by Andrew Hoffman
Miles Franklin
Ah, the “short squeeze”; i.e., the epitome of what’s wrong with Wall Street-polluted, derivative-dominated “markets.” The bane of capitalism, it allows people to “borrow” what they don’t have, for the purposes of pushing prices down. Like everything else Wall Streets’ cancerous derivative machine peddles – particularly since 1999’s elimination of Glass-Steagall – shorting is often done illegally, and always on leverage. I, for one, believe the deleterious impacts shorting has on capital formation, market volatility, and economic perception far outweighs the positive of “liquidity” and speculative alternatives. Moreover, more money is lost on “short squeezes” – particularly when catalyzed by overt or covert “intervention” – than any other market phenomenon.