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What is Shorting?

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There are various ways investors use to make money from their investments. With this in mind, there, various tools have been created over the years, to minimize losses and bring in more traders. A majority of the time, these tools and strategies work to make the lives of traders easier and help them generate significant returns. However, sometimes these strategies can backfire too. One such strategy is short selling, or shorting. To help you understand the question of “what is shorting?”, we have here everything you might need to know about it.

What is Shorting a Stock? 

The aim behind shorting or short-selling is to profit from a drop in a stock's price. This is done by traders first borrowing shares and then selling them when they expect the price of the shares to crash. This enables the traders to buy the shares back later at a lower price, return them from whom they borrowed and pocket the difference as profit themselves. The tricky part of short-selling, however, is the market timing and the fact that the shares are borrowed, which can lead to quite catastrophic results if they aren’t sold at the right price. 

Why Sell Short? 

As risky as short-selling might be, it does help investors generate profits from stocks that are overvalued. Every time a stock’s price declines, investors will end up making money. To add to the usefulness of short selling, it is also used by fund managers to protect against downside holding risk. Here are a few examples of the different types of short-selling:

Short Selling Type

Example

Example of short selling for profit

Suppose an investor speculates that the current market price of stock ABC, which stands at ₹200, is overvalued and post ABC’s quarterly reports its prices will drop.  


With this in mind, they borrow 30 ABC stocks from another investor and sell them in the market at the current price. Now they are ‘short’ of 30 shares. In a week, after the quarterly reports, ABC’s shares drop to  ₹175. The investor repurchases the 30 ABC stocks at the market price which enables them to pocket ₹25/share and give the stocks back to the investor they had borrowed it from. 

Example of short selling for a loss

Let us suppose that you decide to borrow shares from your broker and sell them at the current market price, expecting the price to fall in a week or two so that you can repurchase them and then pocket the difference before returning it to the broker. 


However, it so happens that instead of dropping, the price of the shares increases. Since these were borrowed shares, you would not have any other option than to buy back the shares to return them to your stockbroker. The difference between how much you sold the shares for and how much you bought them for, would be the loss that you will incur.   

An example of short-selling as Hedge

Let us suppose that you own the shares of a company and anticipate that their price will take a downward dive shortly. Now, of course, you’d want to hedge against such a loss. What you can do in such a case is to short-sell the same number of shares as yours, of the same company. If the share value does decrease, then the earnings from your short position could offset the potential losses from your long position. 

Pros and Cons of Short Selling 

Like every other investment concept, short-selling also has its pros and cons. Below is a list of both of them:

Pros

  1. High  Proft Potential

    The main reason why short selling is so popular among seasoned traders is because it has a huge profit potential when done right. This is true even when the market is on a downturn and the concept can be used to hedge and protect your investment portfolio as well. 

  2. Less Investment Capital

    Another great thing about short selling is that it can be done with very little funds and investors still stand the chance to win profits. 

  3. Use of Leveraged Investments 

    In short selling, when the investor's prediction works in their favour, they can earn profits and make a return on their investment. Of course, they need to possess the margin to initiate the trade in the first place. However, this means that they do not have to do all the heavy lifting of the investment. 

  4. Hedge against other holdings

    Another brilliant benefit of short selling is that the profits from it can offset any potential losses that your portfolio might be in danger of facing. 

Cons

  1. Unlimited Loss Potential 

    The potential for losses in short selling has no ceiling. This is especially true if the price of the shares does not end up moving as predicted. This will have you losing all of your outlay. 

  2. Margin Interest

    Since short selling is about borrowing, the interest incurred from the borrowings cannot be ignored. This interest could up eating into the profit of what a trader could end up making when short-selling.  

  3. Short Squeezes

    The short squeeze condition arises when the value of the stocks rises and traders start closing their positions, increasing the share prices as well. 

Additional Considerations in Short Selling 

Seeing as the concept of short-selling itself is a risky one, it is important to keep certain considerations in mind. 

  1. Risk Governing

    • When risks are governed then it can result in the banning of short sales in particular sectors. 

    • The very nature of short-selling is urgent and can create panic among traders, resulting in sudden price spikes

    • As a result, traders could end up incurring losses when they are closing their positions. 

  2. Timing

    • If you were waiting for a well-performing stock to decline, then you will end up waiting for quite a while

    • This wait can end up with the trader paying more and more interest and margin on the borrowed shares than they might make a profit. 

  3. Use of Borrowed Funds

    • To start the short-selling process, traders need to open a margin account and borrow money from their brokerage firm. 

    • But with this in mind, and if the trader decides to go long on the margin, in the long run, they will either end up liquidating their position or investing more.

Short Selling Metric 

In short-selling, traders usually consider two metrics; stocks that are under-valued and stocks that are over-valued. These metrics help monitor the behaviour of stocks in the market. Listed below are two short-selling metric ratios:

 

  • Short Interest Ratio

    The short interest ratio points towards the number of stocks shorted in comparison with the number that is currently in the market. A lower ratio indicates that the falling stocks are under-valued while a higher ratio indicates that they are over-valued.

  • Day-to-cover ratio

    This ratio shows how many stocks have been shorted compared to the number of stocks in the market. With such a ratio, traders can determine where the stock stands in the market. 

Ideal Conditions for Short Selling  

Listed below are some of the different conditions and how short-selling should be carried out in each of them.

  1. In a Bearish Market:

    • With stock prices fluctuating constantly, the decline rate increases, potentially resulting in the loss of substantial gains in mere days or weeks. 

    • This is why, in such conditions, you have to be very precise white short-selling

  2. During Deterioration of Market Fundamentals:

    • Numerous reasons can cause a fall in a stock’s fundamentals like challenges to profit growth, rise in input costs, etc

    • These aspects need to be kept in mind when you are short-selling. 

  3. Short-Selling Reputation

    • Since short-sellers are intimidating traders in the market, other traders are vary of them

    • This, in turn, can end up deflating share prices. 
       

Real-World Example of Short Selling 

The Risk of Short-Selling 

Conclusion  

The very first thing that needs to be understood about short-selling is that it is not for new traders, especially the ones who have no idea about the risks that the method holds. Short-selling should be done only by traders who are experienced, know their way around the market and are aware of all the pros and cons that come with short-selling.

Disclaimer: Investments in the securities market are subject to market risk, read all related documents carefully before investing.

This content is for educational purposes only. Securities quoted are exemplary and not recommendatory.

For All Disclaimers Click Here: https://bit.ly/3Tcsfuc

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is short selling in the stock market?

Answer Field

In short-selling, traders first borrow shares and then sell them when they expect the price of the shares to crash. This enables the traders to buy the shares back later at a lower price, return them from whom they borrowed and pocket the difference as profit themselves.

What are the risks associated with short selling?

Answer Field

Short-selling comes with an unlimited loss potential and is done through borrowed funds, which in turn incur interest.

How is short selling different from regular selling of stocks?

Answer Field

Regular selling of stocks is done by traders who have invested their funds in purchasing the stocks in the first place. Short-selling, on the other hand, is done by borrowing shares from stockbrokers.

What are the regulations and restrictions on short selling?

Answer Field

Short-selling is legal in India and most other countries. But the chances of market regulators restricting short selling in particular sectors or the entire market are there. This is to avoid any kind of panic among market participants.

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