hi,voltaire:Without adding any fuel to the fire, here is my...

hi,voltaire:

Without adding any fuel to the fire, here is my understanding.

Most of the shares being borrowed to short are from those so-called "index funds". They don't really care whether the market is going down or up. All they need is to "beat the market".

Now they lend shares to the shorters, the market goes down. But they can charge the borrowers based on the value of the shares. So they can always safely beat the market (at least by the margin they charge), with almost no risk.

This is my understanding only. Happy to hear other opinions.

jacky