Phantom Shares

[Gunnski]

This short video may scare the crap out of you. It did me. What an eye opener!

Wallstreet can "deal from the bottom of the deck".

See The Video:
Phantom Shares

[petekoch]

Worry not. The only one I believe Jim Chanos: it's a non-issue. If your style is Value Investing/Rule No.1, you won't wind up in Overstock or other shaky companies being targeted.

Based upon what I have read, Byrne is probably a charlatan of the highest order.

[Gunnski]

Possibly. I know Taser has been mentioned on this form. Unk. if it qualifies as a R-1 biz.

What I took from this was not so much the business involved, but the sheer numbers, the practice does exist, (whos to say who could be next), lack of enforcement, and pure shadness.

Apparently, that 1st month can be a killer, by the time the smoke clears, they have moved on.

Wall Street is not all lilly white as we would like to believe.

I would like investors to just be careful, especially if they see something taking place in the stock(s) that is hard to understand/explain.

Knowledge is power.

[petekoch]

They just made, or are going to make, naked shorting illegal in the stocks of 19 companies, all big-name financials like Fannie Mae, Merrill, Citi.

SEC issues emergency rule to curb short sales: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

This makes sense for the financials, at least right now, when perception is extremely important. Just look at what that idiot Senator Shumer from NY did in the case of Indy Mac.

The article states that some blame naked shorting for the demise of Bear Stearns. Rubbish. It didn't help Bear's ability to raise capital, but over-leveraging caused the demise of Bear. Actually, it was the combination of over-leveraging AND being wrong.

I don't like the idea of naked shorting and especially failed trades, but I see little or no reason to be concerned. The shorts have been hitting the financials, but last week I doubled my position in USB, bought an entry position in WFC, and traded in and out of BAC. Declining prices in quality companies present opportunities. Avoid companies like Overstock.com and naked shorting is irrelevant.