Short Interest

Short Interest

The quantity of stock shares that investors have sold short but not yet covered or closed out. Short interest is a market-sentiment indicator that tells whether investors think a stock's price is likely to fall. Short interest can also be compared over time to examine changes in investor sentiment. Investors use short interest to make predictions about the direction a particular stock is headed, and to measure the bullishness or bearishness of investors' sentiment towards the market as a whole.

Short interest can be expressed as a percentage by dividing the number of shares sold short by the total number of outstanding shares. For example, 3% short interest means that 3% of the outstanding shares are held short. Short interest can also simply be expressed as the number of shares sold short but not yet covered or closed out. Short interest data is widely and easily available online.


Investment dictionary. . 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

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