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To: mishedlo who wrote (37567)2/27/2000 3:33:00 AM
From: The Prophet  Respond to of 93625
 
I've never, ever seen such a short position, i.e., so high a percentage of the float, so high a percentage of non-institutional float, and so high a percentage in a company with such great prospects. The closest I've seen was QCOM and we all remember that story (still being written).

This could get crazy.



To: mishedlo who wrote (37567)2/27/2000 8:33:00 PM
From: Barry A. Watzman  Respond to of 93625
 
Short squeezes have happened in the past, and have been dramatic. The one we have seen (and possibly the one(s) that we will see) are unusual, but I don't think that they set any precidents.

I think that the short number being reported for February is meaningless. I BELIEVE (someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong) that the reports are based only on SETTLED transactions. Consequently, although the official date is Feb. 15th, it only covers transactions through Feb. 10th. Since this was before the big runup, these numbers don't mean much. The March numbers will indeed be interesting.

Finally, I am very intrigued by the matter of voting when it's time for proxy statements to go out. With regard to dividends, I think that the shorts DO have to make them up. But they CAN'T make make up "ballots". What does happen with regard to voting by the longs, some of whom have loaned their shares (but do not know it), and some of whom have borrowed shares (but don't know it). Certainly in a case with 50% of the float shorted, it could make a HUGE difference in, for example, a takeover battle.