Ed, no one should lie
Legally, if you are a short or tout you cannot lie and must disclaim. If you don't, you could and should be sued. Public companies also cannot lie and must disclaim. I don't believe shorters go out there and lie and mislead. They have too much to lose and there are tons of scammy companies to out, just pick one. They don't want to be sued for libel and lose. Their reputation as a believable short would go out the window. They post the negative truths. The companies on the other hand are generally the ones lying, either by concealing certain things, telling white lies or full on black lies. Enron, Worldcom, Anderson...
If I have a friend who turns out to be a bad person, I say he should be punished. I would probably even be the one saying "this person I knew turned out to be a bad person." I wouldn't be saying he's a great person if I knew he was guilty of wrongdoing that he's currently charged with. Heck I've even posted that tony has a past, I admit that. If I'm long a stock and personally like management, then read a short report. I won't just say "you're a liar, management should waste jillions and sue the be-jesus out of you, wah wah." I would check out the report, formulate my own opinion. I'll either agree, disagree, partially or totally.
If you had a friend whom you saw murder someone, would you tell everyone he didn't do it, turn him in to the authorities, say nothing ... ? |
