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Old 01-29-2021, 12:37 AM   #17 (permalink)
JSH
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Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard View Post
Having more shorts than shares extant is the elephant in the room. It's like having more votes than voters.
While I'm not a fan of options and derivatives it absolutely makes sense that you can have more short positions than actual shares because they are based on borrowed shares.

When you short a shock you borrow the shares, sell them, with a contractual agreement to replace those shares within a specific time. However, the person you sold the shares to can also loan them to someone else, who loans them to someone else....

No different than me loaning Frank $10, Frank loans it to Jack, and Jack loans it to Sam. There are twice as money dollars loaned than actually exist.


Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard View Post
Guess who agrees? Elon Musk.
I've never heard Musk come out against people that take a long position in Tesla - just those that take the short position.
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