
Investors Bet Against Tesla–and Lost $8.4B in Five Weeks - dcgudeman
https://www.wsj.com/articles/investors-bet-against-teslaand-lost-8-4-billion-in-five-weeks-11581284236
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H8crilA
Those sensational headlines. TSLA is 22% below the peak 3 trading days ago.
Can we have a silly headline like this, given the change in market cap?

> _TSLA bulls lose $38B in 3 days._

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onetimemanytime
the shorts had to cover their positions, doesn't matter how the stock is doing
days or weeks after that..."The market can remain irrational longer than you
can remain solvent" and all.

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WheelsAtLarge
It's very hard to short stocks. Most high flyers will eventually collapse. The
problem is that you can't tell the difference between the bubbles and the
actual winners.

You don't have to cover your shorts unless you breach a limit that the
brokerage has set. That limit is based on how much liquidity you have. I
suspect the majority of the shorts that can continue to hold their position
are still shorting hoping to get out at a better price.

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new_realist
Traders don’t bet for or against companies like Tesla. They bet on the
movement of their stock, which is governed by the behavior of crowds.

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deweller
What?

Markets are driven by the collective perception of the future performance of
the company. Sure it is wildly speculative at times, but buying or shorting a
stock is ultimately a bet on the future performance of the company.

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icebraining
[http://archive.is/uYhKN](http://archive.is/uYhKN)

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onetimemanytime
Live by the word, die by the sword. I know short sellers play a vital role in
the game, but they also play dirty tricks. Sometimes they win, sometimes they
get slaughtered.

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icebraining
What kind of dirty tricks?

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arcanus
'Markets can remain irrational far longer than you can remain solvent'

I have little sympathy for short sellers. Betting on any company to fail is a
negative perspective. It's particularly foolhardy to bet against Elon.

I also do not find the common economic argument, that short selling introduces
price efficiency, compelling. Most public markets are able to efficiently
manage price discovery without negative pressures, such as housing markets,
wages, etc. Furthermore, the advantage appears to be extracted purely as
profit by the short seller.

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Agustus
Short sellers have a place in the market. They put in place a mechanism, in
real markets, to hold a stock to honesty.

Imagine if WeWork could be shorted, people would have been able to hold the
stock price down. Instead of the last minute moment where everyone looked
around and went: It’s a REIT!

Where I share your sentiment on short sellers and longs are the ones who fake
information / overpromote it to make some money, which distorts the market for
the commoners.

