Repost by Ajmanne from raging bull
Chief
I don't know if you really don't get it or if you're intentionally trying to mislead others. So, here is an example.
Co. X has O/S 10M shares. Investors hold 15M shares. The extra 5M shares were sold to investors looking to get in before a buyout. The MMs have shorted (sold shares they did not have) those 5M shares hoping to cover at a lower price.
Now in your scenario if the buyout is set for $1/share the MMs will on the buyout date just pay the company $5M dollars.
The reason that doesn't work is that the buying company knows the O/S is 10M shares and thus have set the price of the buyout (not accounting for any premiums) at $10M.
What happens to the extra investors holding the extra 5M shares that they paid fair market price for? I'm sure you are going to say that the purchasing company takes the $5M dollars from the MM and pays for the stock above and beyond the O/S thus canceling everything out and everyone lives happy ever after, yada yada yada.....
That may be fine in your world but when the buying company pays for the original 10M shares in the O/S and someone comes in with an additional 5M shares and wants to be paid it becomes very obvious very fast that something is wrong. A law has been broken,,,,,,Fraud, here's the definition:
In criminal law, fraud is the crime or offense of deliberately deceiving another in order to damage them — usually, to obtain property or services from him or her unjustly. [1]. Fraud can be accomplished through the aid of forged objects. In the criminal law of common law jurisdictions it may be called "theft by deception," "larceny by trick," "larceny by fraud and deception" or something similar. Fraud can be committed through many methods, including mail, wire, phone, and the internet (see computer crime and internet fraud).
A naked short squeeze is when an MM gets caught short on a stock and is forced to cover for whatever reason. He sold stock that he does not have and by doing so has committed himself to getting that stock to deliver it to whomever he sold originally to. To keep from having actually committing Fraud he must buy enough shares to cover what he has sold.
A SIMPLE EXAMPLE BUT THIS IS HOW IT WORKS. You can't just say oh sorry here's your money back because if the person wants the shares you sold him you have to provide.
NAKED SHORT SQUEEZE. It sounds as though people need to learn with this means. This is why the price will go above the buyout. It is severely shorted and MMs MUST cover or face charges. THIS IS HOW IT WORKS.