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Short sellers aren’t pessimists. They’re realists.

988747 5y ago
It's not even about that. It's just about not wasting an opportunity to make money. Some stocks go through cycles: growth, then correction, then growth again. Shorting stock during market corrections helps you maximize your profits. I mean, I can imagine Michael Burry cashing $200M profits when Tesla price goes down, and then switching sides and going long. The most important thing in the stock markets is to remain rational. Don't let your personal like or dislike of Elon Musk stop you from making money. And btw: since March 31st Tesla stock price fell down about $100
- ecpottinger 5y ago
  I think you bring up an very valid point. In the Tesla forums I see posts from only one person making money over shorting Tesla stock. He works on making $10-$50 a share whenever the stock falls and then he makes money as a long when the stock goes up. Over time he has made a lot of money. He is not greedy, he is steady. On the other-hand, I see tons of people gleefully saying how much they hate Elon and because of him Tesla is going to collapse and as soon as that happens they will make a ton of money. I keep asking them to post when they make this windfall, well it has been over five years for me and so far not one of them have come back to tell how much money they have made. Greed seems to be blinding them to how much their approach is failing. The rational player has been making money for years, the ones who seem to be basing their investments on emotion have never come back to say they made any money. PS. I am a long, I bought Tesla stock at $189 pre-split, even at today's lower prices each share now represents $2825, it has to fall a lot for me to be taking a loss.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  > I can imagine Michael Burry cashing $200M profits when Tesla price goes down, and then switching sides and going long. Does he have some supernatural ability to time the market when everyone else fails?
  - HWR_14 5y ago
    He seems to have an excellent sense of the underlying value of assets and enough cash to hold plays for a few years until they are where he thinks they should be. On timing, he seems to be far too early to maximize profits, but I seem to recall him saying something to the effect of he'd rather be too early than too late. However, I could be very wrong. All I know about the man is what I've read about him.

It's not even about that. It's just about not wasting an opportunity to make money. Some stocks go through cycles: growth, then correction, then growth again. Shorting stock during market corrections helps you maximize your profits. I mean, I can imagine Michael Burry cashing $200M profits when Tesla price goes down, and then switching sides and going long. The most important thing in the stock markets is to remain rational. Don't let your personal like or dislike of Elon Musk stop you from making money. And btw: since March 31st Tesla stock price fell down about $100

ecpottinger 5y ago
I think you bring up an very valid point. In the Tesla forums I see posts from only one person making money over shorting Tesla stock. He works on making $10-$50 a share whenever the stock falls and then he makes money as a long when the stock goes up. Over time he has made a lot of money. He is not greedy, he is steady. On the other-hand, I see tons of people gleefully saying how much they hate Elon and because of him Tesla is going to collapse and as soon as that happens they will make a ton of money. I keep asking them to post when they make this windfall, well it has been over five years for me and so far not one of them have come back to tell how much money they have made. Greed seems to be blinding them to how much their approach is failing. The rational player has been making money for years, the ones who seem to be basing their investments on emotion have never come back to say they made any money. PS. I am a long, I bought Tesla stock at $189 pre-split, even at today's lower prices each share now represents $2825, it has to fall a lot for me to be taking a loss.
rootusrootus 5y ago
> I can imagine Michael Burry cashing $200M profits when Tesla price goes down, and then switching sides and going long. Does he have some supernatural ability to time the market when everyone else fails?
- HWR_14 5y ago
  He seems to have an excellent sense of the underlying value of assets and enough cash to hold plays for a few years until they are where he thinks they should be. On timing, he seems to be far too early to maximize profits, but I seem to recall him saying something to the effect of he'd rather be too early than too late. However, I could be very wrong. All I know about the man is what I've read about him.