Bill:
I posted only what Von Emster had said at the meeting. I didn't want to go to conjecture.
However, since you note that his wife said that he has been shorting, I will now conjecture that...... he was shorting even before the oncology announcement and that it was just a convenient handle to generate some selling pressure as he covers. Moreover, I'll say that his statements have, in the past, made me suspect that he's more concerned with covering hedged positions and accumulation of cash than might seem apparent.
With respect to the death of the low caps, this rampant dogma has created huge bargains. I chatted with Von Emster and indicated that I strongly disagreed with his views relative to third-tier stocks. We discussed one issue, selling at almost no premium to cash-in-hand, in particular. He indicated that the fund couldn't buy such low-priced issues, but (here comes the irony).... that such issues were usually reserved for his private portfolio.
In general, I thought that both keynote presentations were weak. We need to find or create a basket trading vehicle that allows the sector to break free of dogma and vested interests, to trade largely on the merits of science, business plans, and the markets that they address.
These "doom and gloom" guys will be first in line to proclaim the turnaround, the new cycle, and to ride it from the depths. They're profiting from volatility. And, some of them have realized that they can not only profit from it, but generate it as well.
Cheers! Rick |
