"Also, you seem 'conditioned' to believe that there MUST be bears and bulls. Why?"
Is the ocean tide only out or only in? No, there's cycles. Just as there isn't only good in the world, there's also the flip side.
"Why can't we simply have a system where if you think a stock has potential, you buy. If you don't think it has potential, you move on to one that does."
That is the system and you're already doing exactly that. You believe Hemi has potential and you're here. If you thought it didn't, you wouldn't be here. Same reason I'm here.
People buy real estate with hopes their investment goes up. No one shorts homes or land. Why should they be allowed to short stocks, which can be equally as long term of an investment?
People also know that real estate doesn't go up 100% of the time. They know there are cycles. and shorting in a sorts does occur. When the bubble is about to burst, the smart money sells and gets out. They know the value will go down, then when the bottom is reached, they get back in. It's the sheep/lemmings that take the losses since they lack education and timing. That's where the complaints and whining come from but that's the risk of the market. You can lose money when a stock goes up and you can lose money when a stock goes down.
It is simply a system that has only been in place for 70+ years and people have became accustomed to it. Doesn't means it's good or right.
I agree. However you're original argument was with NSS then you moved it to all shorting which is where I provided a rebuttal due to the one sided point of view you offered. So perhaps to lay the issue to rest, we'll agree that MMs need more supervision to not abuse the system they are working and leave shorts and puts in place for the bigger transparent stocks/exchanges. Is that a better common ground?
