What is short and distort? Short and distort refers to an unethical and illegal practice that involves investors shorting a stock and then spreading rumors in an attempt to drive down its price. Such a practice, most often employed by stock manipulators who trade daily via the internet, involves the spread of unsubstantiated rumors and other kinds of unverified negative news designed to help them realize a profit on their short position.
Short and distort can be contrasted with a pump and dump scheme, whereby the perpetrator takes a long position and then spreads misinformation to drive the stock price up.