Quote:If you can do that, then congratulations, there is a job waiting for you on Wall Street.   And you won't be sitting with us peons in the stands, you will have a sky box.   

 

I just don't believe you can do that with enough consistency to avoid losing money.  

 

If you buy "long" your risk is limited to your investment.   If you short, your risk is theoretically unlimited.   Think about that.  Besides, do you really think you know more about what's happening at Acme Novelties than the average hedge fund manager who is doing this 24/7 and has a pipeline of information that you don't have?  

 

Unless large banks or hedge funds are paying for the information (which is entirely likely) they don't have much more of an advantage than anyone else.  Their risk is typically just as big as yours.

 

There are factors and cycles with many stocks where you can make educated guesses on shorting them.

 

Edit:  The average Joe may have trouble getting a credit limit with a broker so they can short a stock.  It's not for everyone...and I don't have enough $$$$ to do it, but I know people that have and have done well.  They also limit their risk.

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