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Why I'm Short Everything and Loving It - A 27-Year Bear's Playbook

Author

Don Kaufman
November 18, 2025

This Black Friday, we're doubling your TheoTrade buying power. 

Spend $1,000, get $2,000 in credits.

Don't be the trader who waits too long while the smart money is already positioning. 

Don Kaufman here. 

What do you do for a living? I'm short crap. For 27 years. And I'm loving it.

That's my response when strangers ask about my career. While most traders are getting chopped up in today's fourth straight losing session, I'm sitting pretty - having closed my XLE position for a 30% gain in one day and my XLF trade for a 56% winner.

The secret? I never forgot how to dance on the dark side.

Jeff Bierman and I are both better shorts than we are longs by far. When people ask what I do, I tell them I've been shorting stuff for decades and loving every minute of it.

Taking Profits While Others Take Beatings

While analysts debate AI valuations and partnership announcements, I've been closing profitable positions left and right. My approach isn't complicated - wait for markets to show their hand, then strike fast.

Pretty much everything I've thrown at this marketplace has come off profitable.