I started this thread without touching the morality of short...

I started this thread without touching the morality of short selling. I merely commented on the dangerous level of risks the shorters seemed to be taking.

But I see there is a bit of a debate on the moral side of it. And some who support short selling have taken offense at those who don't and labelled them uneducated, so I thought I'd write a few lines.

I started dabbling in the stock market without knowing what short selling means, I was "uneducated". But since then I've read enough about it or become "educated".

To me, short selling, or selling of stocks you don't own which you borrowed from lenders who don't own them either (brokers and investment banks that lend stocks from their other clients' portfolios), is a sophisticated form of robbery. So in this regard I am in agreement with jdvictoria.

Holders won't just lend their shares because it doesn't make sense to lend your shares to people who will trash them in order to suck a profit out of them. Lenders lend shares they managed for other parties for a fee (a form of robbery). Shorters sell shares they don't own to push down the share price. Those who don't have the fortitute to keep holding are sometimes intimated into selling at a loss. Some might get margin calls due to LVR violation because of the sp tanking. It is a form of robbery.

I don't think it is a "necessary" evil as I haven't seen short selling keeping businesses healthy or honest. I just think it is evil.

I keep watch of the short selling trail because I want to study their behaviour from their short selling pattern and identify opportunities to get back at them and get even ;-)