Quote Originally Posted by rory_20_uk View Post
Whilst futures and options both can (not always) have a real world use, the practice of shorting stock has no real world value.
Maybe, there is debate. The origin of shorting was just financial trickery grandfathered into digital transactions. There is a case that short sellers act as a check on fraud and speculative bubbles by looking into companies that are genuinely over-valued due to fraud or momentum.

Some would argue this function would be best served by financial journalists, but given all we have is CNBC...I'm not sure where these smart individuals with enough knowledge to detect bubbles but willing to be paid journalism wages are going to come from.