Shake, rattle ‘n’ roll

THE “death blow” that Bill Ackman promised to land on Herbalife this week raised expectations of a dramatic ending to one of the most remarkable battles in the history of Wall Street. On July 22nd the billionaire boss of Pershing Square, a hedge fund, delivered a three-hour presentation that he said would kill off the seller of nutritional shakes and foods by showing it to be a criminal enterprise that preys on the poor. But as he spoke, Herbalife shares ticked steadily higher. The low-point for Mr Ackman—whose fund has reportedly made a $1 billion “short” bet on the company’s share price falling, was when his father asked how close he was to proving that Herbalife is a pyramid scheme. He replied, wearily, “Dad, if you don’t know it by now...”