If you were to run a competition for the most maligned and misunderstood trading technique in Australia short selling would most likely come out on top.
The intriguing thing about this is that not that short selling is misunderstood by uber sooks such as Gerry Harvey but also by market regulators such as ASIC. Who in their wisdom banned short selling During the GFC for no gain and arguably a prolonging of the volatility experienced by the market.