g'day inore,shorting is the opposite to what most traders do...

g'day inore,

shorting is the opposite to what most traders do with "long" trading, i.e. you buy the shares at a low price then sell at a higher price, pocketing the difference as profit.

Shorting means "selling" the share at a price then "buying" back at a lower price, pocketing the difference as profit. It is a means or making money as shares fall. It was traditionally only available to large broking houses and institutional investors in australian markets but these days is available to more people/traders. It is huge business in the USA markets. "covered short selling" has been in the news a lot lately and it is what brought chimaera and a couple of other margin lenders down recently.

hope that helps.

steve