XpresSpa Group Inc (XSPA)

[Chris369145]

Just because the stock is being shorted does not necessarily mean that folks are betting that the stock goes down. Hedge funds and proprietary trading desk may be trading the underlying volatility embedded in various derivative contracts. For example, a trader could think that the implied vol in the options is cheap. That investor could by puts or calls. The investor in the options and the counterparty to the contracts will likely hedge the directional position in the stock so that they are necessarily delta neutral. These folks will be buying and selling stock continuously to maintain effectively neutral on the stock. They are really betting on how volatile the stock is or isn't.

While I would surmise that folks are active in the derivative markets definatley some of the shorting is due to naysayers. I would be surprised if google is shorting. Not sure if their are legal requirements that would require google to disclose these positions, especially if their positions exceed sec rules for long disclosure. Lastly, we would likely see equity securities buried in the financials somewhere particularly in the investment portfolio disclosures on balance sheet.

Just my 2 cents.