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Strategies & Market Trends : Stock Attack II - A Complete Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: donald sew who wrote (7136)	5/5/2001 6:02:09 PM
From: eichler	Respond to of 52237

Hi Don, Good post. I considered responding too but decided not to egg him on... The main statement in the post you responded to that caught my eye is the very one you quoted. The exact part that really raised my eyebrows was: "don't say I didn't warn you." ggg Just the kind of thing a secure, ego-in-check, non-confrontational, all-around nice guy would say... VBG I'd be curious too what percentage of over-all shorts the individual investor represents. Like you, I'd expect a small %. With that in mind....I wonder who all those "attackers" are in the following post: Message 15738567 "ever since I challenged shorts three weeks ago I have gotten more than 100 personal attack posts, ALL FROM SHORTS. ALL OF THEM" Since I know I was one of those "attackers" last Sunday on the MDD thread, and I know that I very rarely short (but will be shorting more in the future), that is an incredulous statement. I saw your post of the "demon spirit" so I can only assume you must also be one of those "shorts"....heh, heh, heh. LOL I think I can put together quite a list of "shorters" ...at least according to A.S. Will the B.S. ever cease? Oh yeah, he goes on vacation to Europe soon..........THANK GOD for small miracles. I guess that will be a "vacation" for me too...... GGG Regards Don, Hope your doing great, Eichler

To: donald sew who wrote (7136)	5/5/2001 8:03:28 PM
From: Catman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 52237

donald sew... My thoughts about short selling...I've always gotten a kick out of the war of words between longs and shorts on the message boards. You're correct regarding the very low percentage of average investors who short...or who even know what its about. The bulk of shorting is done by the institutions and hedge funds...just as they do the bulk of the long buying...its funny how people think that either their cheerleading or bashing would make one bit of difference to the price of a stock. (mostly what I see on Y boards) What I don't understand is the misconception or rather the way shorting is looked upon...shorting is merely a difference of opinion....thats all...you say its going up, I say its going down....if I'm of the opinion its going down, I either sell short or I'm on the sidelines....and as I make my living trading, I can't afford to only wait for an uptrend. I think the problem is that by nature, most people are optimistic....but if the goal is to make money, you have to be able to play both sides....one side is not any more right than the other. And there is also the opinion that shorting is more dangerous ...because there is unlimited upside whereas on the long side a stock can only go to zero...theoretically, yes....but as in any other form of trading, strict rules must be adhered to by the trader...I have seen stocks sell off by anywhere from 10 to 40 pts. before the general public has even had its first cup of coffee......how safe is that?..while short squeezes occur, they are rare. It is no less American than buying a stock and selling it to someone else at a higher price...its just a difference of opinion thats acted upon rather than just being discussed....just as this is only my opinion....

To: donald sew who wrote (7136)	5/6/2001 8:07:59 AM
From: yard_man	Respond to of 52237

Donald, Very good response and I would add that those in the commodities markets: e.g. energy concerns, agricultural concerns, must manage price exposure in order to survive. In order to do this they must, as a matter of course, when conditions dictate, sell forward (i.e. short) their outputs or inputs -- If they do not, they would be crushed by other firms who do employ these methods ...obviously, there must be speculators as well to absorb the other sides of these transactions ... they aren't evil either, but provide the necessary lubrication for the system to function. Working in the energy market I hear our traders every day say they are going short or going long -- there is no secret / evil agenda there, except to guarantee the lowest price for our customers. regards, tippet

To: donald sew who wrote (7136)	5/7/2001 11:30:48 PM
From: SkyDart	Respond to of 52237

RE: Hedge Funds Yale University now has the second largest endowment.....14.4.billion. [Harvard first with 19 billion]. Yale released data that their endowment grew 42% through December 31, 2000 last year. Said that much of their money was invested in hedge funds. Sounds like they weren't scared off by Long Term Capital's debacle. Really makes you wonder if the big boys get together somehow and manipulate the market. Can't see any corporation or University plunking down 10 billion unless they were darn sure of the market direction. If I had 14 billion I would not be shorting now. Maybe selling some call options, but would be afraid to short. FWIW Dart