rare earth claims that collapsed after exposure, with the stock falling from $16.78 to $6.68 before the current scandium pump drove it from $8 to $39.

  • Insider Selling During Pump – Long-time private equity backer Yorktown Partners opportunistically dumped $30 million in stock during the 2025 scandium-driven rally, classic insider exit behavior that signals lack of confidence in the company's claims.

Fugazi Research Report on Richtech Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ: RR)

Report Impact on Stock Price

Fugazi Research The market initially shrugged off Fugazi's allegations, with RR dropping just 1.2% before staging a sharp reversal. By the third session, shares had rallied 20.2% above the report price, indicating either strong fundamental support, short-squeeze dynamics, or just overall skepticism.

Who is Richtech Robotics?

Richtech Robotics is a U.S.-listed robotics company that operates as a Chinese import reseller, sourcing identical robots from Chinese OEMs like Sparkoz, OrionStar, and AutoXing, then rebranding them as "U.S.-designed AI robotics innovation" and selling at 50-70% premiums. Founded and controlled by brothers Matt Zhao (CEO) and Nelson Zhao (CFO), who hold 74% of voting power through super-voting stock, the company has zero U.S. patents, no domestic production assets, and relies on continuous equity issuance and promotional announcements rather than genuine technology development.

Key Points from the Report

  • Chinese Import Reseller, Not U.S. Innovator –RR sources all robots from Chinese manufacturers at wholesale prices, applies patriotic branding, and resells at massive markups while falsely positioning itself as a U.S. robotics technology company with zero actual manufacturing or R&D capabilities.

  • Marketing Theater Over Real Business – The company issued 40+ press releases for less than $20 million in revenue, with "strategic partnerships" often being single pilot installations staged for promotional purposes, including a MAC USA bell-ringing event that MAC staff had no knowledge of.

  • Dilution Machine – Equity proceeds have exceeded revenue every single year, gross margins collapsed from 31% to 18%, and the company filed a $1 billion shelf registration despite trailing revenue under $20 million, all while insiders issue themselves shares at $0.02 each "for services."

  • Insider Control and Enrichment – Brothers Matt and Nelson Zhao control 74% of voting power through super-voting Class B stock, with COO Phil Zheng receiving 1.2 million shares for just $30,000 (~$0.02/share) and later selling during early 2025 price spikes while receiving additional grants.

  • Promotional Playbook – The company systematically times announcements with financing events, amplifies speculation through paid IR outlets and social media (RedChip listing, r/pennystocks hype), and uses vague language about "top global retailers" to spark speculation (e.g., Walmart rumors) that promoters later admitted were "just for promo."

Culper Research Short Report on DoorDash, Inc (NASDAQ: DASH)

Report Impact on Stock Price

Culper Research Culper's report produced a muted 2.2% initial decline before DASH reversed course and climbed 2.3% above its pre-report level by session three. The quick recovery suggests institutional investors either dismissed the short case or viewed the dip as a buying opportunity, limiting Culper's impact on the large-cap name.

Who is DoorDash?

DoorDash is a U.S.-based food delivery platform co-founded by CEO Tony Xu in 2013 that went public in December 2020. The company achieved its first operating profit in Q3 2024, generating $10.7 billion in revenue and $1.9 billion in adjusted EBITDA for the year. However, according to Culper Research, DoorDash implemented an industry-unique policy change in late 2021—dropping SSN requirements and allowing Dashers to onboard using ITINs—after facing IRS confrontation over widespread SSN fraud, fundamentally altering its workforce composition.

Key Points from the Report

  • Mass Reliance on Unauthorized Workers – Culper Research estimates that 26% to 57% of DoorDash's company-wide deliveries are now completed by unauthorized workers who onboarded using ITINs rather than Social Security Numbers, representing an unprecedented scale of reliance on unauthorized labor in U.S. corporate history.

  • Existential Regulatory Threat – An April 2025 ICE/IRS data sharing agreement now enables deportation of up to 7 million ITIN holders, directly targeting the worker population that Culper alleges has become essential to DoorDash's operations and recent profitability.

  • Fragile Economics – Culper's analysis shows that a mere 10-11% increase in Dasher pay would completely eliminate DoorDash's entire $1.9 billion in 2024 adjusted EBITDA, while Dasher earnings have declined from $16.78/hour in 2021 to $12.23/hour in 2024 according to third-party data from Gridwise.

  • Apparent SEC Investigation and Whistleblower Claims – A July 2025 FOIA request revealed an apparent undisclosed SEC investigation into DoorDash practices, while former security engineer Emelio Tatis filed a lawsuit alleging retaliation after discovering "clusters" of fake Dasher identities tied to shared addresses linked to identity theft, fraud, and robbery.

  • Massive Insider Selling – CEO Tony Xu and other insiders have sold $7.6 billion in stock since the December 2020 IPO, with the company's first profitable quarter coinciding with the controversial ITIN workaround implementation that enabled the unauthorized worker influx.

What was meant to steady markets instead reminded investors how quickly foreign policy and domestic reform now intertwine. The package ties Argentina's short-term liquidity directly to political alignment in Washington. Critics on both sides of the equator see the risk: U.S. farmers call it an 'America-last bailout,' while Argentine opposition leaders call it 'conditional sovereignty.

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