If you short a share you have to buy it back. If you lend out...

If you short a share you have to buy it back. If you lend out your shares to another party, they have to return those shares at some point. When you short a share all you can ever make is the price you shorted them at. So, if you short a share at 10c and it falls to zero, that's all you can make. However, if the stock takes off you have an almost unlimited exposure. that is why it is a specialised. If you look at IWG and it has a valuation of $50.59m at 8 cents and there is a mechanism put in place that always issues shares at a discount to the market, then the odds are it is only heading one way.