Any one interested explanation on short selling

[Fred]

Great expanation on what i I had never quite understood

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14510946

[Cornuck]

It's amazing how all of these scams are legal. Just ways of moving money around so that a few can make billions. It's turned investing into a bit of a joke (but not funny if your retirement lost 50%).

The governments allow this bullshit, bundled mortgages and CDS's are other examples - then bailout the losers and minimally tax the winners.

[Fred]

I believe EU has banned short selling in the last 2 days...amazing how the market turned around afterwards

I know this is an old spoof but how forward looking was this Australian Comedy team

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5QwKEwo4Bc

[sagebrush]

Great expanation on what i I had never quite understood http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14510946

It's amazing how all of these scams are legal....

Another conspiracy!
Or, it's easier to shoot the messenger, than own up to bad news.

The video provides a simple view of shorting. Neither bad or good. Shorting is a way of expressing lack of confidance in a company.

If a large corporation has nothing to hide, then they shouldn't be afraid of questions. Sound balance sheets and cash flow will overcome shorting...leaving the attempted shorter with a.....shorter net worth.

Enron and Lehman Bros blamed shorting for their demise. Left to their own devices, how many more people would they have defrauded before blowing up?

A recently published study by researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Toronto examined 216 corporate fraud cases between 1996 and 2004. Shorts uncovered 14.5% of those frauds, not far behind the 17% that were exposed by whistleblowers within companies. And what about the SEC? It uncovered just 6.6% of the frauds.

Shorting bans generally result from politics. Politicians are amoung the last people I would ask for investment advice.

[Fred]

A lot simpler for me, although I've had it explained a number of times I never really got my head around it, now I understand. One thing for sure it explains how some can make some thing from nothing until it goes pear shaped, like lehman Bros, how many peopled lost their saving and maybe pension. I really liked the Clarke & Dawes spoof on European debt expecally when you keep in mind that was recorded some time ago before the current crisis

[Cornuck]

Great expanation on what i I had never quite understood http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14510946

It's amazing how all of these scams are legal....

Another conspiracy!

Can't be a conspiracy if it's the law. The US Congress has no idea what's going on. If they don't understand how the internet works, then economics is going to be way over their heads.

[Sick Bunny]

Here's another rather prescient video about how markets work. Keep in mind this is from 2007, i.e. a year before the sh*t started hitting the fan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC31Oudc5Bg

My solution to both the current crisis and the rioting in England is a rather large mortar which we can use to lob investment bankers, Tories and Republicans into the heart of the rampaging mob. Forget water cannon, this is a lot more efficient! A few gruesome dismemberments, and the crowd can dissipate and go home with their bloodlust sated.

[Topper]

I shorted retail stores in 2008 heading into the US Thanksgiving and then the Xmas season, a few bucks can be had, but you have to watch the capital gains taxes don't bite you in the ass.

Better to find a stock that is being slammed in a knee jerk media circus. BP was great for that.

[the Dogsalmon]

i thought short selling was when your ONE ounce bag of weed only has 24 grams...

[ukcanuck]

Finally, I understand the plot to Wall Street II, Money Never Sleeps.

[sagebrush]

The big game (market) is volatile these days.

The shorts are hunting larger prey this time around. Countries are being stalked, as well as banks. Fortunes will be lost, and made. Millions of people may lose entitlements and employment.

Not a game for the faint of heart.