short selling

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Hedge Funds in Panic on Volatility, Short-Selling Ban

Fear is main force handcuffing risk-taking investors

(Newser) - Hedge funds have been caught flatfooted as the stock market’s volatility and a ban on short selling has made it more difficult to predict swings, the New York Times reports. Many funds, which generally have flourished amid market turbulence, are reporting their worst year ever, fueling speculation that some...

Wall Street's New Rules Worry Traders
Wall Street's New Rules Worry Traders
Sep 20, 2008 11:22 AM CDT

Wall Street's New Rules Worry Traders

Temporary ban on short-selling causes fundamental shifts

(Newser) - Stocks roared back to life yesterday on the government’s actions to stabilize the markets, but many traders expressed uncertainty about the new rules of the game, the New York Times reports. The temporary ban on short selling and the new requirement to disclose such trades have wreaked havoc with...

Short Sellers Vilified But Vindicated
Short Sellers Vilified But Vindicated
ANALYSIS
Sep 19, 2008 3:36 PM CDT

Short Sellers Vilified But Vindicated

They may be vultures, but it's not their fault banks are in trouble

(Newser) - In a memo to Morgan Stanley employees, CEO John Mack fumed that the investment bank was being attacked "by fear and rumors, and short sellers are driving our stock down." Today, following similar action in the UK, the SEC banned short selling of 799 financial companies to stem...

SEC Halts Short Selling on Financial Stocks

SEC suspends practice blamed for downward market pressure

(Newser) - The SEC temporarily banned short-selling of 799 financial companies today, an “emergency action" aimed at slowing sliding stock prices that have rattled investors’ confidence in recent weeks, CNNMoney reports. The practice, in which in investors borrow stock and sell it, hoping to buy it back cheaper and pocket the...

Global Stocks Surge on Credit-Market Moves

New Treasury plans also boost market

(Newser) - World stocks jumped today on government measures to stop the credit-market meltdown and news that the US and the UK were getting tough on short sellers, Bloomberg reports. Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse climbed 15% after four days of decline in Europe, while Australia’s Macquarie surged 38% after the...

Short-Sellers, False Rumors Under Scrutiny
Short-Sellers, False Rumors Under Scrutiny
updated
Sep 18, 2008 8:00 PM CDT

Short-Sellers, False Rumors Under Scrutiny

(Newser) - They may not be the most glamorous of villains, but so-called short-sellers are coming under growing scrutiny for their role in the market chaos, Bloomberg reports. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said today he's investigating whether short-sellers spread false rumors about firms such as AIG and Lehman Brothers so...

Demonizing Shorters Won't Save the Likes of Lehman

Darwinian market bloodletting may eliminate raider targets

(Newser) - Short-sellers have the power to utterly crush Lehman Brothers, as they did Bear Stearns, writes James Cramer in New York, but it's largely Lehman's own fault. Lehman shares much of the "mismanagement, arrogance and recklessness" that brought down Bear, Cramer opines in a piece that says excoriating short-selling hedge...

SEC Will Limit Short Sales of Finance Stocks

Agency worried negative bets by traders are hurting the market

(Newser) - The SEC will step in to police naked short-selling of 17 financial firms, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Wall Street Journal reports. The agency said it plans to impose short-term, emergency rules on Monday that curtail traders betting on the stocks to drop, worried the short...

Fannie, Freddie Plunge Gives Short Sellers a Field Day

Very quietly, the sharks are making a killing

(Newser) - With the rest of the world wringing its hands over fears of a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac collapse, one tribe on Wall Street is smiling: the short sellers. Investors have bet against Fannie and Freddie in growing numbers as the two mortgage lenders' positions grew more precarious. But handsome...

Hedge Funds Cash In on Collapse of Bear

Wagering the securities firm stock would fall paid off millions

(Newser) - The epic collapse of Bear Stearns didn't mean bad news for everyone on Wall Street—several big hedge funds made a mint off it, the Wall Street Journal reports. The funds essentially placed bets that Bear would stumble, then raked in millions when the security firm's shares took a nosedive....

Short Sellers Betting Big on Palm's Failure

Smartphone firm made many missteps, but turnaround is possible

(Newser) - Tech stocks have had a good year, and one wouldn’t expect short sellers to take much interest in the area. Anticipating declines, however, is good business, and right now Palm is the horse the short-sell vultures are betting will fall first. Fortune reports that November short-sell bets against Palm...

Obscure Rule Change Blamed for Wild Market

'Downtick' regulation helped check stock free falls

(Newser) - A change in an arcane rule governing stock trading is being blamed for some of the recent volatility in the stock market, the Wall Street Journal reports. For more than 75 years, the "downtick rule" prevented traders from shorting a stock as the price fell. Its repeal last month...

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