Hi Tom: Glad to have your view point, we need some balance, but
keeping in mind how risky shorting is, who do you think is doing it.
My opionion is it's the professioals, the real sharks..some of them
even underwrite the stock, over and over I'v said you short, then
buy back more than you sold each time with the profits and that
supports the price, in fact it drives it up. This brings an accumulation of stock into the same hands that are shorting it.
These people do this for a living they don't do it and wouldn't stay
at it if they lost money, sure a few small in-experance people
jumb in and short and get burned..but that is just a small part of
the stock thats shorted..any stock that has heavy short positions
rolling in and out every 7 day ( the averge for aol ) is being
supported and shaking out the little guys that panic on the
8 and 10 point drops..the buy and hold type don't get hit till
they see they don't have enough buyers, at that point they dump
and dump..after all their stock cost them next to nothing.
The people doing most of the shorting on this stock have been with
her since the early days, if you think things don't get riged amonst
the wall steert gang you'v not been looking around.
You make good points about the nubies and how AOL is easyer for
them to hook up to..but MSFT has it's ownn free software on every
new set that comes out, and it's fixed to guide the new user right into the hands of BILL Gates, I'm also an end user support
tech..and none , not one of my customers are on AOL..and if they
even start to set it up I tell them they better get some one else,
to service their computer..one of the first things I do when they
yell for help is take all the AOL and MSN software..off the hard
drive from the get go..if they want intrenet service I hook em up
to a local ISP..set up thier mail install netscape..link them
to my home page give them a news reader and password for
usenet and I use to put on pointcast..but now hook them to Yahoo
and the "My Personal Page" config, but we don't all serve the
same kind of people..me I'm independent as all get out and
very picky about whos computer I'l work on, as I can go offshore
and make more money than I can fighting with some dumb butt who
has to use AOL <G>
Jim |
