The Short-Seller Who Won’t Touch Tesla and eBay’s U-Turn
Carson Block is Muddy Water’s front man, a famous short-selling fund that targets alleged frauds with aggressive and public short-selling recommendations. Block does important work as a vigilante enforcer, unless he gets an accusation wrong and the company’s reputation gets tarnished for nothing. He was just asked about cult stock Tesla. Would he short that?
“No.” Carson is happy to call Elon Musk “a liar” but he isn’t happy shorting a topical growth name. “I wish he was more honest, but this guy is a specialist at pulling rabbits out of the hat. I’m not risking a short.” In truth, buyers and sellers should not get personal with each other.
We’re all on the same team. If we share variant views, it can save us a lot of money in avoided mistakes. We should build on each other’s due diligence and relay suspicious evidences to regulators, not investors on social media after we’ve already made our short-sell!
eBay was one of the most heavily shorted stocks until quite recently, when activist Elliot Management bought in to force a turnaround. Elliot’s Paul Singer lives up to the corporate raider profile; no-nonsense; ruthless; all business. He wants a restructuring. He wants eBay sold off in parts to maximize value, starting with the classified ads business.
The firm’s board of directors met this weekend to pick a buyer, so Singer’s getting what he wanted. The business will go for between $8 and $10 billion. Who’s the buyer? Prosus has placed the highest bid. We await to see if it is accepted!
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.
