Reddit reviews Fooling Some of the People All of the Time, A Long Short (and Now Complete) Story, Updated with New Epilogue

Last year Ackman publicly announced that he had unwound his short position in favor of taking on equal short exposure through put options (constructed and priced OTC of course) exactly to avoid getting squeezed out. Not sure if he is closing out part of the position early, or what the expiry structure of the contracts was/is.

Not that he doesn't want to turn a profit on this trade and be proven right for all the world to heap praise on him for making money and vanquishing a terrible fraud of a company that preys on gullible dreamers in the lower class, but he has said publicly that the profits on his HLF will go to charity (I assume that by this he means profits that would be attributable to him as a shareholder in his own funds, and that independent shareholders have no concrete agreement to charitable giving from any of the profits they earn with Pershing).

Lastly, I highly recommend David Einhorn's "Fooling Some of the People All of the Time" as it is a) very entertaining and interesting, and b) should expose some similarities to Ackman's current fight against HLF.

I think you need to specify whether or not you want academic oriented work or something that is more entertainment oriented. For the latter, any Michael Lewis Books (The Big Short, etc.) or David Einhorn's Book (Fooling Some of the People All of the Time) would be good.

Two books that would be pretty good starting points (and a 3rd book for extra measure):

The first book you wanna pay special attention to Chapter 8 and Chapter 20, but read it ALL:

https://www.amazon.com/intelligent-investor-book-practical-counsel/dp/0060115912/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1557126552&sr=1-7

This one is more detialed

https://www.amazon.com/Security-Analysis-Foreword-Buffett-Editions/dp/0071592539/ref=pd_rhf_eeolp_s_pd_crcd_0_4/143-0942938-6072313?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0071592539&pd_rd_r=98601957-062a-4d2b-b4e5-10c14a0c824b&pd_rd_w=EmVty&pd_rd_wg=tAgWo&pf_rd_p=36c62ed8-9692-4b91-aa9a-c4b3b85cc759&pf_rd_r=XJ4NTWQMJ5KPRKTHCEZT&psc=1&refRID=XJ4NTWQMJ5KPRKTHCEZT

This third book isn't "reuired reading" but wouldn't be a bad idea to read---it teaches a healthy degree of cynicism about the things you read in financial reports and the things CEOs will tell you on TV---like CNBC etc

https://www.amazon.com/Fooling-People-Complete-Updated-Epilogue/dp/0470481544/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=david+einhorn&qid=1557126776&s=books&sr=1-2

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

For those interested in this kind of thing, I think David Einhorn's book is excellent.

It tells a story of when Einhorn realized a company was more-or-less fraudulent, and his fight against the SEC and the company to release the truth. He had the incentive for this fight because of his short position. Einhorn was ultimately proven correct, and the company collapsed. The book is equally interesting, informative and infuriating.

https://www.amazon.com/Fooling-People-Complete-Updated-Epilogue/dp/0470481544

> (Barring Enron scale fuckuppery)

Sometimes management can even mess up nearly that bad and get away with it.

[Fooling Some of the People All the Time] (http://www.amazon.com/Fooling-People-Complete-Updated-Epilogue/dp/0470481544) is a really good book on short selling.


[Quantitative Value] (http://www.amazon.com/Quantitative-Value-Web-Site-Practitioners/dp/1118328078) is a really good book as well.


If you can afford it, [Margin of Safety] (http://www.amazon.com/Margin-Safety-Risk-Averse-Strategies-Thoughtful/dp/0887305105/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415645406&sr=1-1&keywords=margin+of+safety) is the holy grail of value investors.