May 8, 2009
In the past, most of the retirement funds were caught up in company directed pensions. Because of short selling, these pensions were no longer profitable for the corporations.
Pensions are not meant to be profitable, and the 401K's as they set them up in a corporation, locks you into their stock picks and mutual fund picks and does not give you the freedom to pull money out of those accounts.
The fact of the matter is that most of those who are doing the short sales, even if they deny that they are doing it, are insider trades. Plain and simple, the executives will dump shares and short them, sending the values into the tank.
So what do I think? I think shorting stocks for any reason is a bad idea. It creates wealth, but it also destroys the 401K's values. In this market, you rob peter (the 401K's) to pay Paul (The Day Traders and CEO's)