[zekevermillion]

There was no "tone" intended. I was making a falsifiable prediction that the SEC would not penalize Musk or Tesla based on the harm suffered by short-sellers, but rather based on the harm suffered by purchasers of Tesla stock who "overpaid". Looking at the modest size of the civil settlement, we now have enough information to say that my prediction was NOT falsified by events.

As I also pointed out, this does not mean that one cannot commit fraud vs a short-seller. However, from what I gather, the rights of short-sellers under 10b-5, based on a "fraud on the market" theory, are rather murky in established caselaw and differ between federal circuits.