Retail Embraces the Short Side

Ivan Ćosović from Breakout Point returns to highlight the most important developments in the activist short-selling world from the month of January. Amid broader market weakness it was retail traders who were embracing the short side more so than the activist short-sellers who seem to have decided to wait rather than chase stocks lower. Ćosović cites increasing put talk vs. call talk in retail chatter, the emergence of the first short ‘meme ETF’ in $SARK, and increasing calls for an inverse Jim Cramer ETF as examples of this trend. A small number of short-sellers did brave the turbulent markets of January and here Ćosović highlights reports from Bleeker Street Research, Fuzzy Panda Research, and Spruce Point Capital. He also breaks down what tactics worked, what didn’t, and compares the number of reports in January 2022 with the equally crazy month of January 2021.