Cashing in on a Second-Level Short

Avatar photo Doug Kass on July 15, 2026

I just covered this morning’s MS ($MS) short for a quick +$7 gain (at $224.69).

From earlier this morning:

Second-Level Shorting

I have added to my Morgan Stanley (MS) short (at $231.37) after the “better than expected” earnings per share release.

Here is the complete release:  2Q26 MS Earnings Release

I am employing second level thinking. Howard Marks: The Importance of Second-Level Thinking • Novel Investor

Positions: Short MS S 

BY Doug Kass · Jul 15, 2026, 8:20 AM EDT

Short MS VS

Things I Did Today

Avatar photo Doug Kass on July 14, 2026

Here are today’s things:

* Shorted the indices: $SPY at $752.83 and $QQQ at $722.13

* Covered my index shorts for a profit: SPY at $749.63 and QQQ at $717.82

* Shorted $GRNY at $27.86 and $JOET at $45.83

* Shorted $JPM at $338.50 and covered it at $327.31

* Reshorted $JPM at $343.78

* Shorted $MS at $230.43

* Added to $MSOS at $4.65, $MSOX at $2.73, $TRLV at $8.85 and $VRND at $6.08

Position: Long MSOS (VL), MSOX (S), TRLV (S), VRND (S); Short GRNY (M), JOET (S), JPM (S), MS (S)