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> With the exception of market makers, this is illegal Do you mean, this is legal for market makers? Is there any other way that the number of shares being sh

• notyourday 6y ago
  > Do you mean, this is legal for market makers? Yes, market makers are allowed to sell short without having a locate. It should be noted that the market makers will attempt to zero out their total exposure by the end of the trading session.
  • mlrtime 6y ago
    That should be DMM or PMM or the equivalent designation by the exchange. These are special appointments, you can't just call yourself a market maker and sell short.
    • notyourday 6y ago
      Oh yes, definitely. There are a lot of regulations for market makers.
• dangerbird2 6y ago
  > Do you mean, this is legal for market makers Yes. They need to be able to make naked shorts, as this is what allows traders to buy a share without having a willing seller at any given moment and vice versa. > Is there any other way that the number of shares being shorted, could be greater than the number of shares in existence? As I mentioned, It's perfectly cromulent to have multiple non-naked shorts on the same shares, so the short interest as a percentage of float can certainly exceed 100% without any illegal behavior. I imagine the reason for this misconception is that people think of a short as an "anti-share" that can't exceed the number of shares being traded, when it's really a more abstract investment tactic or contract.