Short sellers are up $114 billion this year with winning bets against Tesla and Netflix. Short sellers are reaping huge profits this year, as the stock market’s brutal bloodbath fuel their bearish bets. The short-selling cohort has gained $114 billion in January mark-to-market profits as of Friday’s close, up 11.6% for the year, according to data from S3 Partners’ Ihor Dusaniwsky. The stock rout was triggered by a potential policy shift from the Federal Reserve. The central bank has signaled interest rate hikes this year as well as a tapering of asset purchases and a balance sheet reduction. The potential action would mark an aggressive hawkish tilt for the Fed after nearly two years of ultra-easy monetary policy to support the economy from the pandemic.