We follow 13,910 U.S. domestic stocks with short interest with short interest of $1.17 trillion. Short selling in these stocks is highly concentrated, with the top twenty-five most shorted stocks totaling $211 billion, making up 18.1% of the total shorts in the region.
The S&P 500 was up +2.09% over the last 30 days along with the Nasdaq +5.67% and broader Russell 3000 +2.31%, which is the primary factor in the increased the value of the shares shorted in the U.S. region. The following are the stocks in the region with the greatest increase in short exposure over the last thirty days. Overall short interest exposure increased by $43.92 billion over the last 30 days, +4.01%.
The following stocks had the largest reduction of short exposure over the last thirty days.
Changes in a stock’s short interest are made up of mark-to-market price moves and either short selling or short covering activity. The following stocks had the largest increase in short selling activity over the last thirty days.
And the following stocks had the largest amount of short covering over the last thirty days.
High Short Interest as a % of Float is a factor in the “crowdedness” of a shorted stock. Higher numbers can have negative effects on stock loan liquidity as well as trading liquidity. The following are stocks with highest SI % Float and short interest over $100 million. The average SI % of Float in the U.S. is 5.39% while the average S3 SI % Float which includes the synthetic longs created by every short sale in the Float denominator is 4.87%.
Stock borrows fees in the U.S. have remained relatively stable recently with the average stock borrow fee 0.71% versus 0.79% a month ago. The highest stock borrow fees in the U.S. for stocks with over $100 million of short interest are:
Overall, U.S. short sellers are down -$44.49 billion in net of financing mark-to-market losses over the last thirty days. A return of -3.88% on an average short interest of $1.15 trillion. 26.3% of the year’s short side losses occurred over the last 30 days, year-to-date net-of-financing mark-to market losses in the U.S. market are -$168.96 billion, a -15.45% on an average short interest of $1.09 trillion. The following are the top twenty largest winners and losers over the last thirty days.
The definition of a “crowded” short trade varies from investor to investor but there are several themes that remain constant. A short can be considered to be “crowded” if some or all of the following occur: there are large amount of dollars at risk on the short side, a large proportion of a stock’s float is being shorted, there is illiquidity in the stock loan market and\or there is illiquidity in the trading market. The ten most crowded U.S. stocks with over $100 million of short interest, according to our Crowded Score, are:
Not every Crowded stock is a Squeeze candidate. By overlaying our Squeeze algo over our Crowded stock results we can determine which U.S. traded stocks have the highest potential for a Squeeze, and which do not. The following ten stocks have earned our highest Squeeze Scores, which does not mean a Squeeze will actually occur, but means that if the present trends continue, there is a good chance for a Squeeze.
Looking at short selling trends over time provides insight into overall market sentiment as well as the strength of bearish conviction in individual equities. Our Blacklight SaaS platform and Black APP provides an up to date view of short selling and short covering on an equity, sector, index, or country-wide basis allowing investors\traders to better manage their existing long and short positions.
Research Note written by Ihor Dusaniwsky, Managing Director of Predictive Analytics, S3 Partners, LLC
For deeper insight into short side data and analysis contact me at Ihor.Dusaniwsky@S3Partners.com
For short side data and access to our research reports go to https://shortsight.com/ .
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The information herein (some of which has been obtained from third party sources without verification) is believed by S3 Partners, LLC (“S3 Partners”) to be reliable and accurate. Neither S3 Partners nor any of its affiliates makes any representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the information herein or accepts liability arising from its use. Prior to making any decisions based on the information herein, you should determine, without reliance upon S3 Partners, the economic risks, and merits, as well as the legal, tax, accounting, and investment consequences, of such decisions.
