It's the opposite of going long. you are trying to profit from a...

It's the opposite of going long. you are trying to profit from a falling sp.

you essentially sell stock which you don't own but have borrowed (your broker sorts all that out) and then you buy that stock back at some point in the future at a lower sp (the stock is returned to the lender) and you profit from the price difference.

so you sell 1000 IVA at 20c for $200 then a few days later you buy 1000 IVA back at 10c for $100. Your profit is $100 on the trade.

The best result you can hope for is the stock goes to zero and you double your money but there is no limit to your potential loss exposure since the stock will have no ceiling and could rise many multiples.

It's very risky and usually only practiced by the professionals.