delusional longs blindly in love
Here's an excerpt from that most recent book Sold Short.
May 22 — I just finished reading "Sold Short", a new book by famed short-seller Manuel Asensio. In it, he describes numerous long-running battles with companies that were, in almost all cases, engaged in nefarious, outrageous, fraudulent activities.
I'M NOT AT all surprised that many companies engage in such behavior. The stock market has long been fertile ground for promoters and scoundrels. Nor am I particularly surprised that so-called analysts, even those at major brokerages, unwittingly — and, in many cases, knowingly — aided and abetted stock promotions.
What was surprising to me, however, was the extent of the denial on the part of investors. As Asensio describes in case after case, investors — ranging from individuals to money managers at the largest, most prestigious institutions — refused to acknowledge the truth despite overwhelming evidence that they had been victims of a scam and clung irrationally to their holdings.
It's hard to admit a mistake and even harder to sell at a loss (as I discussed in my columns,"To Sell or Not to Sell"and"Never Too Late To Sell"), but it would seem that these natural inclinations could be overcome with hard evidence. Maybe not." |
