I suspect the fear of shorting has to do with the theoretical risk that losses could be infinite as opposed to going long where worst case scenario is just total loss. I think that becomes a real risk only if you short small companies so a relatively small amount of money can push the price through the roof. I just started shorting stocks about a month ago and I made sure these are fairly large companies. Plus I make sure there’s a stop loss in place and between these two policies I hope I’ve reduced the risk of getting squeezed to a minimal.
But I would also look into PUT options as they come with a built-in stop loss mechanism. So I can execute the trade then go away and know that while I may lose my shirt, I will definitely be able to keep my pants on.
