Re:You think it's funny, but actually ... (Score 1)

The issues of ability to short is a significant one, especially for a large volume of shares. However, Baystar, or anyone else, could also have simply bought put options on the stock as well, which are effectively simply the option to pretend that you shorted awhile back (though the money isn't pretend). This, though there can be problems getting put options too (especially if there are very few people speculating on the upside) also allows you to not have to worry about getting margin calls on your short positions when the stock prices fluctuates up for a bit, providing you still have time remaining to expiration on the put options for the stock price to go back down.