jbog, Always interested in your take on the shorts.
That said, do you have a take on why (see my post 78691) the short level of Ariad is disproportional to the amount of the float by a lot with 36M and well over 20% of the float along with similar higher volume vs other stocks.
I think that 36M is a "force" that inherently goes against (by their very definition) the philosophical reason why longs are in the stock in the first place. Thus longs want the pps to go up vs. shorts wanting the pps to go down and thus are by their very nature opposed.
Doing simple math, if the pps overnight were to go up to $30 then ($18 x 36) would amount to a loss (or less value) in the amount of $648M for the shorts...yikes. My personal opinion is that 36M shares whether used as a hedge through options or NOT, have a HUGE vested interest for the pps NOT to go up. Even if used as a hedge, they would want to be out of their short position prior to an event like this. With that thought, I wonder why the short position has not appreciabley been reduced from the example you used $4-$14.
Thus that is why I wonder very much about why they (the shorts) are there at their current levels, what function they serve and most of all their ultimate disposition.
Like I have written before, I am very, very open to learning and want more knowledge to eliminate the mystery of elements that are not openly known or able to be discerned. So many here seem to be oriented to the "science" which is extremely valuable with all the inputs and outputs of that endeavor as it affects the value of Ariad. Similarly, I think that many also want the same approach to trading tactics and the cause and effect of the market value of Ariad at any given moment in time.
At least "I AM" big time as I am sure that like many here when we had the "DROP" a few weeks ago there was a lot of angst in just looking at our account sizes dramatically fall and within that "event" the shorts made a lot of money. IMHO with a sentiment of working together as a board.
AI
