[h2zizzle]

No, they're quasi-legal positions, often between private parties and undisclosed to the public, whose stipulations require further positioning that can move markets in unexpected and unexplainable ways. Hype is emotional, this is reason, albeit flawed because of incomplete information. Tesla shorts reasoned that an electric car company, a sector segment that has never been successful, was doomed; they short-sold the stock expecting never to have to close their positions, as bankruptcy would result in cancellation of Tesla's shares. That didn't happen; they didn't understand that there was a demand for the kind of vehicle Tesla sold, how much money Musk was willing to pour into the company to keep it afloat, etc. So the price rise would be a result of reconciling their bad bet with the market.