Re:Naked shorting: The curious incident of the shares that d...
by glitchc on Sunday January 31, 2021 @06:30PM
(#25983720)
In sports, we call these "side-bets," wherein the total value captured in the bets can be many times the purse prize of the event (fight/match, what have you).
That there's a great deal of betting happening on the outcome of the stock market shouldn't surprise anyone (and yet it does!). It is, after all, the biggest game on the planet.
Re:Naked shorting: The curious incident of the shares that d...
by jkhdigital on Sunday January 31, 2021 @08:36PM
(#25984613)
Except in sports, the side bets don’t inherently sway the outcome of the match (unless the players are betting too). Financial side bets do influence real asset prices.
Re:Naked shorting: The curious incident of the shares that d...
by jaycroft on Sunday January 31, 2021 @07:04PM
(#25983998)
And what happens when the side bets begin to wag the dog - when it becomes more profitable to manipulate the underlying and pay the fines there in order to save a bigger position in the side betting market?
Re:Naked shorting: The curious incident of the shares that d...
by syockit on Monday February 01, 2021 @06:57AM
(#25987882)
Your car example makes for a fun scenario where you lend someone a one-of-a-kind car, and that person sells it to someone else, and you manage to buy it back from that someone else (maybe for a quite high markup). Then when the time comes for the first person to buy the car back to return it to you, you either outright refuse to sell or ask for even higher markup. What will happen then?
Why do we even allow people to sell borrowed things?
Re:Naked shorting: The curious incident of the shares that d...
by Khoth on Monday February 01, 2021 @07:33AM
(#25988072)
> Why do we even allow people to sell borrowed things?
Unlike cars, one share in a company is as good as another, and the whole reason you borrow a share is so that you can sell it. It's kind of like how if you borrow money, you're allowed to spend it instead of just keeping it in a pile under your bed.
This is a simplification though, there's actually like a parking garage involved (broker) who says to trade on his exchange that the broker will keep your title safe for you - it's better than a paper certificate to hold in your safe at home because it can't get lost! But this allows the parking attendant to sell your car hoping you wont notice, and hoping that he'll be able to buy another similar car back before you actually ask for yours back. And of course insurance companies, auto dealerships, etc, but you get the idea.
Robinhood's genius is hiding this complexity from their users behind a slick "gambling is fun" style app. TD Schwab ETrade and other "adult" brokerages also don't make it obvious, but at least they make you "read" some documents that explain the details before you get an account.