One gets the feeling that Patrick Byrne, the boss of the online excess inventory dealer Overstock.com, would have an argument with himself if he were the only person in the room.
But let's say this for the pugnacious retailer, he's willing to take on all shapes and all sizes. On Friday, Overstock went after most of Wall Street, with a $3.48bn lawsuit filed against 12 brokerage firms, alleging a "massive, illegal stock market manipulation scheme".
Overstock claims the banks caused its share price to go into freefall, through naked short selling. Short selling is when traders sell shares to drive prices down with the intention of buying back later at a lower price. The naked version is when the stock is sold by a trader without determining first if the stock actually exists and without borrowing stock to honor the deal. Wall Street calls this "fails to deliver', because the seller cannot deliver. Got that? No? Here is a more detailed explanation (albeit from opponents from the practice).
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