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> At least from a PR perspective you don't want to engage like this if you have nothing to hide. Responding in public fashion is a rational choice for TSLA to

> At least from a PR perspective you don't want to engage like this if you have nothing to hide. Responding in public fashion is a rational choice for TSLA to make assuming: 1) There exist short sellers who are willing to engage in malicious activities that hurt shareholder value 2) Publicizing their efforts to fight back against said actors acts as a deterrent for further malicious activity. I don't know for sure, but I think there's a reasonable likelihood that both these statements are true.

Lazare 7y ago
I find both extremely implausible, both individually and (especially) in combination.
- kneel 7y ago
  You've never heard of rumor-mongering short sellers? Very much a real phenomenon, hard to catch them and it's very lucrative.
  - baby 7y ago
    Fake news right?
  - derrick_jensen 7y ago
    My favorite example of this is when 4chan spread a fake death rumor of Vitalik Buterin to make money on Ethereum
  - gamblor956 7y ago
    My favorite short seller is the guy who said Tesla was in delivery hell. Then logistics hell. Then short seller hell. Because apparently figuring out the basic business functions of your chosen industry is hell.
finnthehuman 7y ago
Dude. You gotta let it go. These are pretty unsurprising allegations for a company like Tesla. And short sellers are not the boogieman, they're just an indication that the value of Tesla is highly uncertain.
- optimiz3 7y ago
  IDK man, TheDrive pushes non-stop anti-Tesla stories, it's not unreasonable to suspect their motives. Just look at their story history; not exactly unbiased.
  - nradov 7y ago
    I haven't seen any bias. Do you have specific examples of them reporting false or distorted news about Tesla?
    - danhak 7y ago
      Bias !== false or distorted news. Selective reporting or withholding of information is a form of bias.
- permatech 7y ago
  Please don’t be so condescending
- syshum 7y ago
  Short Sellers are a massive plague on the market, short selling should be banned in general
  - icebraining 7y ago
    That's not a very libertarian position to take.
    - syshum 7y ago
      Believing the Stock market is a Free market or Supported by Libertarianism shows how little you understand about either the stock marker or libertarianism
unityByFreedom 7y ago
Someone motivated to short-sell might be further motivated to state their case publicly. What's wrong with that? Short selling is part of a functioning market. It's not some evil thing. It's one mechanism the financial world uses to gauge company value. I'm shocked every time I read this conspiracy theory on HN. The positions of these traders are public. The only response to short sellers is to focus on your business. Responding with "it's a conspiracy" does not help your business.
- Phenomenit 7y ago
  It just seems odd that a healthy market has actors that profit from the failures of companies. If it's healthy how do I profit from global climate disasters? I'll just keep investing in prison companies for now. /s
  - unityByFreedom 7y ago
    > It just seems odd that a healthy market has actors that profit from the failures of companies Try googling "why do markets allow short selling". First response [1]. tl;dr - short selling helps your retirement account & balances the market when there are bad actors, such as Enron. > If it's healthy how do I profit from global climate disasters? You're conflating things. Profit != world health. Profit is just a human motivational tool, and money is paper trust. I wrote this software that helps your farming equipment run, and I need food. Money smooths these transactions so I don't need to trade goods-for-goods in every scenario. I don't know how anyone could profit from hurting climate. Ultimately, destroying your environment destroys you. That's like kicking the amniotic sac open. Why do that? To the extent someone is so-motivated, I'd argue they're depressed, not profit-oriented. > I'll just keep investing in prison companies for now. /s I don't know whether that's possible for the average person. For a wealthy entity, it's still a risk, because that industry could disappear due to public pressure. Your money may have been better invested elsewhere. [1] https://www.quora.com/Why-is-short-selling-legal-allowed https://www.quora.com/Why-is-short-selling-legal-allowed
  - ghaff 7y ago
    Essentially every stock sale (barring a need for immediate cash for another purpose) is a bet that stock isn’t going to perform as well as alternative investments over time. So, yes, pretty much anyone who trades in stock is betting on companies to, if not fail, underperform the market over time.

Lazare 7y ago

I find both extremely implausible, both individually and (especially) in combination.

kneel 7y ago
You've never heard of rumor-mongering short sellers? Very much a real phenomenon, hard to catch them and it's very lucrative.
- baby 7y ago
  Fake news right?
- derrick_jensen 7y ago
  My favorite example of this is when 4chan spread a fake death rumor of Vitalik Buterin to make money on Ethereum
- gamblor956 7y ago
  My favorite short seller is the guy who said Tesla was in delivery hell. Then logistics hell. Then short seller hell. Because apparently figuring out the basic business functions of your chosen industry is hell.

finnthehuman 7y ago

Dude. You gotta let it go. These are pretty unsurprising allegations for a company like Tesla. And short sellers are not the boogieman, they're just an indication that the value of Tesla is highly uncertain.

optimiz3 7y ago
IDK man, TheDrive pushes non-stop anti-Tesla stories, it's not unreasonable to suspect their motives. Just look at their story history; not exactly unbiased.
- nradov 7y ago
  I haven't seen any bias. Do you have specific examples of them reporting false or distorted news about Tesla?
  - danhak 7y ago
    Bias !== false or distorted news. Selective reporting or withholding of information is a form of bias.
permatech 7y ago
Please don’t be so condescending
syshum 7y ago
Short Sellers are a massive plague on the market, short selling should be banned in general
- icebraining 7y ago
  That's not a very libertarian position to take.
  - syshum 7y ago
    Believing the Stock market is a Free market or Supported by Libertarianism shows how little you understand about either the stock marker or libertarianism

unityByFreedom 7y ago

Someone motivated to short-sell might be further motivated to state their case publicly. What's wrong with that? Short selling is part of a functioning market. It's not some evil thing. It's one mechanism the financial world uses to gauge company value. I'm shocked every time I read this conspiracy theory on HN. The positions of these traders are public. The only response to short sellers is to focus on your business. Responding with "it's a conspiracy" does not help your business.

Phenomenit 7y ago
It just seems odd that a healthy market has actors that profit from the failures of companies. If it's healthy how do I profit from global climate disasters? I'll just keep investing in prison companies for now. /s
- unityByFreedom 7y ago
  > It just seems odd that a healthy market has actors that profit from the failures of companies Try googling "why do markets allow short selling". First response [1]. tl;dr - short selling helps your retirement account & balances the market when there are bad actors, such as Enron. > If it's healthy how do I profit from global climate disasters? You're conflating things. Profit != world health. Profit is just a human motivational tool, and money is paper trust. I wrote this software that helps your farming equipment run, and I need food. Money smooths these transactions so I don't need to trade goods-for-goods in every scenario. I don't know how anyone could profit from hurting climate. Ultimately, destroying your environment destroys you. That's like kicking the amniotic sac open. Why do that? To the extent someone is so-motivated, I'd argue they're depressed, not profit-oriented. > I'll just keep investing in prison companies for now. /s I don't know whether that's possible for the average person. For a wealthy entity, it's still a risk, because that industry could disappear due to public pressure. Your money may have been better invested elsewhere. [1] https://www.quora.com/Why-is-short-selling-legal-allowed https://www.quora.com/Why-is-short-selling-legal-allowed
- ghaff 7y ago
  Essentially every stock sale (barring a need for immediate cash for another purpose) is a bet that stock isn’t going to perform as well as alternative investments over time. So, yes, pretty much anyone who trades in stock is betting on companies to, if not fail, underperform the market over time.