Poor analogy. Do your own research on the company. The only...

Poor analogy.

Do your own research on the company. The only factors that matter, ultimately, are revenue, margin and profit. Information, data, research and insight are the only important inputs to drive your investment decision.
Focus on those.
Shorting, brokers, the big guys, even insider share sales etc are short term noise and do not affect value. Don't overweight their importance or use as excuses for poor research.