Governments are offering some short-term props to the market: first-time buyers in America are eligible for tax credits on deals that close before the end of November, for example.
How about fresh all-time highs while the broad market consolidates, trading at huge premiums to short and long-term moving averages, and bullish sentiment among nearly every analyst.
Assuming the possibility that the short-seller's bearishness is unwarranted--which is a lot of the time--the seller, seeking to avoid losses on shares sold short, must re-enter the market in order to buy back the shares at a loss so that they can be returned.
When Stevenson helped start investment firm, Baupost Group, for example, he was looking for customers that wanted to preserve and grow capital over a long time rather than seeking to beat short-term market averages.