27th October 2008 - the great short squeeze of Volkswagen!
Cannot visit link directly.
Need to reach it via Google search.
(these guys are checking referrals)
https://www.google.com/search?q=The+day+Volkswagen+briefly+conquered+the+world
(the article is an amazing read)
Article the day after: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/oct/28/porsche-vw-car-industry-germany
The rise in VW's value comes as other European carmakers are laying off workers and temporarily closing production lines to cope with a likely fall in sales of up to 20% next year. Bosch, the world's biggest car component supplier, yesterday laid off 400 workers at one of its German plants.
Fundamentals vs financial engineering!
This gentleman:
In killing himself German billionaire Adolf Merckle has become the latest casualty of the global financial crisis, his family saying on Tuesday he was broken by the struggle to salvage their business empire.
At the time there was mostly speculation about banks and hedge funds that could have made heavy losses on VW. But banking sources told Reuters that Merckle’s losses were estimated at 400 million euros ($539 million).
Forbes recently ranked Merckle Germany’s fifth-richest man with a fortune worth an estimated $9.2 billion.
In my opinion committing suicide is rarely an option, unless you play a bigger game, search for "burning monk": http://100photos.time.com/photos/malcolm-browne-burning-monk
Also, money does not make you happy:
