The year 2020 will go down in the record books as one of the worst in global history. Nearly 2 million people died from coronavirus , tens of millions more lost their jobs and countless others faced unprecedented disruption to their daily lives. However, it was a very profitable year for the elite few financial executives betting on health of the global economy. The world’s top 15 hedge fund managers collectively made $23.2bn (£16.9bn) last.
(Repeats Tuesday story, no changes to text)
LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Last week’s frenzied battle over GameStop that pitted retail traders against Wall Street hedge funds joins a long line of tussles between investors going ‘long’ by buying shares and those seeking to turn a profit from ‘short’ trades.
Short trading involves borrowing shares and selling them on with the aim of buying them back later more cheaply and pocketing the difference. But it can be a risky bet.
Markets can go the wrong way and losses can be crushing if a stock climbs, forcing short-sellers to scramble to buy back shares so they can close their positions.
Updated / Wednesday, 3 Feb 2021
14:07
Last week s frenzied battle over GameStop pitted retail traders against Wall Street hedge funds
Last week s frenzied battle over GameStop that pitted retail traders against Wall Street hedge funds joins a long line of tussles between investors going long by buying shares and those seeking to turn a profit from short trades.
Short trading involves borrowing shares and selling them on with the aim of buying them back later more cheaply and pocketing the difference. But it can be a risky bet.
Markets can go the wrong way and losses can be crushing if a stock climbs, forcing short-sellers to scramble to buy back shares so they can close their positions.
The long and short of it: GameStop and other market squeezes theglobeandmail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theglobeandmail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.