Another reason some investors bet on stocks with heavy Short Interest is due to the knowledge that eventually those short sellers will have to repurchase the stock, meaning there's guaranteed buying interest in the future."

That bolded statement isn't always true.   Some investors will anticipate that a company is desperate for financing and will soon offer a private placement with warrants.   They short the stock which invariably knocks down the share price of a thinly traded stock...then with the money from the short sale they participate in the private placement and get the shares they need to cover the short position (no need for buying in the market and pushing the price back up) .  They cover their short ''risk free' and they get to keep the warrants ''for free''. 

I read somewhere that this is potentially illegal but that it happens all the time.  Just ask Bloom Burton...