Eat my shorts

Investment banks can normally count on hedge funds to lap up big stock placings. That’s because the funds have typically guessed the placing was on the way and shorted the stock in the run-up. When the deal is launched the funds close their shorts and the banks close their own long positions. But hedge funds have not been playing ball in France Telecom’s E3.4bn offering launched this week. Roughly half of the issue was left with the underwriters, led by Goldman Sachs. And it looks like the hedge...