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Tesla Short Sellers Actually Made Over $1 Billion After Musk's Taking-Private Tweet (fortune.com)
An anonymous reader quotes Fortune:
Investors betting that Tesla stock will lose value -- so-called "shorts" -- have made $1.2 billion since CEO Elon Musk first tweeted about taking the company private. Much of that gain came on Friday, after the New York Times published a revealing, emotional interview with Musk that drove Tesla stock down nearly 9%. The tally comes from a report released Friday by stock analytics firm S3 Partners. The Friday collapse helped reverse a price spike after Musk's August 7 Tweet saying he was "considering taking Tesla private at $420," about 18% higher than the stock's market value at the time.
According to S3, the subsequent surge in Tesla stock cost short positions $1.3 billion. But soon after, it became clear that Musk had exaggerated the certainty of his funding, and the SEC began a probe of his statements, driving the stock back down. On Friday, the Times interview with Musk detailed his 120-hour work weeks, lack of social life, and reliance on Ambien to sleep. That sent the stock down 9% in one day, for a total drop of 19% over 10 days. That gave $2.5 billion back to the shorts, for a net gain of $1.2 billion since Musk's going-private tweet.
Tesla remains the most-shorted stock on the American stock exchanges, and the researchers note that only 4% of shorts have actually cashed in these on-paper gains.
According to S3, the subsequent surge in Tesla stock cost short positions $1.3 billion. But soon after, it became clear that Musk had exaggerated the certainty of his funding, and the SEC began a probe of his statements, driving the stock back down. On Friday, the Times interview with Musk detailed his 120-hour work weeks, lack of social life, and reliance on Ambien to sleep. That sent the stock down 9% in one day, for a total drop of 19% over 10 days. That gave $2.5 billion back to the shorts, for a net gain of $1.2 billion since Musk's going-private tweet.
Tesla remains the most-shorted stock on the American stock exchanges, and the researchers note that only 4% of shorts have actually cashed in these on-paper gains.
both the short sellers and the flip speculators for their contribution to improving society. If enough people dedicate their lives to short term stock market speculation, most of the world's pressing problems will soon be a thing of the past.
Do you really not get why people hate his guts?
No.
He says he's going to replace airplanes with rockets.
He says he's going to move people in pneumatic tubes.
He also says he's going to dig hundreds of non-pneumatic tubes under Los Angeles, and move people in their own cars, on sleds in said tunnels.
He sold a flamethrower, because he thought it would be "cool".
There's probably more of these.
I'm more confused than ever. I would classify all of those things as "cool!" and then follow it up with "make it happen!". Why in the world would any of those things make you hate him?
Didn't he make Paypal evil?
That's true. I'm kinda tired of having to call in a catholic priest every time I pay for something online. Demonic possession is a big downside.