Bears and shortists

I came across a book talking about the bears of the market. It is really interesting that shortist (people who short sell a stock) are one of the most hated and unappreciated traders in the trading world. Why? They are the ones who bring down the price of the stock and Wall Street doesn't like it. Famous shortists who made millions of dollars during the bear market were never really held in honors. The reason is people hated these people and will do anything to hunt them down. If you are a huge shortseller in the market, Wall Street will hunt you down, prevent you from shorting and try to force you to cover all that you shorted till near bankruptcy. These are the some of the hidden stories that most will never know. But somehow, shortists do have some sort of purpose in the market, they prevent the market from going to far and maintain the appropriate price level.

Another is the the presence of bearish people who warn people of a top in the market. They are somehow similar to the "boy who cried wolf". Cause despite many warnings, Wall Street did not heed them and turn a blind eye to it. And when it happens, no one was prepared for the crash of market. This was what happened in the 2008 financial crisis. In 2007, stocks were up so much everyone was in euphoria, suggesting that it will go even higher. Some discovered the cracks in the US housing crisis and tried to warn everyone but was shunned. And there, bad news started to pour in, US was actually in recession, everything just snowballed. The top of the market is really hard to tell.

Interesting huh.