April 3, 2007
I await with bemusement the denouement of this story. Legions of sadsack "investors" in ridiculously speculative issues who blame phantom "Sith Lords" of naked short selling for the woes of their bad decisions. It would be tempting to feel sympathy for them, if it were not that they so blindly and willfully refuse to understand how they hanged themselves on the petard of their signature on the rehypothecation agreement. Rather, they see themselves as the righteous man who was wronged by evil forces, and make no mistake that is how they perceive short sellers of any stripe. To them it is a moral calamity that the Commission is not coming as cavalry to their rescue and imposing their preferred Luddite solution, no doubt to be followed by their advocation of a return to the gold standard and outlawing of fractional reserve banking. Of course, then we will finally be at that happy day where those beseiged companies and commenters will be without an excuse for their miserable performance.