We examine some basic data on the evolution of aggregate short interest, both during the dot-com era, and at other times in history. Total short interest moves in a countercyclical fashion. For example, short interest in NASDAQ stocks actually declines as the NASDAQ index approaches its peak. Moreover, this decline does not seem to reflect a substitution away from outright short-selling and towards put options, as the ratio of put-to-call volume displays the same countercyclical tendency. The evidence suggests that: i) arbitrageurs are reluctant to bet against aggregate mispricings; and ii) short-selling does not play a particularly helpful role in stabilizing the overall stock market.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
10218.
Length: Date of creation: Jan 2004 Date of revision: Publication status: published as Lamont, Owen A. and Jeremy C. Stein. "Aggregate Short Interest And Market Valuations," American Economic Review, 2004, v94(2,May), 29-32. Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10218
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Find related papers by JEL classification: G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies
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References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997.
" The Limits of Arbitrage,"
Journal of Finance,
American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 35-55, March.
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