<img src="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20081017/afp-cawkwell.jpg" width="330" /> <img src="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/common/c.gif" width="10" /> <img src="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/common/c.gif" height="8" width="1" /> A lot of hype. This freaking fatso is going to kick the bucket sooner than he would like because presumably he can't stop gutzing & boozing. Not only does he talk about shorts, I bet he likes to knock back a lot of 'shorts'.
"Simon Cawkwell, nicknamed the 'King of the short sellers' in London, made 250,000 pounds (320,000 euros, 550,000 dollars) in less than an hour this month, by betting on the market when it was down." Since when is 250,000 pounds equal to 550,000 dollars? At recent rates averaging $1.75 per pound 250,000 pounds is equal to 437,500 dollars.
This story is from year 2002. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2002/nov/17/mbas.highereducation1 The City stuntman He doesn't ride a motorbike but the market exploits of Evil Knievil are spectacular. They make or break firms and earn him fortunes. Jamie Doward The Observer, Sunday November 17 2002 He is a big man with an even bigger reputation. His words can inflict mortal damage on a company, his share dealings make or lose him millions in moments. He is a puncturer of pomposity, an ingénue prepared to tell the emperor that he is butt naked. At least, that is how his fans view him. Others, however, see Evil Knievil, the infamous bear trader, as a financial anarchist - a description the libertarian in him would relish - in love with his character's PR. A curious iconoclast, Knievil is an enigma in the City. At 20 stone and with a laugh that doubles as a fog horn, Knievil (real name Simon Cawkwell, 56, an accountant by training) is the City's most famous contrarian, someone who makes money by 'shorting' companies' stock - selling shares before the price slumps. He is also a great host. The champagne is suitably vintage and the bottles of Pinot Noir delicious. The fine Norfolk ham is straight out of a Dickens novel. But beneath the bonhomie and the belly laughs is a tougher side. Knievil's pronouncement that a company is overvalued can decimate its values in minutes. His mutterings in the shadows - usually about smaller firms whose share prices tend to be more responsive to such talk - are followed closely by market reporters and stockbrokers. In these grim times, Knievil seems to be one of the few people making money. Not all of it, though, comes from his financial analysis. In his lavish South Kensington flat, which doubles as an office, Knievil is surrounded by five TV screens. Three carry financial information, the other two focus on the turf. Knievil is an avid follower of horse-racing - so far this year he is up more than £350,000, quite an achievement considering every UK bookie bar Ladbrokes now refuses to take his money, such has been his success. Bets of £3,000 a pop are the norm. He calculates that he has made more than £3.5 million from share dealings and the turf over the last year, although it is by no means plain sailing. Currently one company in which he holds more than one million shares is not performing well. 'If subsequent events prove me wrong you'll see the fat man has written off £600,000. It happens in racing,' he booms, spluttering with laughter. Gambling and share tipping are one and the same to Knievil, the son of an Oxford classics don who clearly enjoys the way his character allows him to poke fun at the authorities. He is withering about the City's regulators. 'The fraudsters in the City will always be at it. The idea they can be closed off by regulation is just a dream invented by lunatics.' Things would be better if people weren't so afraid of speaking out, Knievil believes. 'I'm astonished at how buttoned up people are in the City. People are terrified that if they say something the regulators will curtail their careers.' He recently wrote to Sir Howard Davies at the Financial Services Authority offering help in clamping down on corruption, but he is still awaiting a reply. 'I claim to be an expert on short selling where he is merely an amateur, but he hasn't given me the courtesy of a reply. One reason is that I said to him, I'll do it for free, I'm not seeking a knighthood, I'll buy one of those as and when it's a commercially smooth move.' It would be easy to dismiss Knievil as a chancer, someone who happened across a persona and who has milked it ever since. Certainly he sails close to the wind. Two companies have tried to sue him for defamation (both firms subsequently saw their fortunes collapse) while the Institute of Chartered Accountants has raised concerns about him giving unauthorised advice. But Knievil's accountancy background (he trained with Coopers) means his real talent lies in reading company reports. 'A set of accounts holds no fears for me.' His first notable success was in 1990 when he published a now legendary research note on Maxwell Communication Corporation showing that without some nifty accounting the company would have made a loss of £200 million. 'I made quarter of a million out of Maxwell going bust, which I thought was an excellent set of affairs,' he says roaring with laughter at the memory. The note was published under the pseudonym Evil Knievil, a nom de plume that has stuck ever since as journalists helped mythologise the character. 'Evil popped up again a day or two later credited with the collapse of share price after share price. Some of which he had actually been responsible for and an appreciable number he hadn't. All good fun.' Inevitably came the book: Evil's Good Book of Boasts and Other Investments which espoused Knievil's philosophy and attracted a big following. Knievil likes to make it sound as though his job is one extended joke. But he is industrious. Days start at 4.30am when he reads all the financial papers and works out his positions before the markets open. They finish at 9.30pm when Wall Street has gone to bed. Holidays are relatively rare. One company that has attracted Knievil's attention recently is South Staffordshire Group, which he believes is overvalued. 'They sell water, but they've gone into home insurance. The working class are incredibly stupid - you can sell them anything if you appear to sell it sincerely.' He also has doubts about hedge fund Man Group. 'I simply don't believe Man have found a new way of making money, but at the moment the City does.' Time will tell whether he is right. But it may transpire that Knievil himself will not last. 'This entirely useless character has had some fun but I do not believe it will last any longer than the bear market. After which he will disappear into insignificance. One would have to be an absolute twerp to think these things were of any importance whatsoever.' True. But the City would be a duller place without him. What they say 'Cawkwell has undoubtedly been the most effective bear trader in the market in the last couple of years.' Ex-Mirror Slicker James Hipwell 'He's incredibly bright, he just goes down to the fundamentals. He understands balance sheets and he's as tough as teak.' David Buik, head of marketing, Cantor Index Profile Name: Simon Cawkwell, aka Evil Knievil, aka the King of Short Selling Age: 56 Education: Attended Rugby School, trained as a chartered accountant, Coopers Family: Married with two daughters Hobbies: Family, puzzles, fine wines
To bad he's not "Intellectual" enough to go on a diet. He'll have a heart attack before he gets a chance to spend any of that money.
Simon Cawkwell is author of a few books on short selling: 1. Profit of the Plunge by Simon Cawkwell (Paperback - 1995) 1 Used & new from $11.60 2. Bear Essentials: The Secrets of Forensic Accounting and Profitable Trading by Simon Cawkwell (Paperback - Sep 15, 2003) - Import 1 Used & new from $99.29 3. EVIL'S GOOD: BOOK OF BOASTS AND OTHER INVESTMENTS by SIMON CAWKWELL (Paperback - 2002) - Import Currently unavailable http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/s...pe=ss&index=books&field-author=SIMON CAWKWELL
Threads like this one and front page articles like the one posted pretty much guarantee the market has bottomed. Time to gear up for a bull market run. Also, US equity markets always go up in their democratic presidential cycles. Time to bet the farm and buy long.
yes, i agree. nicely said mr short, evil knieval, or whatever his name is will be out of the picture this time next year
http://books.global-investor.com/pa...0&identifier=0334171ee17faba9bb6f243e66602ba6 Simon Cawkwell's investing rules Never buy shares with high valuations in relation to tangible net asset value. They can swan along and upwards for years but they have no cushion for the bad times. Never short-sell stocks when they are going up. Wait until they are going down and never hesitate to kick them down should they be so impertinent as to make an emotional appeal for help. Always treat any stockbroker who is remunerated with commission as a compulsive liar. Work on the assumption that all regulators are completely useless. Except, that is, at concealing their own incompetence such that the money you pay them for their 'services' cannot be reclaimed. Be very suspicious of all mining companies run by stockbrokers. But do not hesitate to buy such companies when they are new to the market. There is an infinite supply of fools to buy after you. Accept that all men always lie. But try to lie as little as possible. When a man says that his word is his bond . . . . . . take his bond. If you do not understand an investment, prepare to short it. There will always be a large number of gormless idiots who will have to sell after you so guaranteeing you a profit. Borrow when others are not borrowing. Repay when others are not. Never hesitate to bet against an odds-on favourite. Taken from The Global-Investor Book of Investing Rules
Sounds like the guy is spot on. Not sure why so many are worried about how big the guy is. Why not focus on trying to learn something from someone who appears to be doing well?? Seriously, so many on ET sound like they spend or should be spending their time watching American Idol and talking about the latest celebrity gossip instead of using this forum to improve on their trading.