Are Short Sellers to Blame for the Financial Crisis?
Bill Saporito
TIME, 18 September 2008
“It was sad to see Merrill go down as well,” said the voice from inside Lehman Brothers this week as he pondered his own future. “But at least they screwed the shorts. That was good to see.”
It was also, at least in the minds of many angry investment bank CEOs, a long time coming. In the months leading up to the current market chaos, the short sellers have been on the prowl. But now the witch hunt has begun. The shorts nailed Lehman and Bear Stearns by betting that their shares would continue to fall. And now they have Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs in their sights, sparking speculation that the last two remaining go-it-alone investment banking giants may have to find a deep-pocketed commercial bank to partner up with.
