# Toro, Can you explain this please?  E. Warren having vested interest in call options



## browsing deer

I have to admit this being confusing.  What is going on here?

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The large number of call options is a sign that Masters may have been “short selling” these insurance stocks, hoping to make a profit on a substantial decline in share price. With Better Markets working to convince lawmakers to enact onerous regulations on large insurance companies, The Marlin Fund could bet that MetLife’s, Prudential’s, and Citigroup’s stock prices would fall. But that, by itself, is a risky strategy — if the price of a short-sold stock unexpectedly rises, the losses could theoretically be unlimited. Call options, which give the holder the option to buy a stock at a predetermined price, would work as a “hedge” against an unforeseen price increase — allowing The Marlin Fund to limit any potential losses from its bets against the insurance companies.   Even if Masters wasn’t actually short selling the stocks, it’s troubling that Better Markets never disclosed its benefactor’s economic stake in the affected companies. “If you testify before Congress, you have to sign a form that certifies you don’t have a financial interest in whatever you’re discussing,” says the former SEC counsel. “It may not be direct — [Kelleher] isn’t the holder of those call options. But his sole source of income was. So it’s a classic conflict of interest.” Better Markets was in a strong position to influence the rule-making process. Though it was only founded in 2010, the group has quickly become a key player in the regulatory battles wracking the finance industry after the 2008 economic crisis. Sommers says that the nonprofit “testified on practically every roundtable [the CFTC] had on implementing Dodd-Frank,” and Kelleher remains a frequent panelist in Capitol Hill hearings on financial rulemaking. The relationship between Elizabeth Warren and Better Markets is a close one. Warren was the keynote speaker at one of the group’s meetings in 2013 and wrote a testimonial on their website lauding them as “strong partners in the fight to level the playing field for middle-class families.” Better Markets, in turn, often operates as a high-profile surrogate cheerleader for Warren’s crusades. When journalists look to give the senator’s point of view in a story, they often turn to Kelleher as a source.
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Read more at: Elizabeth Warren's Favorite Think Tank & the Hedge-Fund Millionaire It Benefits  | National Review Online


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