I'm convinced there is no moral superiority in borrowing a losing investor's shares and booking gainz on their unrealized losses. The LORD showed me, finally, why I am unable to realize true financial freedom after attempting to be a trader for more than a decade, and it's because I chose the dark side, right from the start. I'm a recovering perma bear, and would be flying a Gulfstream by now if I had just bought the leaders back in 2009 with MAXIMUM LEVERAGE!
Notwithstanding the obvious flaw in your conceptual calculations (bro, did you even do the math?), usury is a sin. It is OK to lend to your brother, seeking nothing in return, and OK for a bank to lend to the public on good credit risk in exchange for a fair time value of the expected productivity of the money, were it put to use in a normal productive business, but loan sharking is an abomination. It defiles all three involved - the lender, borrower, and money itself!
OK, so the poor guy who loan me the stocks to short is the sinner, he, the loan shark, who charges me obscene interest rate so he could cover a fraction of his losses should be stoned?
1. He actually says not shorting but HODLING, but I was replying to your post about pairs trading. 2a. Shorting or longing is still a pairs trade vs the USD. 2b. You said pairs trading is okay. Pairs trading is literally shorting one asset to long another. 3. Shorting isn’t inherently predatory. Most shorting is a hedging activity that serves as a buffer when a stock sells off. there are natural buyers coverings. This is your pairs trades are different example. Some shorting is predatory. But so can momentum longs as well especially in commodities and interest rate products. And trading is inherently predatory as generally the goal is to front run real money investors who are trying to produce a real good/product or investing to help a company succeed.