Most shorted stocks

Shorted stocks list: this week’s most shorted stocks

Here are the most shorted stocks this week – ended September 17 2021 – by average sell volume according to client account data from FOREX.com UK. 

1. Tesla Motors
2. Civitas Social Housing
3. BHP Group PLC
4. Anglo American
5. Mondi
6. Ambu
7. Bank of Ireland
8. Future
9. Nasdaq
10. Evraz

Tesla (-0.37%), Civitas Social Housing (+0.10%) and BHP Group (-5.02%) remain in the top most shorted stocks this week.

Anglo American shares are down by 11.58% this week, as part of a larger 17.9% decline in the last month. Mining companies have continued to weigh on the FTSE 100 due to concerns over economic growth in Asia – a key market for luxury goods and diamonds – being slowed by Covid-19.

Leading packaging company Mondi has seen its shares fall by 3.5% this week, and 4.88% over a month. The recent pullback came after its results showed that rising raw material and energy costs had subdued profits. Despite this, Mondi has seen an 11.5% rise in its share price in the year to date.

Ambu shares saw a 14% pullback this month, with the only explanations being that its 217% share price rise over the last 5-years spooked investors. As of today, shares of Ambu are trading up by 1.55% from the start of the week.

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Most short-sold stocks explained

The most shorted stocks are those that have been sold the most over a period of time, in this case a week.

Traditionally, in order to short a stock, you’d have to borrow the asset from a third party before you could sell it on the market. You’d do so in the belief that the market price would fall, and you could buy it back at a lower price, pocketing the difference before you return the shares to your lender.

Now, thanks to electronic trading and derivatives, shorting a stock is just as straightforward as buying it. You just click ‘sell’ in your platform rather than ‘buy’. This is because you’ll never take ownership of the shares, you’re just speculating that it will fall in price.

Heavily shorted stocks create a bear market, where sellers enter and put downward pressure on the asset’s price. Buyers are forced to close their positions before they lose too much money, causing the market price to just fall lower and lower.

Still not sure what shorting a stock is? Learn more about how to short a stock.