people are still confusing the issue.Going short or long a stock...

people are still confusing the issue.

Going short or long a stock is no different or no less risky.

If someone has inside information about a stock and shorts it based on the inside info,that is illegal.

But it is no different if someone has inside info and goes long a stock.

Insider trading is illegal.

Shorting stocks is as risky as any other type of trading.

Infact shorting is more risky as everything is biased to the long side.

Assume you were short ABS when the announcement came thru that Morgan Stanley was coming on board.

The share price shot up 15% in 10 minutes.Shorts would have been creamed.

If you think shorting is easy,why not try it yourself.

I can tell you from my own experience shorting is very,very difficult.

My approach these days is to wait for good companies to come down in price and buy them cheaply.

I dont bother holding many stocks for the long term.

I grab profits when ever I can.

And the old cliche about not falling in love with individual stocks is about the best advice out there imho.

Moved from the "United States" forum. Original message number: 653