Valentines Day Short Seller Massacre Plot Uncovered

Posted by John Carney, Feb 13, 2008, 4:45pm

poster Roger Corman The St. Valentines Day Massacre.jpgHow bad must things be up in Armonk?

It’s usually a sure sign of deep trouble when a company blames short-sellers or runs crying to lawmakers for protection. MBIA has announced plans to do both. It’s asking lawmakers to investigate or curtail “the unscrupulous and dangerous market manipulation activities of short sellers," according to a written copy of testimony it plans to give to the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services that Reuters obtained.

What really has MBIA’s knickers in a twist is that scheduled appearance of Bill Ackman before the committee.

"MBIA notes that Mr. William Ackman is appearing on the hearing on February 14th as an 'industry expert.' Mr. Ackman is in fact not involved in the industry in any capacity except as that of a short-seller, and, accordingly, MBIA questions the characterization of Mr. Ackman's expertise," the testimony says.

Scandalous. Everyone knows that short sellers cannot be experts. Only corporate management count as experts. Just ask Enron. That damned Jim Chanos guy got up in their face, and he wasn’t even in the energy trading business. They really showed him.

MBIA to urge curtailing short sellers [Reuters]

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Posted in: Bond Insurers, Politics, Short Selling

Comments

Posted by , Feb 13, 2008 4:57PM

best post of the day

Posted by cry-babycry, Feb 13, 2008 5:00PM

i guess they're upset b/c everybody set shorts before they could!

Posted by , Feb 13, 2008 5:04PM

@ 4:57, i hope that's a joke.

Posted by anon anon anon, Feb 13, 2008 5:25PM

Most of the big rats have abandoned these ships. It will be lawyer talk from now on as the holding companies suck the rest of the blood from the insurance companies. As they say, "Its not the premium you pay, its who will pay up when you screw up."

Posted by Shorty, Feb 13, 2008 5:32PM

Excellent Carney!

Posted by Top floor letters department, Feb 13, 2008 5:34PM

I haven't seen a single hot girl post ALL DAY. Instead of Tad (or whatever fake I-bankers name is, I don't feel like searching), can't we have a Stephanie or Julie or someone similar give their side of what it's like to be a hot thang. Here, I'll even start the first line: "Today I went shopping for a black Cosabella thong today. See-thru of course. Buying this made me horny." Extra bonus points for mentioning subprime, Countrywide, Gary Coleman, and "tanned everywhere like Mozillo" just to keep it topical.

Posted by Anal_yst, Feb 13, 2008 11:55PM

When did Patrick Byrne go to work for MBIA?

Posted by daveNYC, Feb 14, 2008 11:02AM

C*Os that complain about short sellers should be raped and eaten by goats.

Posted by guest, Feb 15, 2008 9:26AM

You're crazy. These shorts are screaming that these companies will go bankrupt, which is a total lie and frankly makes me call into question their understanding of this industry.

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