Muddy Waters' Block: 'We Are A Loud Mouth' Short Seller

Carson Block, the founder and chief investment officer of Muddy Waters, was a guest on CNBC's "Squawk Box" segment Tuesday to talk about what appears to be an unpopular strategy among investors and fund managers — shorting stocks.

Carson was quick to point out that assets under management for short only hedge funds are a mere $5.5 billion, which is "nothing" compared to the trillions of dollars under management by global hedge funds.

Carson continued that most short sellers are what he calls "gentleman short sellers" in the sense that they will short as stock and not make a public debacle about it. On the other hand, the short seller has no problem proclaiming his Muddy Waters to be quite the opposite.

Loud And Proud

"We are a niche of a niche," he explained. "We are very loud mouth — we short and we talk about it."

For example, Carson was very vocal about his short position in St. Jude Medical ABT) given his belief that the company's medical device technologies are unsafe for human use since it is vulnerable to cyber attacks.

However, given the incredible strength of the stock market under the "Trump rally," Carson did acknowledge that there are indeed easier ways to make money in the markets. Related Link: Dept. of Homeland Security Provides A Timely Update On Abbott, St. Jude Related Link: Dysfunction, Heartbreak And Love: 11 Most Interesting Corporate Couples
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