A grab bag of shorts (Jan 2019)

This post is a list of short ideas, sorted by market cap.  The borrow on these stocks is generally 10% or lower.  Some of the more interesting shorts are AMD, PVG, TMR.TO, CRC, Chinese reverse mergers, and CGIP.

Valeant: Is giving away cheap drugs a good business model?

Valeant has a reputation for significantly increasing the prices of its drugs.  The truth is a little more complex than that.

Through its so-called “specialty pharmacy” channel, Valeant engages in an unusual practice of sending drugs to consumers without a guarantee of receiving insurance reimbursement from private payors.  If the reimbursement claim is ultimately denied, Valeant ends up selling a drug at firesale prices.