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Short sellers notch $8.7B profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price

reuters.com

161–170 of 201 posts

Re: Short sellers notch $8.7B profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price

#161
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But to sell the calls, you should own the stock first. Puts can be bought w/o owning the stock. Granted, the put buyer pays the premium, so you don’t get guaranteed money in your pocket like you would selling calls.

I think you're referring to covered calls, but you can sell naked calls as well, meaning without owning the underlying.

You’re right, but the keyword in my post was “should”. If you have to look up “short selling” in the dictionary (as in OP’s case), naked options aren’t on the menu.

Re: Short sellers notch $8.7B profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price

#162
post #154

I completely understood the idea of Starlink and expected that it would be successful and useful, which it is. I've worked in data centers for decades now, and I am incredibly skeptical of the "data centers in space" sales pitch. It seems like an actual scam. Data centers submerged in the ocean or placed in the desert seem much more promising. But I have only an enthusiast's understanding of rockets and physics, so I…

For something to be a viable product it has to solve a problem. What problems are data centers in space solving? I can't think of a single one.

Like much new technology, it evades regulations. Hyperscalers are getting crushed by popular backlash and resource constraints. And like typically nerds they'd rather dream up a massively overengineered solution rather than face their responsibility as human beings.

Re: Short sellers notch $8.7B profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price

#163
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually not a concern I'd have, because hardware that has been sufficiently tested and burned in tends not to fail for a very long time. I've done builds that ran for 5+ years with virtually no physical attention, just continual degradation as hardware is taken out of service. There's also not much money to recover from 5+ year-old hardware. I used to run AI inference GPU servers in road vehicles, which is pr…

uhh no I dont think the road vehicle is harsher than a rocket launch

The rocket's payload most likely has higher peak vibration but only for a few minutes, and just one time. The road vehicle's payload is shocked by every pot hole and speed bump, for years.

Re: Short sellers notch $8.7B profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price

#164

Does anyone think here shortselling should be banned?

No, nobody who has basic financial market literacy thinks that

Lots of downvotes and one condescending remark, but no knowledge shared :(

Re: Short sellers notch $8.7B profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually not a concern I'd have, because hardware that has been sufficiently tested and burned in tends not to fail for a very long time. I've done builds that ran for 5+ years with virtually no physical attention, just continual degradation as hardware is taken out of service. There's also not much money to recover from 5+ year-old hardware. I used to run AI inference GPU servers in road vehicles, which is pr…

5 years is a Starlink's typical lifetime. Data center satellite lifetimes will probably be shorter. Demise sooner, replace more often. GPUs get more energy efficient every year and leaving the slower, hungrier chips up there much longer than 3 years seems wasteful given the cheap cost of launch. I think this could be done at an interesting scale even on Falcon 9 alone. If Starship does even 20% of its early design go…

The efficiency of the chips only matters if the orbit is full.

If the orbit isn't full, all they are is additional compute.

Re: Short sellers notch $8.7B profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price

#166
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but... All the "value" in SpaceX is in AI. Actual space launches are a tiny part of the portfolio. Talking about launch capability is almost off topic when taking about SpaceX valuation.

When I checked, Starlink seemed somewhat valuable but highly questionable addressable market (limited growth)

Starlink is the only part that is making a profit.

Re: Short sellers notch $8.7B profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price

#167
post #76

SpaceX has accomplished spectacular things in reusable launch vehicles and space-based networking. It will soon restore the heavy launch capability that the US lost when it retired the Saturn V in the 1970s, but in an affordable and sustainable manner. SpaceX is almost single-handedly keeping the US ahead in space. I'm bullish on SpaceX as a company in terms of technical accomplishment. Buying SPCX would make sense a…

Yes but... All the "value" in SpaceX is in AI. Actual space launches are a tiny part of the portfolio. Talking about launch capability is almost off topic when taking about SpaceX valuation.

Not sure why anybody would downvote this, as this is exactly what the company claimed in their filing. Less than 10% was space launch and starlink. The rest was all AI.

Re: Short sellers notch $8.7B profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price

#169

I completely understood the idea of Starlink and expected that it would be successful and useful, which it is. I've worked in data centers for decades now, and I am incredibly skeptical of the "data centers in space" sales pitch. It seems like an actual scam. Data centers submerged in the ocean or placed in the desert seem much more promising. But I have only an enthusiast's understanding of rockets and physics, so I…

> have only an enthusiast's understanding of rockets and physics, so I'm genuinely open-minded to the possibility.

I used to be open minded too but lost all sense of credibility in anything Elon Musk touches when he called nanotechnology a pseudoscience. Since then it's only been downhill. One does not have to be subject matter expert, even China is vertically landing rockets now.

Re: Short sellers notch $8.7B profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price

#170

Well, that's a market economy, so deal with it!

Is disregarding laws, defrauding shareholders, and corruptly buying government contracts - as just a few examples - a 'market economy'? Is there a market for those government contracts, other than the market for the president's favor?
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