tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post4630794480694277570..comments2024-03-08T06:18:28.125+11:00Comments on Bronte Capital: Daddy you are more evil than I thoughtJohn Hemptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03766274392122783128noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-26451729751619614952014-03-13T09:38:25.820+11:002014-03-13T09:38:25.820+11:00The "economic defense of short-selling" ...<i>The "economic defense of short-selling" ought to be combined with an "economic defense of long-buying." It's only fair.</i><br /><br />This. How is it anymore ethical to buy stock from someone and take the the profit they would taken if you hadn't bought it? Do you hate poor investors and teachers?Bob Loblawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11081916786770290968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-29787935951430513042012-05-15T23:59:21.779+10:002012-05-15T23:59:21.779+10:00...continuing
I'll also comment another post f......continuing<br />I'll also comment another post from earlier about the housemaid living under the stairs: something that did not arise in comments was what kind of person is this housemaid? She may be the equivalent of Einstein in intellect, but if she has had no possibility for any training beyond household chores, she will have to contend with excelling in those. That may be good for her employer, but I don't know if that is a good way to use human resources. There's a tendency to consider people doing menial tasks to be born into exactly that position. As if they are not capable of anything else. I have myself worked both in menial jobs and high-paying jobs and I do notice there is a tendency amoing high-paid/successful people to perceive their postition as something they deserve because of their superiopr skills and qualities as humans and professionals. It can be so, but personally I have not noticed any superior qualities in so-called successful people. Scumbags an assholes exist both in high places and low (as do saints). There are people whose skills are best suited to being housemaids, and certainly they should work as such. But I do notice there is, also in myself, a tendency to rate jobs and professions as more or less valuable/important. A maid is of help to a woman having a professional career, so she can do important work instead of household duties. Why is the important work always something else than cooking for the family and having a well-kept home? Does the important work make for a good life or is it just collecting measurable success while having a life without joy?<br /><br />Extremely interesting questions to ponder, thank you for the blog. Reading and thinking your texts, I feel I can also see myself more clearly.kristiinanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-70444845338512812772012-05-15T23:58:40.280+10:002012-05-15T23:58:40.280+10:00Been a while since I've looked at this blog - ...Been a while since I've looked at this blog - came here to check if there's any mention about the juicy media event of London Whale and lord Voldemort. I guess my feeling it is too juicy to be true is just evidence of my paranoia. But this blog is as inspiring as it has always been.<br /><br />Some comments: John seems to have a pinch of self-doubt or something in that direction as this post seems to circle around the moral aspects of short-selling. Many of the responses seem to be in the vein of if it is legal and makes you money, that can't be wrong. But often the issue in moral dilemmas is not about legality. The question is about goodness. And there is clearly a question to be asked here. A person with a conscience will ask how this work I am doing is contributing to the world? Am I helping or hindering the world in becoming a better place? And short selling definitely is an interesting activity in this respect: it is both destructive and constructive. The stock answer of this makes money so it must be good - all in a days work for a predator just doesn't answer the moral dilemma. <br /><br />I look at this from a bit different perspective. I think in ancient Japan wearing a sword meant you were a member of the warrior caste, which implied you were willing to take up a challenge if one came your way. And that meant being prepared for the battles all your life. A warrior's life. That lifestyle doesn't exist anymore. But to me the stock markets seem a bit analogous - the participants are expected to know what they are doing. Simply knowing you can lose all your money in the stock market is sufficient. What participants then do is their choice: certainly there were lousy samurai who didn't want to practice the martial arts and then didn't live to tell their story. <br /><br />But I'd like to add another twist here. Winning may be one part of the game, be it stock or swordfight, but I don't know if just wanting to win makes good warriors or good investors (or good lives). A good warrior is one who enjoys the practice, enjoys the battle, and takes care that he can survive to fight another fight - because he likes it. So in this perspective, being a winner doesn't mean that much - the question is, do you enjoy the lifestyle? The shrill voices declaring that I'm still winning may be the voice of those who cannot find joy in the lifestyle, so they have to invent a measure to tell themselves they are having a good time. A warrior has to live also with the reality of having to meet and kill in battlefield men that may be more worthy than he is. That is also a part of being a warrior. Not being willing to take that responsibility means finding another job. <br /><br />Having a conscience and the instincts of a warrior may be a complicated psychological constellation to have. But in this area, I think Nietzsche spelled out something that our culture needs to face somehow at some point: going beyond good and evil. And Jung was a follower of Nietzsche in this respect. This would be quite another story to pursue, but I'll say this much: It is possible to have a perspective on reality that is not working at the dualistic level of good/bad, reward/punishment, right/wrong, winning/losing. All of the goodness, reward, rightness and winning will not satisfy, because the possibility of getting the bad, punishment, wrongness and loss is always there. With duality, one never arrives. So I've decided to concentrate my efforts on the things/experiences of joy where duality doesn't arise. But this also means one has to renounce the search of moral high ground. I have choices, but they are not about good or bad. Being a warrior in the market may mean some orpahns and widows will be trampled (thanks to their no-good hired "professional" help). This may be unhappy. But being a warrior who works as a toilet-attendant to be good and hold the moral high ground is the true misfortune.kristiinanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-58457523217404364272012-05-09T00:32:16.965+10:002012-05-09T00:32:16.965+10:00Maybe your father should talk to you about communi...Maybe your father should talk to you about community. It's not always about the individual. Sometimes you have a duty to the larger society.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-83694788569457993582012-05-08T06:27:01.886+10:002012-05-08T06:27:01.886+10:00I'm impressed with the way your son followed t...I'm impressed with the way your son followed the logic trail all, on his ownsome. Bright boy.<br /><br />By the way, did I tell you about my trip to Venice. It was half a dozen years ago, and before we left I looked around the shops for a souvenir.<br /><br />I was looking for a small portrait of Alviso Mocenigo I, the Venetian ruler whose fleet of over 100 galleys formed the nucleus of the Christian forces which defeated the infidel at Lepanto, in the last great battle of oared vessels.<br /><br />At last I spotted one in an art shop window - a print of Andrea Vicentino's "King Henri III (1551-89) of France visiting Venice in 1574, escorted by Alvise Mocenigo I"<br /><br />As I entered the shop another customer came in, and reached the counter before me.<br /><br /><br /><br />"Excuse me", he said, "how much is that doge in the window ?"Labanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12031578024191117985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-54790263113657715192012-04-27T02:23:37.985+10:002012-04-27T02:23:37.985+10:00Thanks for your thoughts, I'm going to have to...Thanks for your thoughts, I'm going to have to go back and read everything on your blog now.<br />I always thought that shorts were a subcategory of arb trading. You have a spread between regulatory oversight and enforcement.<br />And just as the typical arb trader is interested in not solving the systemic cause of that spread, the short seller isn't interested in solving the (appalling) deficiencies of government regulation.Hanknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-45960833850206074502012-04-23T14:17:50.083+10:002012-04-23T14:17:50.083+10:00one issue you dont touch on is that of suspended t...one issue you dont touch on is that of suspended trading of a stock - its not in the short sellers interest if a stock gets suspended for a LONG timeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-17270563224266408752012-04-20T15:57:22.413+10:002012-04-20T15:57:22.413+10:00As a parent I understand what it is like to be jud...As a parent I understand what it is like to be judged by my children and found wanting. I managed to keep mine fooled a little longer than 12 years. <br /><br />I am reliably informed that we get them back at 23.Richardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-90519058150321812102012-04-20T12:53:34.013+10:002012-04-20T12:53:34.013+10:00To be fair, Minecraft is pretty awesome.To be fair, Minecraft is pretty awesome.Thomasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-85920865990640081912012-04-17T21:20:44.942+10:002012-04-17T21:20:44.942+10:00I am just impressed that you could get a 12 year b...I am just impressed that you could get a 12 year boy interested in double accounting, while on vacation.michael websterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08709023254632080905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-65330068439672796232012-04-17T19:19:07.142+10:002012-04-17T19:19:07.142+10:00The parable i was thinking of was more akin to rob...The parable i was thinking of was more akin to robin hood than batman, although instead of taking money from the fraudulent rich to give to the poor, the monies accrue to ...the rich. So the taking from the fraudulent rich bit engenders some social justice. You just need the equivalent of giving to the poor to make the loop complete.Anoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-31039125147581127022012-04-17T15:01:16.060+10:002012-04-17T15:01:16.060+10:00The history lesson probably should have covered th...The history lesson probably should have covered the new shipping routes to the Indies (eg by Vasco da Gama) opened up from about 1500 and the consequent erosion of the Venetian economy. <br /><br />Yes, Napoleon certainly gave those Venetian bastards the coup de grace, but by that stage they had been in decline for nearly two hundred years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-76375195196810430002012-04-17T14:25:15.970+10:002012-04-17T14:25:15.970+10:00Good entry. I follow your blog a lot John. I give ...Good entry. I follow your blog a lot John. I give you a lot of credit in being short bias. I have always had a natural ability to spot dislocations in the market (not just equities) and be able to put money into those areas along with being able to identify certain trends that are not of popular belief. <br /><br />Short selling those takes a certain talent. I've tried it before but it never came naturally and I wound not making money in that area. Short selling in general is IMO a tough way to invest vs. other methods. To each his own.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-64971794774157640082012-04-17T07:59:53.399+10:002012-04-17T07:59:53.399+10:00In an ideal world, fraud would be so painful that ...In an ideal world, fraud would be so painful that it practically wouldn't exist. We probably aren't in an ideal world. If we want to move closer, the post above makes clear that: <br />(a) Regulators, as they currently exist, are very unlikely to do the job.<br />(b) Short sellers, as they currently exist, are also unlikely to do the job.<br /><br />Your son sounds like a smart cookie. Why don't you ask him if he has any ideas for an option (c)?<br /><br />All the short sellers above that are too busy justifying their source of income to question whether there is an alternative, please abstain from commenting.Dolynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-44715727231388121902012-04-17T07:19:50.688+10:002012-04-17T07:19:50.688+10:00John,
when is your son setting up a short fund?
...John,<br /><br />when is your son setting up a short fund?<br /><br />John.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-34729581464865536922012-04-17T07:11:24.147+10:002012-04-17T07:11:24.147+10:00Short-sellers provide liquidity, add to price disc...Short-sellers provide liquidity, add to price discovery, and are the only ones interested in mitigating the damage from bubbles by attempting to prevent them from growing ever larger. <br /><br />ezpz.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-30332088939087900232012-04-17T05:11:14.519+10:002012-04-17T05:11:14.519+10:00Above all, it sounds like your son is smart enough...Above all, it sounds like your son is smart enough not to join the stock market racket in the first place. I'm in it, and love it, but hope my daughter does something more meaningful with her life.Dasan 888https://www.blogger.com/profile/06565965075174172706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-27645085522656384032012-04-17T03:33:39.446+10:002012-04-17T03:33:39.446+10:00It's the "mixture of admiration and horro...It's the "mixture of admiration and horror" that explains all. Your son is perhaps appalled by your actions, but realizes – as you do – that doing bad leads to more financial gain than doing good. We all do that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-34588811118550741732012-04-17T02:45:22.144+10:002012-04-17T02:45:22.144+10:00Short selling is fundamental to a free market and ...Short selling is fundamental to a free market and most of it occurs with put options. Regulators are better off enabling short selling as described which enhances more accurate price discovery. However naked short selling should be disallowed to reduce the opportunities for manipulation by the big traders.<br />I predict a splendid financial career for a 12 year old boy.Bob Wileshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00489530335399107185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-27130785851159445822012-04-17T00:53:34.155+10:002012-04-17T00:53:34.155+10:00You obviously raised a really smart kid. He is al...You obviously raised a really smart kid. He is already far sharper than the gullible investors you mentioned.<br /><br />Tom LTom Lnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-88662735321526585022012-04-16T23:12:38.546+10:002012-04-16T23:12:38.546+10:00Great article. I was just re-reading Sold Short b...Great article. I was just re-reading Sold Short by Asensio which he gave me when I heard him at the Harvard Club NYC in 2000. What happened to him confirms everything you say about the regulators and reporting fraud to them if you are a short seller. Likewise the enormous legal bills in defending lawsuits launcehd by the crooks against you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-59101365758896264772012-04-16T22:48:36.046+10:002012-04-16T22:48:36.046+10:00Not sure I'd waste my time explaining anything...Not sure I'd waste my time explaining anything to Mr. Salmon. <br /><br />Truly an enlightening blog post.<br /><br />As far as the SEC getting better, that's true of the enforcement division but not Corporation Finance. Look no further than David Baines' 3 part (thus far) expose of the Sunpeaks' p&d.IvanaBoastskynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-29830566727700827832012-04-16T22:24:02.737+10:002012-04-16T22:24:02.737+10:00Great job Dad! On a number of fronts - talking his...Great job Dad! On a number of fronts - talking history to teenagers, engaging in meaningful conversation with substance and total honesty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-77781445048322892412012-04-16T21:06:42.229+10:002012-04-16T21:06:42.229+10:00A successful short seller is like a successful bac...A successful short seller is like a successful bacteria or virus. It is not in the interests of the bacteria or virus to kill its hosts too quickly, or at all, as that would limit its ability to grow. Your son has hit the nail rightly on the head!<br /><br />However, typical bacterial or viral strategy is better attuned to longevity and success than one adopted by a particular species intent on servicing its needs regardless of increasingly damaging costs to its own host.John Chewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03976415693080249921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4815867514277794362.post-67623598713350440782012-04-16T18:48:51.498+10:002012-04-16T18:48:51.498+10:00Perhaps you should have used the daily mirror chec...Perhaps you should have used the daily mirror check.. if you were not impressed by what you saw, then change.. itcould have given you the opportunity to impress your son (in a positive way).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com