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Citadel Cuts 80% Risk, Executes $4B Block Trades

8/22/2026

26 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Citadel removed over 80% of risk from the Situational Awareness portfolio it had purchased.
The firm executed nearly 100 block trades worth over $4 billion, including ten stocks' largest intraday blocks.
Citadel bought most of the public-equity book at a discount above 10% after the portfolio dropped 67% in July.
Citadel Wellington returned 5.94% in July, raising YTD gain to about 12% after talks began July 29 and closed within hours.

History

Historical Context

Lehman Brothers, founded in 1850, grew into the U.S.’s fourth-largest investment bank with $680 billion in assets by 2008, but its heavy exposure to the subprime mortgage crisis triggered a loss of confidence and a Chapter 11 filing on September 15, 2008. The next day Barclays bought Lehman’s North American operations for $1.75 billion, illustrating how the collapse enabled deep-discount asset sales.

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Story summary

Citadel removed over 80% of risk from the Situational Awareness portfolio it had purchased.
The firm executed nearly 100 block trades worth over $4 billion, including ten stocks' largest intraday blocks.
Citadel bought most of the public-equity book at a discount above 10% after the portfolio dropped 67% in July.
Citadel Wellington returned 5.94% in July, raising YTD gain to about 12% after talks began July 29 and closed within hours.

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