Better money, plain and simple MyDem. there are also other factors, it seems more challenging with the intricate money making strats that the sell side try to pull off, the buy side (before hedge funds) are basically stock picking (which in my opinion is a suckers game) for granny's pension fund. Sell side you're also selling to the sophisticated professionals who actually work on the Street. The downside, no social life, bonus too closely associated with the markets, working long hours...
With the many arb's out there, and the tremendous advantage of short stock interest, the "reversal" (sell stock, sell put, buy call) has always been of great interest to floor traders...and now, with interest rates going up, we are seeing a lot more activity in this regard. Don
The interests of the government are always going to be for a rising stock market. Whatever it takes to get it higher. That's why the renegades who attempt to play Russian Roulette with the Midnight Rally Crew will always regret it.
================= Must have been a strong sector, & SPY related is still bull market; other trader is right also , short side does % faster. Some of its personality & would rather fly & use my frequent flier miles than go long airlines stock,even LUV.
Theoretically your profit potential going long is infinite. Your profit potential going short is 100% ( more if you use leverage) Therefore mathematically it is more rewarding to go long than short. Personally I like to trade on the short side, maybe it's because I started my trading career inside of a bear market. The profits from shorting seem to accrue quicker . Also note that more money is made selling hope/advice, analysis and systems to traders than is made from trading itself. Therefore selling infinite reward potential is more lucrative than selling a 100% reward potential.
The title of this thread is too simplistic. What time frame are we talking? Some days the short side rules, other days the long side rules and still other days both sides play well.