It is not an issue and good for equity markets overall. Most...

It is not an issue and good for equity markets overall. Most amateur punters just don't have to good sense to work it out as its a good scapegoat for when they lose money making a bad investments call. Next in line is typically management are crooks. Never does anyone say they made a wrong call because they DYOR and nothing could go wrong.

Paraphrasing is a wicked thing. A shorter only affects prices as much as a buyer who crosses the spread and recklessly bids up stocks (Do you complain when that happens?). Pro shorters will use passive execution methods to maximise their gain and deploy a max position and not give it away. Shorters don't make money by being the last seller at the low point after "forcing" down the price as they'd have to cover at higher prices. Fact is some only a small proportion of % traded a day is short sales and overall, its mostly long holders trading amongst themselves. The ASX is only 2% or so shorted, which is low by developed world equity market standards. Fact is, shares prices make sustained falls not from reckless and sinister shorting but from nuffers like yourself that buy high and sell low, making poor investment decisions and capitulated, or long holders selling to move capital elsewhere when a company fails to live up to a thesis or has something go very wrong.