If you do not understand how trades are marked and how a trade is transacted then you would actually think the daily short numbers actually mean something.
Risicare Member Profile Risicare Member Level Share Wednesday, February 16, 2011 3:18:18 PM
Re: noquit post# 5384 Post # of 7839
What you do not understand is that many if not most shares are marked as short on the daily numbers because of how trades are executed and marked for those numbers. Only the first leg of the trade is marked and when a market maker does a trade they work most/many times on a riskless principal basis. Joe has 100@1$ for sale, mary lifts the offer for 100@1$. The market maker sells 100 to mary, mm is short then buys the 100 from joe immediately after. That trade is a "short sale" on the daily numbers despite nobody being short in the end and how a trade is done most of the time.