shorting explained - why lynas is where it is , page-3

They are MY shares. Why shouldn't I lend them to someone if I want?

"And they don't invest in businesses - the prime function of a stock market - they just fiddle the shares to make money at the expense of everyone else."

How do you know that? At one point, 80% of my PF was a result of direct purchases of shares through IPOs and CRs - and I short (not LYC).

Actually for most on HC, the function of the market is to make money buying, selling, shorting through the market, not through new injection of capital. All people are doing is buying a share from someone else as a bet that it will go up. Shorters are borrowing shares from people and selling them as a bet that they will go down. If you can find a company which is guaranteed to go bust, why not short it? You're not affecting the outcome.