Chart, page-17022

I didn't say it's not manipulation, only that you have no idea how it actually works.
It takes years of being apprentice and learning all the various trading strategies until they let you play on your own at hedge fund trading desk.

And yes, that's the idea: you can't possibly buy $ millions worth of shares in a risky stock, without being deep in red or creating artificial bull run where you inflate the stock you trying to buy..
If you do that you get fired, so what do you do?
You accumulate all the way down from $2 to $1 while hedging with shorts.
if it drops to 10c it's still the same as you bought the bottom, as long as you're hedged.
If you get it wrong and stock never recovers: no harm done.
If associated risks get resolved: you dump your shorts and collect the profits on the way up.
It works the same the other way. And that's just 1 of many waysshorts are used by traders.

P.S. Cramer is a TV star that tells their audience what they want to hear. If he told them what I told you: he'd be making YouTube videos from garage.