Bill Ackman Admits $500 Million Herbalife Loss, Stock Surge Adds To Pain

Herbalife shares are soaring this morning. The reason, it seems, is unclear; but Bill Ackman's appearance on Bloomberg TV to press his shorts a little more may just have emboldened those looking to squeeze the asset manager:

*ACKMAN: HERBALIFE LONGS DID PRETTY GOOD JOB OF SHORT SQUEEZING
*ACKMAN SAYS HE'S LOST $400M TO $500M ON HERBALIFE SHORT
*ACKMAN SAYS `LOTS OF WAYS WE CAN BE SUCCESSFUL' ON HLF
*ACKMAN SAYS HE'LL TAKE HERBALIFE BET 'TO THE END OF THE EARTH'

Ackman added that he "skeptical" of Icahn's long-term interest, and "puzzled" by Stiritz' motivations. It seems – other than fear-mongering – the stock is rising on the basis Ackman has nothing new to add…

*ACKMAN SAYS HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT FTC IS DOING ON HERBALIFE
*ACKMAN: RE-AUDIT IS A SHORT TERM CATALYST IF NOT DONE BY DEC
*ACKMAN SAYS HERBALIFE FITS FTC OCT PYRAMID WARNING
*ACKMAN'S PERSHING HAS MET WITH FOREIGN REGULATORS HERBALIFE
*ACKMAN: HERBALIFE RE-AUDIT SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETED BY NOW

As we noted in January 2, 2013

In short- could HLF, with 24% of its stock short, and where institutions control more than 76% of the shares outstanding, become the next Volkswagen squeeze play, and send the stock soaring far higher than ever before, in the process destroying Ackman (assuming he has still not covered his short), Tilson, and anyone else still short the name?

Maybe the answer to this question is just how much animosity does management harbor toward those very publicly short its stock. We hope to find out soon enough.