The going was painfully slow, but Chickenhound consoled himself on the long journey by boosting his own ego. âMaybe a silly bunch of rats could put one over on Sela. Huh, she was old and had lost a lot of her guile.
Even after the run Cisco stock has had over the past few years, the stock is still a buy. Cisco has reported earnings of $1.73 per share over the past four quarters, which puts the stock's P/E ratio at just about 17. This doesn't seem all that inexpensive, but there are a couple of things skewing Cisco's valuation.
Selling a stock not actually owned. If an investor thinks the price of a stock is going down, the investor could borrow the stock from a broker and sell it. Eventually, the investor must buy the stock back on the open market. For instance, you borrow 1000 shares of XYZ on July 1 and sell it for $8 per share. Then, on Aug. 1, you purchase 1000 shares of XYZ at $7 per share. You've made $1000 (less commissions and other fees) by using this method.