The Phenomenon Blindsiding Shopify's Detractors

Two months ago, Citron Research's Andrew Left made waves when he said Shopify's (NYSE: SHOP) 500,000 merchants were the result of false promises and dirty recruitment tactics. He backed his claim by showing videos of Shopify affiliates pumping the chance for easy money using the company's e-commerce platform.

Left's warning is worth heeding: I'm not sure how many of those 500,000 merchants I would consider "legitimate". As a shareholder, I agreed some tightening of standards needed to take place. And yet, I bought shares of Shopify stock after the report, bringing it to 4.4% of my personal holdings today.

That's because there's one crucial phenomenon that Left and fellow short-sellers are overlooking: positive black swans.

Source: Fool.com