Peter,
thanks for providing the link to this thread (which looks great) and putting together the dossier on this guy Kimmel. I don't agree he's a dolt, even though he's obviously saying some stupid things. He has spotted SEPR as a highly volatile vehicle with a sufficiently complicated story to make it easily manipulated. Unfortunately, some dolts will take his advice and short the thing, probably just when Kimmel himself covers.
I think financial journalists make it rather too easy on themselves by following just disclosure rules. A six paragraph piece by Abelson ragging some stock is hardly diminished by simply noting, "needless to say, my source is short the company". Greenberg had at least the obligation to check a few simple facts (SEPR's actually high insider ownership; "tremendously high debt" is convertible debt) and point out a few obvious connections (this is a development stage company, so revenue and margins are meaningless).
You have to wonder when a journalist abuses their position this way consistently. Besides Greenberg, there is also a female staffer on the WSJ whose name escapes me but who has had two similarly negatively-weighted articles that could only be understood as short plants.
All we can do, I guess, is watch and learn, which is why this thread is such a good idea, and use the excess volatility to our advantage. Time to buy some calls. |
