Short Sellers Are a Useful Menace
The shock-and-awe tactics of activist short sellers cause mayhem for the companies being targeted and are driven by the lure of profit. But their criticism also helps police corporate behavior. The net impact on the market is typically positive.
Take Gotham City Research LLC's dramatic assault on Grifols SA in January last year. The US hedge fund's diatribe against the Spanish healthcare company sent the target's shares down as much as 43%. Gotham is best known for its critical analysis of Gowex SA, a Spanish Wi-Fi firm that failed in 2014.
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
A protest over immigration broke out next to a Compton restaurant. The owner, an immigrant, offered help to both protesters and cops
Elizabeth Mendoza watched nervously as demonstrators protesting President Donald Trump's immigration raids and policies clashed with police outside of her Compton restaurant, Restaurante Y Pupuseria La Ceiba. 'It started with just a few people, then it started growing very quickly,' she told CNN in an interview translated from Spanish. Mendoza, herself an immigrant from El Salvador, has gained notoriety after videos of her and her staff sheltering protesters and helping law enforcement agents in her Los Angeles County restaurant spread across social media. In the late afternoon hours on Saturday, June 7, the protest began to ramp up significantly as demonstrators and officers clashed right in front of her business. At one point, Mendoza recalled seeing the police push the protesters away from her storefront and deploying chemical irritants. 'I don't know what happened with the tear gas they threw. It was so strong at one point that we all felt like we were suffocating,' Mendoza told CNN. 'Then they came in. It wasn't something planned, it wasn't something I was thinking about, but it just happened,' she said. Inside the restaurant, video at 5:30 p.m. shows Mendoza and her employees getting water for LA County Sheriff's deputies, fanning their blinking, watering eyes and applying wet towels to their faces. An employee guided one of the officers toward the walk-in refrigerator at the back of the store after wiping off his face, surveillance video shows. In a video Mendoza uploaded to TikTok, three of her employees can be seen taking care of two officers: One employee holds a cloth to the face of an officer while another fans his face. 'I looked for masks and gave them to different people … The only thing I managed to grab for some protesters were towels, towels we use to clean. And I told them to cover yourselves with this. And then they covered themselves,' Mendoza said. 'I also offered them milk. I ran out of milk.' Clashes between protesters and law enforcement have resulted in hundreds of arrests in Los Angeles, and Trump invoked a rarely used law to federalize the National Guard over the objection of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials, which further inflamed the response. The Trump administration also mobilized 700 Marines to the Los Angeles area on Monday, though it is not yet clear when they will be deployed onto the streets to help with protests, according to a US Northern Command spokesperson. Mendoza said she never directed her staff to help the people suffering after the confrontation just outside the restaurant – they acted of their own accord. 'I was at the door, just letting everyone in,' she said. 'They just acted the way they felt they should have done to other people themselves.' Almost half of Los Angeles County's nearly 10 million residents are Latinos or Hispanics, according to US Census data. Over one-third of Angelenos are immigrants. Mendoza came to the United States without her family – 'without a father, without a mother, without siblings,' she told CNN, and first found work at a restaurant. She opened her own restaurant 15 years ago and has since found her place in the community. 'I was afraid something bad would happen and they would destroy my restaurant, which you hear about,' Mendoza said. 'So I decided to stay there, and looking at that whole situation, thank God, I sympathize with many protesters. I live in the area, and I can practically tell you that I know several of them, and they are good people and are my clients.' Multiple friends contacted Mendoza and urged her to close her restaurant for the day after seeing all of the chaos surrounding the protests in her neighborhood. Mendoza felt that she had to stay open to provide for her clients that had stayed with her 'through the good and the bad.' 'I have to take care of them and, above all, of my clients, who have always been with me through thick and thin, and who are my Latino people and people of any other race,' she said. While the restaurant workers' compassion has been praised by many, Mendoza said some have criticized her for helping both demonstrators and authorities. 'I just want them to know that we did it as human beings,' she said. 'I'm happy to have helped those people, just like I did with the people who were there for the protests.' Mendoza said the world could use more 'empathy and humanity for all people,' and that as an immigrant, she wants people to know most immigrants who come to the United States do so to work hard and make a better life for themselves and others. 'Sometimes we're treated like aliens; we're not like that. The fact that we're darker-skinned doesn't make us different,' she said. 'We've all seen it as a wonderful country, and we've all seen a country with better opportunities for our lives. Yes, and maybe that's why we decided to come here, and maybe some of us haven't done it the right way. But in the same way, we've all come with a purpose, which is to work and put in the effort. And often, I think they don't realize that it's us Latinos who come to do the most difficult jobs.' More demonstrations are planned nationwide this week and weekend, when the military parade honoring the Army's 250th birthday is planned in Washington, DC.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man arrested over shooting of Scots in Spanish bar
A man suspected of murdering two senior figures from a Scottish organised crime group in a Spanish bar has been arrested. The BBC understands Michael Riley was taken into custody in Liverpool by Merseyside Police under an international arrest warrant issued by the Spanish authorities. Ross Monaghan, 43, and Eddie Lyons Jnr, 46, were shot dead at Monaghans Bar in Fuengirola in the Costa Del Sol on 31 May. Both men were connected to the Lyons family, a major organised crime group based in the west of Scotland. The two men had been watching the Champions League final with friends when they were targeted at the bar on the Andalusian town's beachfront. Two Scots shot dead in Spain had criminal gang links No suggestion Spain shooting linked to gang feud - police Holidaymakers 'frightened' in surreal gang shooting aftermath According to medical reports, Eddie Lyons Jnr died after being hit by a single bullet outside the bar in front of friends and customers. CCTV also showed the gunman pursuing Monaghan inside the pub and firing more shots, leaving him fatally injured. Scottish detectives have been helping the Spanish police with their investigation, providing information on the men's backgrounds. In the wake of the killings, Police Scotland issued a statement saying there was no intelligence to suggest the deaths were linked to an ongoing gangland feud in the east and west of Scotland's central belt. More than 40 people have been arrested following a series of violent incidents, including alleged attempted murders and firebombings. The force also said there was nothing to suggest that the shooting was planned in Scotland. The Lyons clan have been locked in a long-running feud with the rival Daniels family. Monaghan was previously linked to the high-profile killing of feared Glasgow gangland figure Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll, an enforcer for the Daniels. He was accused of the murder in a Glasgow supermarket car park in 2010, but was later acquitted due to a lack of evidence. Monaghan was himself later shot in the shoulder as he dropped his daughter off at school in Glasgow in 2017. He is believed to have moved to Spain a short time later. Lyons Jnr was also shot and wounded in an attack in 2006, which was believed to have been carried out by Carroll. The two groups have traded a number of violent attacks for about 20 years.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Three hospitalized after car crashes into fans at Barcelona-Espanyol soccer match in terrifying scene
A scene of chaos erupted after a car barreled into a crowd of people outside a LaLiga match at Espanyol's RCDE Stadium before Thursday's showdown between Barcelona and Espanyol. Three people were hospitalized and 11 others suffered minor injuries after a white sedan reportedly panicked after being surrounded by Espanyol supporters and accelerated into fans, striking roughly 20. Advertisement Catalan police said they had arrested a woman in connection with the incident, and authorities described the situation as 'under control,' The Athletic reported. Video posted to social media showed the terrifying scene that occurred outside the stadium, with conflicting reports indicating how the whole thing started. TMZ reported that the driver had accidentally struck a young girl, which then set off the crowd to throw objects at the car, busting the back window. ESPN indicated that the car had become wedged between two containers and some fans began hurling objects at the car. A car rams into fans near RCDE stadium. Pegida Canada A car rams into fans near RCDE stadium. Pegida Canada The driver appeared to panic and hit the accelerator, driving into scores of people, with the video showing people being tossed to the side as the car moved through the crowd, while others got stuck on the hood. Advertisement Videos of the aftermath show an equally dramatic scene as police tried to gain control of the scene. A car rams into fans near RCDE stadium. Pegida Canada Officers in riot gear could be seen pushing angry supporters back from the car, which had come to a stop near a metal fence, while some hurled more objects in the direction of the vehicle and police. In one frame, a woman is helped away from the chaos by a male fan and could be seen with blood on her face. A car rams into fans near RCDE stadium. Pegida Canada A car rams into fans near RCDE stadium. Pegida Canada It appeared that authorities had a person in handcuffs pushed up against the car. The driver was between 45 and 55 years old, according to TMZ. 'It was an accident, some people were injured, but not seriously. There are no major incidents to report,' Salvador Illa, the president of the Government of Catalonia, told Spanish TV channel Movistar Plus. Advertisement Thursday's match was halted for eight minutes over the situation before play restarted in the 10th minute. A car rams into fans near RCDE stadium. Pegida Canada Authorities on the scene after a car rams into fans near RCDE stadium. Pegida Canada A fan near the crash at the scary scene. Pegida Canada The stadium crowd was alerted that the situation had been under control and that there were no serious injuries. Barcelona defeated Espanyol to capture the LaLiga title.
