Short Sellers Down $5.5bn On US Positions In November

• Biden victory and prospect of a Covid-19 vaccine sent global stock markets soaring on 9^th November
• Analysis by Ortex Analytics suggests many short sellers were caught out by the rapid change in investor sentiment; cumulatively US short positions have lost $5.5bn since 1^st Nov 2020
• Travel and tourism companies lead losses, but technology positions return profit as market reflects growing confidence about an end to the pandemic

US short positions have so far lost $5.5bn in November as global stock markets respond to the US election result and the prospect of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the latest data from Ortex Analytics.  

Analysis found that travel and tourism stocks led losses for short sellers as investors became increasingly confident that an end to the pandemic may be in sight.

Top 10 largest losses for short sellers (Nov 1^st – Nov 9^th)

However, stock that have performed well so far during lockdown offers some respite for short sellers as their values dropped:

Top 10 largest profits for short sellers (Nov 1st – Nov 9th)

Commenting on the data, Peter Hillerberg, co-founder of Ortex Analytics, said: “Investor confidence improved dramatically following news of a Biden victory and the prospect of a Covid-19 vaccine. This rapid swing in sentiment has caught many short sellers off guard, leading to significant losses so far in November. However, these losses would have been far worse had it not been for pockets of profit, for example among tech stocks.

“What will be interesting is to see what happens next. Do short sellers hold tight and hope the market rights itself following he exuberance of the past few days, or do we see a fundamental reassessment of short and medium term outlooks and a change in positioning as a result. In any case, short sellers have an uphill battle to recoup this month’s losses.”