Caw! Aloha, Scarecrow!

Hey, Scarecrow!

Throw the rascals out!

*cough* Keating 5 *cough*…

woohoo

I would love for that to get dropped during the debate. wooowee McCain would lose it

Chris Dodd nails McCain.

On a serious note, there’s good deregulation & bad deregulation. When Carter (yes Carter) began financial market deregulation there were caps on the interest rates that financial institutions could pay on deposits. That was ridiculous in the high inflation era during which he was prez. But then Reagan came in and removed all the rules: S&L debacle followed.

Republican economics do not work.

Bush economics do not work.

Greed does not work.

k.. a few dumb points:

1. the SEC doesn’t regulate the underlying mortgage industry.. just the securitized piece of it when the securities are packaged into public listed instruments

2. the SEC doesn’t regulate the swaps market and also doesn’t regulate most of the other derivative markets, which is the stuff that’s killin’ us now

3. the SEC doesn’t regulate hedge funds or regulate private equity, where at least some of the current problems may be

5. the SEC doesn’t regulate commercial real estate markets (outside of listed instruments), which held many of Lehman’s most crippled deals

6. the SEC doesn’t regulate insurers except in respect of publicly traded insurers with respect to their own conduct with respect to their own listed securities… hence, no responsibility for AIG

In which case, it seems to me that blaming the head of the SEC is kind of lame… I mean, they’re not blameless, but still…

Caw ! Caw !

Trillion Dollar bailouts with taxpayer $$$ … is that what they teach you at Harvard ?

Greed is a human condition. If your economic weltanschaung does not allow for greed, the system will fail.

Digg it

eCAHN – do you have any feel for when credit cards got loosened up? When the DH and I were first married, we were both working and made $25000 between us – but did not qualify for a credit card. I can’t recall exactly when people started to come after us with mailings, but there was a time when we were getting three offers a day.

Johnny & Sarah will always blame the liberals and will blame anyone who is not them. See? It’s in the cards. George Bush’s 3rd term coming up!

Okay, going to bed. Nite nite everyone. ;-)

Geez, I never even knew I had a weltanschaung until I read your comment. You’ve opened my eyes.

Just a tad… He’d sputter at the very least…! ;-)

That is why a system without oversight will not work. To fail to provide oversight is to give the greedy free reign

I’m as concerned about the regulations they are adding as I am about the ones they are getting rid of.

Prohibiting short selling, for example, in foolhardy in the extreme. It:

1) gets rid of a valuable signaling mechanism that lets the market
identify bad apples quickly and limit the damage they do
2) eliminates a breaking mechanism that slows down precipitous drops
3) leads to everyone to pulling for exponential price increases even when there’s no reason for them (aka bubbles)

If you really want to stabilize the market, you should make short selling obligatory; say, some percentage of certain portfolios (e.g. mutual funds over a certain size, pension funds, etc.) are required to be in short positions.

– MarkusQ

McCain’s campaign, starting with Rick Davis and Charlie Black, is loaded with lobbyists from the financial industry.

The headline on this blog posting at Mother Jones says it all: “McCain Attacks Wall Street Greed—While 83 Wall Street Lobbyists Work for His Campaign.”

A full list of lobbyists and the companies for which they lobby at the link. No less than seven of the 83 work for AIG, thirteen for Fannie Mae, and thirteen for Freddie Mac.

Alphonse D’Amato works for both AIG and Freddie Mac, while Wayne Berman hits the trifecta, lobbying for all three. But Charlie Black may be the most interesting: “JP Morgan, Washington Mutual Bank, Freddie Mac, Mortgage Bankers Association of America, National Association of Mortgage Brokers.”

No conflicts of interest there . . .

I’ll take that. *g*

Geez, I never even knew I had a weltanschaung

I’m officially afraid to ask….

G’night, KayInMaine.

Is Petro still around?

boa noite kay

peaceful dreams

World view.

yep

Why is it that if I send a check to my bank and tell them “I’ll be good for it in a couple of days,” that’s irresponsible and bad for the market, while if I’m a stockbroker and say “I’ll borrow your stock, sell it today, and be good for it in a couple of days,” that’s a valuable signaling mechanism?

G’nite Kay !

Agree. As with everything else, you have to regulate intelligently. It’s seems an oxymoron, but good markets actually have tons of regulatory structure as a foundation. In my field, the key to getting the markets to work well, is to make sure the incentives are designed properly, and it’s something that “market designers” do; it’s not something that appears magically through some “invisible hand.” That’s a myth.

I asked in the thread below about the family. How are they?

Nice to see, per Krugman, that McCain thinks the financial markets are just the place/model for health care providing…

What foothillsmike said.

No accurate memory on that. I run my personal finances without reference to incoming mail which went into the garbage bin without being opened. If I can remember when I started hearing stories like that, they probably go back to the 80s. In fact I thought profligate credit card issuance earlier was why Sen. NBMA (aka D veep candidate) got draconian bankruptcy legislation passed.

You mean Adam Smith is not God?

*swoons in a faint*

world view or philosophy

I’m kind of hoping that Bush stays out of sight. Every time I heard or read his name today, the tune “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” came to mind. If this keeps up, I make an appointment.

phew – I thought we were talking about a body-part

(ok, I re-read – I was reading weltanschLaung)

*g*

I thought I’d answered … we’re all great despite a lousy Summer … Girls are Goddesses as always …

Righto. Recognize that greed exists and deal with it in a sensible way. Greed (more mildly put, the desire to do better) is a great motivator. But it easily gets out of control, so figure out ways to rein it in that are distort incentives the least.

timing feels about right – we got married in 1978 – by the early 80s, I think we were being offered credit cards. And I was on the loan committee at a local credit union in the mid-80s and we were doing the “take all the credit cards away except for Sears” for people asking for bill consolidation loans and that was 1985 or 1986…so there you go.

Surely the Obama camp will use that in an ad.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it but the past couple days McCain appears more haunted than usual. You can run but you can’t hide from your record, Senator.

Hope your refering to my 17

PS great link

glad to hear that *g*

You mean you thought it was part of a swing-set assembly?

They didn’t prohibit all short selling, only that in financial stocks, and that temporarily. There seems to be a controversy about reinstating the uptick rule for shortselling (i.e. can only sell short when last trade in stock was higher than the previous trade) in an era when stocks trade in pennies rather than eighths of a dollar. Far enough removed from the business to have no informed opinion.

I had also asked, did you party enough for me in Beautiful Brasil ?

You mean you thought it was part of a swing-set assembly?

umm, yeah, that’s it.

Or *something* swinging….

OMG, could that be more perfect? There’s a post at DKos about it and I just went to McC’s campaign site looking for it. Thought they already scrubbed the site. Nice to hear it’s being published instead. *g*

I also think that there are also different objects for greed ie. greed for money and greed for power and they are not necessarily exclusive.

oh, that I did. The beach and I were close friends LOL. Told everyone here how excited brasilians are about Barack. A few politicians down there have even used Obamas name to get elected

Amen, Scarecrow, throw them all out.

These Republican supply-siders have been doing everything they can for the past year to delay this meltdown until after the election.

I say a prayer of thanks tonight that they have failed. McCain is acting like he doesn’t know what hit him. Palin is imploding. Next two or three weeks the debates should put the nail in the coffin.

Now, hopefully, the populace has taken notice and we will indeed throw them all out.

My only reservation is a nagging doubt that George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney will voluntarily leave office on January 20, 2009.

Are you talking ’bout a Monkey Bar ? *g*

Yeah. I get the “greed” for money because I resemble it. The greed for power is more of a mystery because I’ve personally never had a dersire for power and do not personally understand the power intoxication. But, intellectually, I gather it’s even more powerful than the money thing.

Anyone else think the VP debate may not happen?

Could be, I suppose, if your worldview is comprised of the Peter Principle.

People all over the World are excited about Barack.

Lots of people living in America have heard from their relatives around the World, how wonderful it would be to have Obama as POTUS …

Huh?

Why do you think that? Mr wobbs would be terribly disappointed.

Per Todd Zywicki at Volokh Conspiracy:

Olbermann sarcastically commented that McCain needs to learn about constitutional law and that it would be “unconstitutional” to try to fire the head of the SEC. He says that MSNBC’s legal advisor (I missed his first name and I don’t really watch NBC or MSNBC but I think it is somebody named Williams) told him this, referring to a “1935 case where the Supreme Court held that it would be unconstitutional to fire a member of an independent agency.”

Well, no. Actually, he’s not even close.

[…]

Second, there is a more practical confusion. Olbermann, and perhaps Williams too, are confused as to what McCain said and what the President can do. True, the President cannot fire a member of an independent agency. But the Chairman does serve as Chairman at the discretion of the President. The President can designate any of the 5 members of the Commission as Chairman. Or change the designation. Confirmation to be a Commissioner requires Senate confirmation; confirmation to be Chair does not. The Chairmanship of independent agencies does not operate the same way as the Supreme Court. For the Supreme Court, a sitting Justice who is elevated to Chief must be reconfirmed for the new post. But a sitting Commissioner who is designated Chair does not need a separate confirmation. Thus, the President can “fire” Cox by removing him as Chair but cannot fire him as a Commissioner.

Wobbly, what beaches did you go to?
i visited the very beautiful city of Salvador do Bahia – it has to be one of my favorite places.

very true. they’ll be staying up watching the returns via internet come Nov.

I brought back lots of cachaca (but I can’t drink any for at 36 more days)

You will get a very big dose on Moyers as he comments on the new Yankee stadium…full of boxes for the rich, etc. And a price of tickets to guarantee that only the very rich get taken out to the ballgame at a stadium built to do away with sandlot games for kids. Nice story;(

Debate? Latest rumor is that Palin has been served with a subpoena, but her McCain handlers said she wouldn’t appear because the debate has become a partisan event.

I’ll be getting some Champagne for the auspicious day …

Who knew?

Got Montzuma’s revenge somewhere in that neighborhood so biased view of the beauty. Remember that lack of zoning laws was unleashing mindless development in the late 70s, which is when I was there.

I like Moyers but this has been a problem with Professional sport for about 15 years now …

see Karl Rove

I heard that she also accused the U.N. of being unpatriotic.

Comes on in 31 minutes here

Ha. My son came back from Austin, where he moved last Dec, to NYC for a visit last week. Not to see his mother, but to say good-bye to Yankee Stadium.

I love salvador. It is my fav city.

We were in Buzios intially (outside of Rio de Janeiro) then we headed to Sao Miguel dos milagros and later up to Maragogi and lastly Fortaleza before returning home to nasty ole Sao Paulo

Legally correct, but irrelevant; if McCain meant “replace as Chairman,” why didn’t he say that? And if he didn’t mean “fire” yesterday, why did he correct himself and say “ask for his resignation” today?

I think the McCain campaign had a better explanation for why we should be at war with Spain.

I’m juice fasting again for 40 days but will be ready for the big day

Waaaaaaa

Surely. But what power does Rove have now?

Oh, maybe you shouldn’t respond. Like when your fiances are down, when your power influences are down you can always expect a turnaound.

Yeah, the piece was about the end of the old one, and construction of the new. It was well done.

umm sorry. we hit the beaches everytime we go home. I think we stayed at our place in sao paulo for all of 10 days LOL

Buzios is precisely where I got intestinal disorders. White rice & ginger ale while my late husband are lobsters. I hate the place.

not my fav place either. sorry to hear about your sickness.

i was there in the early 70’s and development was just starting. i was hoping the classic charm hadn’t been ruined.

OT: Eli, if you’re there, there’s a video for dealing with your vertigo at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa6t-Bpg494.
It works.

Hmm was it the dende oil? Most people get real sick their first week and can only eat rice until their intestines become accustomed to the food

What goes around comes around. You can bet he has blown off 08 and is setting up strategies for 12. I think he is starting to come down on mcShame to retain creds

yep, your 17.

OT: (Link broke)
Eli, if you’re there, there’s a video for dealing with your vertigo at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa6t-Bpg494.
It works.

It is pretty nasty crowded during peak season (carnival)

the water off Salvador was so clear that you couldn’t see it – it looked like the sky came down to the sandy bottom and swimmers were dancing in mid air. amazing.

I have been told that limes helped. Had plenty when South of the border and never been sick. But I used to have a real strong stomach

True that. i had a rental for eleven months – then out so the place could be rented out for 10 times the amount.

Zywicki misses the point… If Shrub removes the title of Chairman from Cox, Cox is still a member of the SEC and Shrub would have to elevate another member to Chair, but, with a pissed off Cox to boot…!

here are some pics of maragogi and fortaleza

I had been in Rio & Sao Paulo for about a week before we took off for a car trip along the coast & then inland. So I have no idea what caused the intestinal problems.

In general I have no love for Brazil. My late husband lived there for 18 years (1950-1968). In 1984 he thought that there would be a big turnaround in Brazilian real estate so bought a 3 BR apt w maids 3 blocks off of Ipanema. He died in 1987 and it took until 2007 to liquidate that investment, and only possible by tempting a friend doing business in Latin America with 1/2 the proceeds. Brazil is truly a third world country.

Hi folks ,jumping into the middle of the conversation !

I watched some of the coverage of the McCain campaign today

Does anyone else get the feeling that McCains gonna have a major meltdown some time soon?

Sheesh, who’d want to go to those horrid places ? /s

So, how many $$$ would you have in your privatized Social Security account today if Bush-MeCain-Republinomics had had their way?

Shit looks like another day in paradise

I can’t attest to it. I grew up eating the stuff so I have never had that problem but my husband did when he first moved to Brasil.

i still like to find a Brazilian market to buy Guarana.
Thanks for the pics!

The man has been putting his foot in it almost daily,I just can’t see him continue like this for 6+ weeks

they do things at their own pace. lines and waiting are the norm

Antartica Guarana, right?

right!!

He is developing more and more of a rictus grin….

Um, 20 years is a long line. Absolutely no excuse for that.

Unless you hire an Expediter.

lol yes, terrible places. Loved every minute of it and always miss it when we are back here.

I would be surprised if he didn’t melt down. The pressure must be terrible for him to remember all these things that he really doesn’t know anything about. And with his soulmate saying the Palin/McCain ticket – 3-2-1…..

wanna bet? your lucky it only took 20 years

When I first met my hubby, he had made the mistake of opening an account with Bank of Brasil. Told him to close it and go to HSBC or any other foreign bank.

Re Private Retirement Accounts in lieu of Social Security — Durin this last week, the DOW fell below the level it was when Bush became Prez, not adjusting for inflation. Adjusting for inflation, you lost money.

Oh, and there’s this decidedly non-PC joke about Brazil from the 80s. Something like: God gave Brazil physical beauty and resources. But wasn’t that unfair to have all those gifts? A: No. Wait until you see the people God put there.

Does anyone else get the feeling that McCains gonna have a major meltdown some time soon?

I hope so, but I was expecting a Bush meltdown long before this. Bastards have him too doped up to pop.

i’d pay money to be at the debates. and, i too, would be surprised if they took place. wanna bet McCain and Palin have a funny box on their back?

Seems that Obama and Biden had a good day. Hope every day is great all the way to Nov. 4. Obama is hitting McC pretty hard right now.

Sometimes there is a different weltanschaung in place. I am not sure that I am the one to make a judgement.

It seems unfair that people have set the bar so high now that McCain and his running mate are expected to know stuff and anyway, had you heard he was a POW?

I’ve been paying close attention to the body language.

Plus ,Palin introduces McSame Palin leaves crowd leaves,McSame has a hard time holding onto an audience

i also love the author Jorge Amado. especially Tent of Miracles.

Indeed.

He’s into the sauce again!!

He has Barney to keep him happy and intellectually challenged

You mean “still.”

Billybugs, i saw that! As soon as Palin is done speaking, and it’s McCain’s turn, everyone leaves!! LOL! i think they are there in the first place for curiosity only.

lol we have heard worse. we make fun of ourselves as horribly laid back and corrupt (sad but true).

I did not know that !
I’m curious about the thoughts that must be going through Cindy’s head every day and what in the world they say to each other before they retire to their respective rooms. Cannot be pleasant.

Nice to run into people that have fond or not-so-fond memories of the country

Evil Dr puma my 122 for you

it is a different philosophy down there

She cannot be pleased that a younger woman is now McCain’s (running)(soul)mate.

It’s Miller Maher Time….

Wobbs, I told ya it was still early on the news dump…

U.S. money-market fund firm The Reserve, whose main fund three days ago sank below the crucial $1 level and sparked an industry crisis, said on Friday two of its funds have sought regulatory relief to halt redemptions as investors rushed to withdraw their money.

The Reserve said it has filed, on behalf of the Primary Fund and the U.S. Government Fund, an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking an order to be allowed to suspend investor withdrawals or delay redemptions.

And… US regulators close W. Va bank;12th to fail this year

Rumor has it that Barney is also the secret brains behind the SEC. You didn’t really believe all that “sharing” crap, did you?

And yet McCain persists with the idea that it’s a good idea to eviscerate Social Security.
McCain Says Privatization Is Part of Solution

So this is where McCain’s “plan” is going to get their massive increase in investment to shore up the bad loans that the huge financial houses have been making. If only the “Fundamentals” out there would contribute their hard-earned retirement money into this rat-hole the collapse would be staved off for a few more years.

And then he has the audacity to say it’s Social Security that is “broke”. A program that would survive another 40 years…and permanently if it received half the amount (over years) that BushCo just promised Wall Street yesterday in a single dollop.

His grasp of the facts does seem a little weak

I’d go with running mate…he’s already had the younger soulmate = Iseman.

After they lose in November, I think a good consolation prize for John and Sarah would be to compete on Dancing With The Stars in the Spring. In fact, maybe if we offered it to them now, they’d drop out of the presidential race.

I did the “grand tour” of Mexico, Central, and South America, and the happiest and nicest people i met were in Costa Rica and Brazil.

That’s the thing … this mess hasn’t bottomed yet and the Dems are falling all over themselves to cover BushCo’s ass …

After watching Bill Moyers Journal with Kevin Phillips and two financial writers from the NYTimes it seems like know is the time to leave the land of greed and corruption and malfeasance. This country (the middle class and working class) is fucked and will be fucked for the next 20 years. The super wealthy will be just fine in their gated communities protected by Blackwater, they just might have to trade in their 100′ yachts for 75′ers.

Katheryn I’m in Ma Auburn Where are you?

I hear McCain can dance* pretty well.

*around the truth

I don’t get the feeling that McShame is a distance runner

I would love to love Brazil, but trip there in the late 70s (road to Gouvanadorvaladoros washed out and shit on the floor in the common bathroom of the inn we were forced to stay in changed my mind pretty quickly.) Still willing to withhold judgement but lack of resolution of simple apt sales matter pushed me over the edge. Shove Brazil off the edge of the flat planet.

That you did, CTuttle. That will teach me to open my mouth LOL

Bedford – we need to get MA pups together.

Julia is upstairs (LOL!)
Thank you for playing sh*t even happens to rich folks

We are a happy lot. Must be the cachaca *g*

LOL … Maher on today’s Wall Street rally: “The splurge is working”

I hear McCain can dance* pretty well.
*around the truth

In that case he should be a natural at “The Jive.”

Please don’t. I kind of like my family (they are still all there except mom and dad). I can understand your frustration but it really is my spiritual heart

Well, yall could come back to mid-hudson. Thinking about hosting a leaf-peepers BBQ.

I think a good consolation prize for John and Sarah would be to compete on Dancing With The Stars in the Spring.

McCrazy – “What do you mean we lost? May I remind you that I spent 5 years in a tiny prison cell in Vietnam, where there were no dance lessons?”

“and besides, I have a partner who dances like a clumsy moose”

“You judges – you’re all Obama fans, aren’t you?”

There could be some value to rendition

Oh, nothing personal to your family. Just a generic complaint about a country that could get out of its own way.

None of them have the courage to tell Americans just how bad it really is and how bad it’s going to be for 20+ years. They are all complicit in the demise of the United States. Obama, if elected, will have a far more daunting task because unlike FDR who wasn’t beholden to Wall Street, Obama is up to his eyeballs in Wall Street cash. It’s grim.

Your hospitality is wonderful – that was the best get-together. We MA pups could carpool again.

It goes way deep. We really could be an economic powerhouse but the country is so deeply corrupt, I don’t hold any hope for it to ever get past it’s 3rd world status.

Wasn’t that all amazing to hear so much history and truth. Not a very kind view of Greenspan; Phillips spoke right up. Maybe he should be President.

I know you meant nothing personal, i just love the country even for all its faults

They wouldn’t dance together, they’d each be paired with a professional dance partner. McCain would probably go out in the first term round, leaving Sarah to scuff up the Oval Office dance floor with her hiking boots.

“Went upstairs”

Maybe for party on Nov4!

On Moyers the view was that we will probably have a path in the next few years like England had after the war. Definitely not an optimistic view.

Your wish is my desire. Brazil could be so great if only…

I do appreciate Lula as prez. It is truly a step forward to have a lefty prez who is cognizant of the forces on the other side. A big step up from Chavez & Morales. But still taking on a daunting job with every powerful force in the uniforce against him.

Despite having a history with Nixon, Kevin Philips is perhaps the most honest commentator, along with Moyers, on the state of the country. All the rest of the celebrity peacocks from Limbaugh to Charlie Gibson to Katie Couric et al can’t hold a candle to either one of them.

oy vay

Um, make that universe, not uniforce. Where is Freud when we need him?

Never trust an extemeist (phillips) esp an extemeist who changes sides.

Western Europe and Great Britain have recovered from their loss of empire. The U.S. is just beginning the fall and will certainly within the very near future have a standard of living far below that of Western Europe.

That sound just right! ***starts making To Do lists***

But even Lula has his faults. I’m registered as worker party (that is the lefty party) but he has done some vengeful stuff to a state in the north east (Alagoa) that did not vote for him. His revenge was to cut them out of some funding (unfortunately not something new or a surprise). We have had cities that have had people die of thirst because the money that was marked for drinking water projects were instead pocketed.

The truth has only one side. The Fair and Balanced model practiced by the corporate media serves no ones interests but those of the corporations.

I think the comment is that we will be having about 20 years…not good news for our kids.

Haven’t kept current with Brazil politics, but not surprised to find out that Lula has pissed off the left. There is a VERY important battle between the right and the left that has to do with the tipping point. IMO southern lefties are trying to position themselves somewhat to the right to foist off attacks from that direction. But that must be regarded as a completely uninformed opinion.

heck there are states in the south that want to secede. This country has always been ruled by region and state loyalties. The southern states being much better off (industry and natural resource wise) than the northern and northeastern states. *sigh*

Why is it that if I send a check to my bank and tell them “I’ll be good for it in a couple of days,” that’s irresponsible and bad for the market, while if I’m a stockbroker and say “I’ll borrow your stock, sell it today, and be good for it in a couple of days,” that’s a valuable signaling mechanism?

That’s not how shot selling works. To sell a stock short you actually have to maintain enough assets in your account to plausibly replace the stocks you sold short no matter what the market does. If the stocks get called in and you can’t cover them, your assets are liquidated to buy the replacements.

The reason it is a valuable signaling mechanism is that short sellers tend to be attracted to worthless stocks that are being pumped up far beyond their actual value (think Enron) and thus the presence of a lot of short positions can be a valuable hint to normal investors who know what it means.

This is also the reason that short sellers are so hated by those who like to sell a steaming pile of stock to gullible fools–the short sellers, like flies, vultures, and law degrees from Pat Robertson’s Regent University, are a clear warning that what you are being asked to buy may not be up to snuff. They tip off the rubes and can spoil an otherwise lucrative con.

– MarkusQ

Check out the uptick rule, which when eliminated basically gave short sellers a license to steal.

“I think that’s all fine and good but here’s what I think,” Obama said. “In the next 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other way crowd in Washington who has led us down this disastrous path. Don’t just get rid of one guy. Get rid of this administration. Get rid of this philosophy. Get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problem and put somebody in there who’s going to fight for you.”

If you’re interested, but in a hurry, this quote appears at about 10:40 in the Espanola, New Mexico YouTube of his speech.

In what way is this steeling? If it is, why don’t we need a corresponding “down-tick rule” for long traders?

Instead of just parroting the propaganda, think about what’s going on for a minute: individual short sellers take a considerable personal financial risk on the belief that some companies are well run, productive enterprises while others are shams and scams that will ultimately fail. By shorting a company they are saying, literally as well as figuratively, “I don’t buy it, and in the long run I don’t think anyone else will.”

Short sellers are not steeling from anyone, or even taking undue advantage. When all is said and done they buy just as much (split adjusted) stock as they sell and the effect is the same as a long transaction except that the order is reversed.

As a signaling mechanism the only real problem they pose is for fraudulent, ill-managed, enterprises, in that they make it much harder to pull the wool over people’s eyes.

That’s why, whenever something shady is going down (now, Enron, WorldCom, etc.), there’s a hue and cry against the short sellers. The corrupt bastards hate short sellers about as much as elephant poachers hate vultures, and for the same reason. They draw attention to criminals who’d much rather conduct their affairs quietly and leave before anyone notices.

– MarkusQ
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