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Short selling doesn't create new stocks, so as per the parent comment, what do you mean you can't tell how many shares of a company are issued? It feels like y

by Closi 4y ago

Short selling doesn't create new stocks, so as per the parent comment, what do you mean you can't tell how many shares of a company are issued? It feels like you have just changed the question from your original claim that "You can't even find out a definitive answer as to how many shares of a stock currently exist" - when the answer is easy, go to any website and divide market cap by share price. Want to find out what is shorted? Go on any website that has a stock quotes service or find the short interest ratio, which is declared at least twice a month for American assets. On the other hand, how would you see how many short positions exist for BTC considering that it is traded across multiple exchanges?

logicalmonster 4y ago
> Short selling doesn't create new stocks, Short selling never creates new legal shares with voting rights: but they do exist in the marketplace until that position is closed. This means that this artificial share affects the price per share, does it not? > the answer is easy, go to any website and divide market cap by share price. This is a chicken and egg calculation. How is market cap computed? Market cap is computed by taking shares x price per share. But if you have an unknown number of borrowed shares in the market, then this entire calculation is unreliable. The only reliable number that exists in stock trading is the current price per share. > declared at least twice a month for American assets. It seems like you see twice a month as a good thing. I think it's a bad number that can be easily manipulated. > On the other hand, how would you see how many short positions exist for BTC considering that it is traded across multiple exchanges? Absolutely perfect information about all of reality would probably never exist, but you have a blockchain you can look at in real time, you have exchanges that publish wallet addresses and other information that can be monitored to see reserves, inflows, and outflows. IMO, there's a bit of some kinds of disclosure possible with crypto that cannot exist with stocks.
- Closi 4y ago
  > But if you have an unknown number of borrowed shares in the market, then this entire calculation is unreliable. You have perfect knowledge of the number of actual issued shares, plus a 2 weekly disclosure on the number of borrowed shares. > Absolutely perfect information about all of reality would probably never exist, but you have a blockchain you can look at in real time How does the BTC blockchain, as an example, show short positions? (Hint: it doesn't, it requires disclosure by centralised exchanges in exactly the same way, except these disclosures are entirely unregulated and spread across many exchanges). Sounds like this is a criticism of stock exchanges that is again worse in the cryptocurrency/blockchain magic world.

by Closi 4y ago

logicalmonster 4y ago

> Short selling doesn't create new stocks, Short selling never creates new legal shares with voting rights: but they do exist in the marketplace until that position is closed. This means that this artificial share affects the price per share, does it not? > the answer is easy, go to any website and divide market cap by share price. This is a chicken and egg calculation. How is market cap computed? Market cap is computed by taking shares x price per share. But if you have an unknown number of borrowed shares in the market, then this entire calculation is unreliable. The only reliable number that exists in stock trading is the current price per share. > declared at least twice a month for American assets. It seems like you see twice a month as a good thing. I think it's a bad number that can be easily manipulated. > On the other hand, how would you see how many short positions exist for BTC considering that it is traded across multiple exchanges? Absolutely perfect information about all of reality would probably never exist, but you have a blockchain you can look at in real time, you have exchanges that publish wallet addresses and other information that can be monitored to see reserves, inflows, and outflows. IMO, there's a bit of some kinds of disclosure possible with crypto that cannot exist with stocks.

Closi 4y ago
> But if you have an unknown number of borrowed shares in the market, then this entire calculation is unreliable. You have perfect knowledge of the number of actual issued shares, plus a 2 weekly disclosure on the number of borrowed shares. > Absolutely perfect information about all of reality would probably never exist, but you have a blockchain you can look at in real time How does the BTC blockchain, as an example, show short positions? (Hint: it doesn't, it requires disclosure by centralised exchanges in exactly the same way, except these disclosures are entirely unregulated and spread across many exchanges). Sounds like this is a criticism of stock exchanges that is again worse in the cryptocurrency/blockchain magic world.