Lansdowne Short Clashes With Wilbur Ross Bullish Position in Big European Bank

Lansdowne Partners has loaded its bearish guns against the Bank of Ireland (NYSE:IRE)—the $12.4 billion hedge fund revealed a 0.57 percent short in the Irish lender. The Lansdowne short may not be huge but the message is significant. Recently Goldman Sachs downgraded IRE to Sell from Neutral rating. In response to the downgrade shares dropped 5 percent in intraday trading. To Lansdowne's credit, IRE shares are now down 12 percent since the fund disclosed the short on May 31—this hedge fund does have some kind of charm.