hope it rally today, page-35

The meaning of 'shorting' has changed over the years. It is interesting to me to see the discussion here about it.

Originally shorting literally meant selling stock you did not own in the hope of buying it back at a lower price. To do this it was necessary to put up the full $ value of the contract and add to it if the market moved against your position. This led to some curious outcomes and it all came to a head when market players became aware that a listed Fijian gold miner had sold more shares than were on issue. That's when the regulators moved in.

Now the term 'shorting' means holding any position that will profit from a market fall, a considerable difference to the original definition.

The big funds that put pressure on the big banks and even Fortescue, have deep pockets. But there are now a lot of small traders who are blissfully ignorant of the dangers. I consider myself a fairly agressive risk taker, with one proviso. I like to know what the maximum downside is, should I get it wrong.

With the world in the state it is, that is even more important to me than normally. I guess 1987 did that to me. I'm not bearish at all, just the opposite, but I want to live to fight another day.