Baristas Coffee Company, Inc. (BCCI)

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Correct. The company would have to go out of business, and the broker will still charge a small fee to close out the position as if it were a trade. Otherwise, the position could stay in the portfolio for year to come. In essence, one has to pay in order to move on and have one's funds available again.

On the other hand, I could by another stock at 3 and if I made the right calculations, a year later, it could be worth 20.

Considering this, the only question is why would anybody bother to short? To what end? I rather go long and have a chance at a multiple bagger.