Philosophically, that’s a good point. My only rebuttal is that the stock market isn’t efficient. Options market predictions for future prices are oftentimes way

Philosophically, that’s a good point. My only rebuttal is that the stock market isn’t efficient. Options market predictions for future prices are oftentimes way off (like with AMD last year) and stocks will go up or down without change to a company’s fundamentals or without a new earnings report. If I could lend out any shares I own (and shares that I plan on owning for longer than the short seller will) for 1% interest per month to short sellers, I would! I certainly wouldn’t lend out any share for 2% per year or less. There’s a balance to be struck. This might only be 0-2 stocks in your portfolio at any given time. I also wouldn’t ever lend out dividend paying stocks (until the tax laws are updated) because the stock lender receives payment “in lieu of dividend”. It can’t ever be a qualified dividend so instead of paying 15% qualified dividends tax, you pay about 28% earned income tax on it instead. If I was not earning income for shares I was lending out, the optimal play is to never lend out shares for any reason because you’re right it’s a direct conflict of interest.