It is possible to profit when stocks fall in the market by betting on a company underperforming. This is known as shorting a stock. They say profit warnings come in threes, so there are many bear traders out there stalking the market for potential victims. Shorting stocks is how you use spread betting to bet on a downward market, and this can be profitable, but beware as losses are unlimited. You can only make as much as your stake goes to zero, but in theory, a stock price can go on up forever. Compare spread betting brokers for shorting a stock.