Structure of a Short pitch

Currently gunning for HF recruiting and found a piece of shit stock that ought to be shorted out of existence. All my previous stock pitches were Longs; how would you structure your pitch for a Short?

Thinking about:

I. Recommendation

II. Company background

III. Thesis

IV. Valuation

V. Catalysts + why short now

VI. Risks

10 Comments
 

I think the structure is okay. All I would say is include the thesis you're disproving in the recommendation so it would sound something like "Company A is here today because people think X is true but that is not true because of Y and people will realize this because of/when Z happens".

 
Most Helpful

Seems right but you need to spend a lot more time on V and VI than you would for a long - unlimited downside if you get it wrong & an ongoing cost to just hold the position (likely to be material if it's genuinely a piece of shit company as it'll be heavily shorted already). For risks make sure you think about who might step in and buy the entire company.

And make sure you've checked availability / cost of borrow to check it's actually an implementable idea. Lots of 'no-brainer' shorts are practically impossible to short in any kind of size.

 

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