Stocks Crash? Blame The Short Sellers

“It feels kind of icky and un-American, betting against a company.”  –Tom Farley, NYSE Group President, June 2017. In the early 17th century, Amsterdam became the world’s first stock exchange, though only one company was traded — the Dutch East India Company — a shipping giant that monopolized the trading of pepper, yarn, cinnamon and other commodities between the East Indies and Europe. [timeless] But in 1609, Isaac Le Maire, a former board member of Dutch East India, believed that France was about to launch a major competitor. So he formed an investment group that placed a large bet on…