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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: novice investor who wrote (36025)	11/12/1998 6:11:00 PM
From: Knighty Tin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 132070

NI, The WSJ just prints the numbers from the various exchanges. They make no adjustment for options or paired trades or anything exotic, mainly because they have no way of knowing about them. When I do a paired trade, an investment co. arbitrage, a reverse spread conversion, or a convertible arbitrage, I sure don't tell anyone what I've done. Well, except for you guys once in a while <G>, and my partners, of course, when it is their money. I don't use the numbers at all. The theory is that a high level of short selling puts bullish pressure on the stock, as the shorts have to eventually buy back to cover. But, the other side of the coin, and there is always another side, is that people don't short a quality stock in huge size. I used to play this stuff and made some money, especially on Resorts International, but I have found it more profitable and myself more comfortable to go with contrarian valuation and fundamentals, while taking account of seasonal factors. The problem is, nobody rings a bell when the shorts cover en masse and all these stats are after the fact. You have many chances of getting caught holding a POS co. after the shorts have departed. And you are playing a technical situation that has nothing to do with the company's business prospects. MB