Carson Block: Where Investing and Forensics Meet
It's not always easy: Block has enemies and receives threats. And sometimes it's not pretty: Block has been forced to close out shorts positions at a loss when market movements against him proved too painful. Most recently, in the wake of the Reddit-fueled GameStop frenzy last January, it's become even harder to practice activist shorting.
Join us for an exclusive conversation with Block about his mission as a short-seller, the demands of forensic research and the challenge of exposing uncomfortable truths in a market with little tolerance for bears.
Following this interview, Constantin Cosereanu and Mihai Stefanita, Bloomberg Equity Workflow Specialists, will show you how the Bloomberg Terminal can be used to detect accounting irregularities with functions that help you dig deeper into financial statements.
Speakers
Carson Block
Founder and Chief Investment Officer
Muddy Waters Capital LLC
Carson Block is the Chief Investment Officer of Muddy Waters Capital LLC, an activist investment firm. Muddy Waters conducts extensive due diligence based investment research on companies around the globe. Mr. Block is also the founder of Zer0es TV (www.zer0es.tv), an online channel dedicated to short selling related video content. Bloomberg Markets Magazine named Mr. Block as one of the “50 Most Influential in Global Finance” in 2011. The following year, Muddy Waters received the prestigious Boldness in Business Award from the Financial Times. In September 2015, Mr. Block was featured in the book, The Most Dangerous Trade: How Short Sellers Uncover Fraud, Keep Markets Honest, and Make and Lose Billions, by former Bloomberg writer Richard Teitelbaum. He is also featured in the 2018 documentary The China Hustle. Muddy Waters gained fame in 2011 following the publication of its research on Sino-Forest Corp., which exposed the company as a massive fraud. Activist campaigns conducted by Muddy Waters have led to numerous financial restatements by companies, eight de-listings, over $100 million in restitution paid to investors, and over $50 million paid to regulators. Mr. Block appears frequently as a commentator on Bloomberg Television, CNBC and the BBC. He has written op-eds in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and New York Times on various topics related to improving corporate governance and market transparency. Prior to forming Muddy Waters, Mr. Block was an entrepreneur in China and worked as a lawyer in the Shanghai office of the U.S. law firm Jones Day. In 2007, he co-authored Doing Business in China for Dummies, a primer on doing business in China. He holds a B.S. in business from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he has also served as an adjunct professor.
Lisa Abramowicz
Bloomberg Anchor
Bloomberg Media
Lisa Abramowicz co-hosts “Bloomberg Surveillance” from 6 to 9 a.m. on Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio. She previously co-hosted “Bloomberg Markets” from 10 a.m. to noon EST on Bloomberg Radio and was a member of Bloomberg Television’s on-air markets desk. She also served as a columnist and reporter at Bloomberg focusing on fixed-income markets. Abramowicz graduated from the University of Chicago.
Constantin Cosereanu
Equity Workflow Specialist
Bloomberg LP
Constantin Cosereanu, CFA is a member of the Workflow Specialists team focusing on Equity market solutions. Constantin has been with Bloomberg for the past 20 years in multiple roles. Prior to being a Work-flow specialist, Constantin had spent 5 years as a Portfolio and Index specialist. Prior to that, he spent +6 years as an equity specialist focusing on idea generation and relative valuation functions working very closely with the development team in building Bloomberg’s screening, back-testing and portfolio functions. Constantin is a graduate of the MBA program at The Wilfred Laurier School of Business in Waterloo, Ontario and he is a CFA Charterholder.
Mihai Stefanita
Equity Workflow Specialist
Bloomberg
Mihai Stefanita, CFA is a member of the Workflow Specialists team focusing on Equity market solutions. Mihai has been with Bloomberg for the past 7 years in multiple roles. Prior to his role as a Workflow Specialist, Mihai spent 3 years as an account manager covering Bloomberg Buy-Side clients in the Mid-West and Mid-Atlantic regions. Prior to that he was on the Bloomberg Analytics desk as a Advanced-Specialist focusing on the Bloomberg Portfolio and Risk functionalities. Prior to Bloomberg Mihai spent 5 years as a financial advisor helping clients plan their investments and retirement. Mihai is a graduate of the University of Maryland in College Park and is a CFA Charterholder.