奇特的发型、使用假名以及细致入微的调查让布洛克(Carson Block)在中国从一个默默无闻的老外变成了知名做空者。
Creative hairstyles, fake names and shoe-leather sleuthing transformed Carson Block from a no-name expatriate in China into a celebrity short seller.
但这些策略在其他地方同样可行吗？
But will such gambits translate elsewhere?
在令一些中国公司陷入麻烦之后，这名37岁的美国人和他的浑水公司(Muddy Waters LLC)正在转移视线。布洛克的公司在加州有一个办公室，他不愿透露办公室的具体位置。上个月，他在百乐吉饭店(Bellagio Hotel)的舞厅向一屋子投资者谈论了他做空英国银行渣打集团(Standard Chartered PLC)债券的事。
From an office in California at a location he won't disclose, the 37-year-old American and his firm Muddy Waters LLC are changing their sights after wreaking havoc at Chinese companies. Last month, he told a Bellagio hotel ballroom packed with investors about his bet against the debt of U.K. bank Standard Chartered PLC.
这是布洛克第一次做空亚洲之外的公司。布洛克说过这番话的两个交易日之内，他购买的债券保护产品的价格上升了17%。
It was the first time Mr. Block had spoken out against a company based outside Asia. And his voice was heard: The cost of the debt protection Mr. Block said he was buying rose 17% in the following two trading days.
渣打集团的一名发言人拒绝置评。
A spokeswoman for Standard Chartered declined to comment.
他的下一个目标更大，那就是硅谷。
His next target is even bigger: Silicon Valley.
他说，硅谷有很多真正的创新公司，但是那里也有一些公司表里不一。他补充说，浑水的目标不会只有科技公司。
It has 'a lot of truly innovative companies, but there are also a number of companies in the Valley that are more pretenders,' he says, adding that tech companies won't be Muddy Waters's exclusive focus.
一些投资者怀疑布洛克的水晶球是不是不那么灵光了。2011年浑水做空中资企业嘉汉林业国际有限公司(Sino-Forest Corp.)的行动让布洛克出了名，但这家做空机构最近的三个主要意见都未能对目标公司的股价产生长期影响。
Some investors are wondering if Mr. Block's crystal ball is getting murky. An attack on Chinese forestry company Sino-Forest Corp. in 2011 by Muddy Waters made him famous, but the short-selling firm's last three major opinions failed to leave a lastingimpact on the share prices of the targeted companies.
此外，这家公司也已经超过六个月没有发布一篇立竿见影的做空报告。
Also, the firm hasn't published one of its takedown-style reports in more than six months.
美国的公司将是对布洛克做空能力的考验。一些投资者说，在中国更容易找到做空目标，因为中国的监管更加薄弱，企业也更加不透明。
U.S.-based companies will test Mr. Block's cloak-and-dagger tactics. In China, some investors say, the pickings were easier because of less regulatory oversight and more opaque companies.
加州贝弗利山庄(Beverly Hills)香橼研究(Citron Research)的长期做空者莱夫特(Andrew Left)称赞了布洛克的研究能力。莱夫特说，不过，硅谷的公司可能存在估值的问题，还有其他问题，但是还不至于存在欺诈行为；硅谷公司与其他被做空的公司不能相提并论。
Andrew Left, a longtime short seller at Citron Research in Beverly Hills, Calif., praises Mr. Block's research skills. In Silicon Valley, though, 'you have valuation problems, you have other problems, but not as much fraud. It's apples and oranges,' Mr. Left says.
布洛克是一名华尔街经纪商的儿子，在南加州大学(University of Southern California)学习过中文和商科，他拥有一个法学学位，并曾在上海的众达律师事务所(Jones Day)工作过。在上海，他和他的妻子创办了一个名叫Love Box私人仓储服务公司，他们去年将其售出。
The son of a Wall Street broker, Mr. Block studied Chinese and business at the University of Southern California, earned a law degree and worked at law firm Jones Day in Shanghai. There, he and his wife started a self-storage company called Love Box, which they sold last year.
2009年年末，布洛克的父亲让他注意一些在美国上市的中国公司。
In late 2009, Mr. Block's father asked him to look at some Chinese companies with shares listed in the U.S.
东方纸业(Orient Paper)是其中之一。这是一家总部位于河北省的纸张制造商和经销商。在参观工厂并与东方纸业的竞争对手交谈之后，布洛克向大约50个联系人发送了一份长达30页的详细报告，称这家公司存在欺诈行为。
One of them was Orient Paper Inc., a paper manufacturer and distributor based in Hebei province. After work including a factory visit and interviews with Orient's competitors, Mr. Block emailed to about 50 contacts a detailed, 30-page report calling the company a fraud.
东方纸业的股票在接下来的三个交易时段大跌了40%。
The stock plunged 40% over the following three trading sessions.
布洛克从此开始了专业做空者──也就是通过出售借来的股份押注公司股价下跌的投资者──的职业生涯。
That gave birth to Mr. Block's career as a professional short seller, or someone who bets against companies by selling borrowed shares.
他的前五个目标都是在海外上市的中国公司，其中有四家公司已经被摘牌。东方纸业的股票是布洛克的做空行动中最顽强的幸存者，上周五收于1.75美元，而浑水发布报告的前一天的股价为8.43美元。
Four of his firm's first five targets, all Chinese companies listed elsewhere, have been delisted from those exchanges. Shares of Orient, the hardiest survivor of Mr. Block's criticism, closed Friday at $1.75, down from $8.43 the day before Muddy Waters issued its report.
东方纸业首席执行长刘振勇在一份声明中将公司股票受挫归因于美国投资者对整个中概股的负面情绪越来越浓厚。
In a statement, Orient Chief Executive Zhenyong Liu attributed the company's battered stock to 'growing negative sentiment
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