So are short-selling 'spivs' really to blame for our financial woes?
Updated on 18 September 2008
Lucy Manning examines how the predators of the financial world do business."
The Financial Services Authority in the UK has announced a short-term ban on some forms of short-selling.
According to Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond, the traders behind HBOS's financial fall from grace were "short-selling spivs and speculators".
With Morgan Stanley just the latest banking group to see its shares plummet, they are not the only ones to blame so-called shorting for the woes of financial companies.
We examine how the predators of the financial world do business.
