E7: The Big Short (Squeeze)

As we all hear about the recent stock market frenzy about a video game retailer and redditors attempting to take down hedge funds and short sellers through something called a 'short squeeze', this week we explore an automotive short squeeze that many have been comparing GameStop to this past week. We'll examine the infamous Volkswagen / Porsche Short Squeeze, how a tiny little automaker from Stuttgart almost secretly took over one of the largest automakers on the planet, and how Porsche quickly became the hunted after hunting for a long time. 

We also explore a listener question Tesla's dominance in Electric Vehicles! 

As an episode note, there are lots of fantastic stories written about the VW / Porsche short squeeze. In particular, I found the Financial Times article especially helpful: https://www.ft.com/content/0a58b63a-4294-3e07-8390-c3aabef39a26

I also enjoyed this recounting of the short squeeze from the Priceonomics Blog: https://priceonomics.com/porsche-the-hedge-fund-that-also-made-cars/

A more technical explanation of the short squeeze that happened at VW: https://moxreports.com/vw-infinity-squeeze/

A 'car guy' angle from the team at Automobile magazine: https://www.automobilemag.com/news/porsche-and-volkswagen-what-happened/

A fairly well written post on Medium: https://medium.com/@amateuranalysis/the-vw-debt-trap-460e982a1091

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