Well, think about it. If you do some analysis and figure out that you'll make less money on your automotive stocks if ride-sharing companies and other alternatives to car ownership grow, then it makes sense to (short) sell those companies to attempt to drive them out of business, i.e. by driving investors away from them out of fear they'll lose their money if they invest.

So there are people who want to invest in alternative transportation and help it grow, even if they won't make money at the same levels as by investing in the individual-car-ownership model of transportation; but they should be protected against others who want to intimidate them away from investing by crashing their stocks.

I hope you see my point here. The problem is that investors can weaponize selling to gain anti-competitive leverage against companies that threaten the market dominance of other companies and the paradigms they serve and maintain, such as the paradigm of individual car ownership.

The point is clear that you don't have a clue as to how the short selling stock (or investment) process works in the marketplace, but rather you fabricate an entirely imaginary marketplace scenario to fit your construct of a world-wide conspiracy against your dreamy ideas about so-called alternative transportation and associated so-called "LCF" lifestyles.

Some "critical thinkers" seem to "think" they don't need no stinkin' classes because they prefer to fabricate their own facts that will fit their agenda.

Still how does one debate a person with a manufactured conspiracy? We went through some of these same conspiracies when Segways didn't catch on. Some ideas are well thought out and some are not and I seriously doubt that the heads of Ford, GM, Toyota, BMW and Volkswagen "ever" get together and brainstorm about what needs to be done to beat back electric rental scooters. Business acquisitions typically only take place "after" a business shows potential. Not while it is embroiled in a battle with government entities and insurance regulations. But that has nothing to do with a conspiracy.

But it has a lot to do with politics. So which is it, everyone? P and R or close this thread?

Bring it to an end!

Close this thread and every other thread, present or future, that begins or evolves into variations of the same fabricated economic and political conspiracy theory that has nothing to do with Living Car Free except in one poster's imagination.

It got off track and I went along with the deviation. If you move it to P&R I won't be able to do anything with it further so if you insist on either closing it or moving it to P&R, I would say just close it.

Are you asking them to ban me from the forum? Why don't you ban yourself?

For some people, the only potential they care about in anything car-free is the potential to prevent it from growing. You of all people should understand that.

I think you're misunderstanding the effects of shorting a stock. Individuals or even large institutions don't have the ability to significantly move stock prices. Investors short stocks they believe are overvalued. They're not shorting to move the stock, rather they're hoping to capitalize on the eventual correction in an over-valued stock. While individual short sellers theoretically have the ability to impact stock prices they also take considerable risks if the company continues to perform well.

We have a lot of small buses and I have a bunch of bikes.

Thread closed.