Was Ackman’s great concern over the alleged Herbalife pyramid scheme rooted in concern for the little guys “downline” in the pyramid or to make money with his short position? Think about this: he entered a huge short position then led a crusade to have the company shut down so he could make money. Even in that situation, how do the people “downline” benefit other than watching Ackman make billions while they are out of a job? Maybe his plan was to reinvest the billions made from shutting Herbalife down back into the community, starting a new company that will hire all of the former Herbalife workers.

I noticed something interesting at the end of the article:

“Pershing Square International was last down 15.3% through July 12, according to data compiled by HSBC. Meanwhile, Pershing Square Holdings, the fund’s publicly traded vehicle, was last down 19.1% through the same time period.”

I wonder why the publicly traded vehicle Pershing Square Holdings is down more (19.1%) than the non-public Pershing Square International (15.3%)?

This reminds me of the “Everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten” poster. On that poster it said “Be aware of wonder.”

-Dr. Moore

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-ackman-herbalife-short-losses-000000081.html