RE:RE:RE:RE:Why areSo Dragonfly, what's your basis as to why you "don't seriously believe that is the purpose of this transaction".
As I stated in my previous post... "Pledging shares and short selling are two distinct financial strategies with different goals and results". When someone pledges stock as collateral for a loan and then defaults, the collateral is indeed lost. If the stock's price drops during the loan term, the debtor might replace the collateral at a lower cost, potentially gaining some equity.
However, this isn't typically the main goal of pledging shares. The lender most likely would also pursue a deficiency balance if the collateral's value doesn't cover the loan amount.
Short selling, on the other hand, involves borrowing shares to sell them at the current market price, hoping to buy them back at a lower price later. The goal here is to profit from the decline in the stock price.
Both strategies have their own risks and rewards, and it's crucial to understand the implications before engaging in either. I'm willing to wager that RF and/or his financial experts are fully versed in both.