Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs. New York Time Op-Ed. March 14th 2012:
TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.
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posted by Skygazer
on Mar 14, 2012 -
150 comments
Short selling is basically the practice of selling borrowed shares, with the intention of purchasing them back later at a lower price. It amounts to a placing a bet on the share value dropping, is a favoured move of
hedge funds, and has been recently
blamed for much of the current economic mayhem.
However, when last Sunday
Porsche tersely announced that, in addition to its 44% of
Volkswagen's shares, it had secured 31% through
cash-settled call options, the invisible hand of the market gave those short-sellers an
atomic wedgie:
Since the German state of
Lower Saxony holds just over 20% of VW, Porsche's disclosure meant that, in fact, there were only 5% of VW's shares left on the market, whereas traders were shorting for about 13% of those shares. This set off the "Mother of All
Short Squeezes".
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posted by Skeptic
on Oct 29, 2008 -
98 comments
