I will assume you are trying to be funny. But just in case you...

I will assume you are trying to be funny. But just in case you are serious, i will give you a reply.

The most eloquent reply I can give here is "what a load of tripe".

Whilst I agree that the primary purpose of capital markets, as originally intended, is to match those that need capital to those that can provide it, I think even you would understand that a large proportion of market participants do not take an ownership mentality, but rather are trying to take a quick punt.

And that is true irrespective of whether they go "long" or go "short".

I myself hold the stocks that i own, longer than most (for many years, even decades). I may not generally hold short term speculators in high regard, but should i think of them as evil?

And lets not forget, whatever moral judgements we may make of speculators, the greatest injury inflicted by most of them, is not the damage they inflict on businesses, but the damage they do to themselves.