LIKE A LOT of people, Carson Block found his vocation by accident. In 2010 he was living in China and trying to set up a business. His father asked him to look at Orient Paper, a Chinese firm listed in New York. He scoured the company's filings and became doubtful of its claims. That scepticism grew when he visited a factory. He decided to publish a damning report. But first he would bet against the stock to cover his costs. The report went viral. The share price collapsed. Lawsuits were soon flying. It has been like that ever since. Mr Block is an activist short-seller. His firm, Muddy Waters, borrows shares in a shifty-looking company and then sells them. That allows it to profit from a fall in their value. There is something of the gumshoe about him-imagine Philip Marlowe, the private eye created by Raymond Chandler, but with coarser language. (Example:XYZ Corporation is a "predatory shit-bag"). Instead of pound- -ing the mean streets, Mr Block ploughs through reams of company documents. He makes his findings freely available. He then shows up on CNBC'S "Squawk Box" to denounce the bad guys.
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