Hedge funds make £18bn loss on VW

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

Hedge funds have lost £18bn in two days of trading in Volkswagen (VW) shares that briefly saw the carmaker become the world's most valuable company.

VW shares rose 348% over Monday and Tuesday after it emerged that only about 5% of its shares were available.

Funds that had bet on the shares falling desperately needed to buy the shares to close their positions.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7697082.stm

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All I can say is :rofl:

[aquart]

1. Oops.

I am appreciating all the ironies involved here.

[dysfunctional press]

2. they took it in the shorts...

:rofl:

[formercia]

3. Good for them

Shadenfreude should be the new VW motto.

[Turbineguy]

4. Sounds like a hedge fund

"make .... loss"

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. By the end of the day, the VW price settled at 514

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/fds/hi/business/market_data/shares/5/15058/default.stm

which I guess means the scramble to buy the shares to cover the short positions is over. That's still about a 150% gain for anyone who bought them in the year before September - http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/fds/hi/business/market_data/shares/5/15058/twelve_month.stm - a good buy compared to just about any other major share, I'd think.

[dipsydoodle]

6. This was the bit I couldn't grasp

"Porsche said it would help to solve the hedge funds' problems". Why should there any such obligation ? You play with fire you get burnt - tough.