An odd press release came across PR Newswire in July from novelist Siegfried Brian Barger promoting his animal-rights themed novel, Fontana. The characters in Barger’s novel use a strategy that Barger thinks animal rights activists use — the short sell stock in companies they oppose.
According to Barger’s press release,
Siegfried Brian Barger, a former money manager, is urging major animal rights organizations . . . to actively “sell short” — an aggressive investment technique that can cause stock prices to decline rapidly — the stocks of publicly-traded corporations possessing a history of animal abuse.
. . .
“With millions of devoted members, the animal rights movement possesses a valuable new currency for change,” says Barger. The author, formerly from Cincinnati, Ohio, thinks the animal rights movement should construct a single — and huge — mutual fund dedicated to short selling, into which their supporters could invest. The current controversy over the inhumane treatment of chickens, pitting PETA against restaurant conglomerate Yum Brands [which owns KFC], underscores this need.
Barger’s novel also features his characters illegally releasing false information about the fictitious company in the novel, though Barger says he is not advocating that animal rights activists try to illegally manipulate stock prices in that manner.
This sort of scheme is probably a good example of why Barger is a former money manager. On the other hand, AnimalRights.Net would like to go on record as being in favor of activists investing as much money as they can in a mutual fund whose investment strategy is to short sell otherwise healthy stocks. That’s the sort of investment opportunity they really should not pass up.
Source:
Author & former investment manager urgers animal rights organizations like PETA to ‘Sell Short’ stocks of abusive corporations. Siegfried Brian Barger, Press Release, July 25, 2003.