What I found about the Martha Stewart deal is that it was initiated by Jim Kras who knew people from MSLO. Mr. James was CEO when it was signed and he therefore probably indeed signed the agreement.
I would never blame him or anybody else at the company for doing this cause it could have been an instant hit, bringing in the cash the company needs to build the other brands. It was definately worth a try and when you compare the minimum royalties (what they now should be paying) to the amount of money most of us thought it would bring in, the fixed royalties were not exuberantly high. Those minimum royalties are Always quite challenging, for Obvious reasons.
About the shorters, I don't think that's really the issue. This stock is imo trading so low because a lot of Retail investors have been selling because things are progressing real slow - so slow that there is a real risk that the company will not succeed. So I do agree with other posters that NRTI sp will start climbing again as soon as the company issues substantial news which makes clear that they are still firmly in control. Be it about a renegotiated deal with MSLO, about MJ-related stuff, new Retail deals etc.
