Short data on WBT, page-46

To move the market one would need to hold a great deal of stock. There are firms who specialise in this and do quite well at it. MUFG is one I see on the ASX time to time in the high liquidity, large MC space.

I can't rule out that there isn't an operator driving down the WBT price, but I don't see evidence of it. There will be smaller traders who take small short positions if they can see the risk/reward in their favor, usually derived from technicals, market structure or perhaps some other information edge.

On these forums I see a lot of negative sentiment towards shorting - likely because they're not sophisticated, don't have access to the product and for the great majority of their investing experience are taking long positions only. Therefore they don't take the time to understand the details. In a bear market wouldn't you want to make money in that direction too? We're all making decisions and essentially passing risk around based on our own individual strategies (assuming you have one..) and risk tolerance. If I'm up 300% on WBT and sell to someone else, that person has a differing view to me and thinks there is further room for price appreciation. If I borrow shares and short then cover (sell) at a lower price to someone who sees value at the lower levels - who's wrong in that case? Liquidity is provided and that's all part of the markets.

There are some great books available on the subject and anyone serious should consider learning more about it.