Open season on short sellers

Posted Jul 16th 2008 8:50AM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Magazines

Life as a short seller isn't much fun these days, except for the whole getting rich part.

Rather than slapping them on the back for their prediction of trouble at many of the leading financial firms, regulators and pundits are lashing out at short-sellers, implying that their place on the moral spectrum lies somewhere between child molester and Al Qaeda operative.

And, sadly, the "naked short selling" conspiracy theories that have generally been spread only by the tinfoil hat crowd that Gary Weiss dubbed the baloney brigade are going mainstream.

Forbes writer Liz Moyer writes that "Many hedge fund managers deny naked shorting occurs, but a growing number of company executives, from bigger and bigger companies no less, have complained that short-sellers have used manipulation to drive their shares down."

Well that is kind of interesting. Why are bigger and bigger companies tossing the same allegations that used to be tossed by small, crappy, cash-bleeding corporate crybabies? Because bigger and bigger companies are operating more and more like small, crappy, cash-bleeding corporate crybabies every day! And when the cash is flowing out instead of in, scapegoats must be found.

Tags: featured, Naked Short, NakedShort, Short