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  Short selling then Howard. It is a perfectly reasonable and sensible practise that can be used to good effect by a skilled trader to the benefit of their clients.
  
  Basically it is the selling of a stock because you think it will fall. A 'long' is where you hold a stock because you think it will rise. These can be combined with derivatives to reduce the volatility of a fund, offsetting risks. It is a highly skilled operation that can result in a manager generating gains even in a falling market.
  
  This is one of the investment styles that can be used by the managers of what are called 'Absolute Return' funds. These funds seek (but don't promise) to achieve a positive return under all market conditions. They can be used as an 'alternative asset' within portfolios for diversification and to help reduce the downside risk of a portfolio. I have used one of the long/short style AR funds though I prefer to use multi-asset AR funds as a general rule. They work very well but need to be used with caution and highly selectively. Personally I am fairly conservative in my use of them and they form a rather small proportion of my portfolios.
  
  Overused shorting can increase the volatility of the markets, so I can understand why some countries have banned the practise for bank stocks, specially as banks are under pressure in other ways in those countries. That said at a time when managers need liquidity this ban may well be counter-productive and may itself depress the value of bank stocks and the market.

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