However, your broker can attend to that by borrowing the stock. As

explained in the preceding chapter, when the market is active most of

the trading is done on margin. Your broker buys a stock for you, but as

he has to pay for it in full, it is customary for him to take it to his

bank and borrow money on it. A bank usually lends about 80% of the

market value, but if some other broker wants to borrow this stock, he

will lend the full value of it. If that particular stock is very scarce

and hard to get, the lender of the stock may get the use of the money

without any interest.



Therefore, there is an advantage to the broker in lending stock, and for

that reason it is nearly always possible for a broker to arrange

delivery of stock for you if you wish to sell short. When you instruct

him later on to buy the stock for you, he will do so and deliver it to

the broker from whom he borrowed it, who will return the money he

received for it.



When you sell stock short and the price goes up, you will have to pay a

higher price for it. Therefore, to protect himself against the

possibility of losing, your broker demands a payment from you just the

same as you pay margin when you buy stock.



Short selling is something that we do not recommend very much to our

clients. We think it is not advisable to do any short selling as long as

there are good opportunities to make money by buying; but when all

bargains disappear, as they do sometimes, you must either sell short or

else keep out of the market entirely. At such times, there may be many

opportunities to make money by short selling, and we do not consider

that there is any reason why our clients should not take advantage of

them.



Of course, great care must be exercised in selling stocks short. You

might sell a stock short because you know the market price is 100%

greater than its real value, but it is possible for manipulators to

force it up a great deal higher; and if you are not able to put up

sufficient money with your broker to protect him, he will buy at a high

price and you will lose the money you have put up with him. In some

instances, stocks are cornered and the short interests are forced to buy

the stocks at prices that represent enormous losses.



It is a common thing to read about the short interests in certain

stocks. All stocks that are sold short must be bought sooner or later,

and when that buying takes place, it may affect the market very much.

Therefore, if it is known that there is a big short interest in a

certain stock, we should expect the stock to sell at a higher price; but

sometimes the short interests break the market and force the price down,

especially when general conditions are in their favor.