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Stealthy shorts: Informed liquidity supply

Author

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  • Goyal, Amit
  • Reed, Adam V.
  • Smajlbegovic, Esad
  • Soebhag, Amar

Abstract

Short sellers are widely known to be informed, which would typically suggest that they demand liquidity. We obtain comprehensive transaction-level data to decompose daily short volume into liquidity-demanding and liquidity-supplying components. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we show that the most informed short sellers are actually liquidity suppliers, not liquidity demanders. They are particularly informative about future returns on news days and trade on prominent cross-sectional return anomalies. Our analysis suggests that market making and opportunistic risk-bearing are unlikely to explain these findings. Instead, our results align with recent market microstructure theory, pointing to strategic liquidity provision by informed traders.

Suggested Citation

  • Goyal, Amit & Reed, Adam V. & Smajlbegovic, Esad & Soebhag, Amar, 2025. "Stealthy shorts: Informed liquidity supply," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:172:y:2025:i:c:s0304405x25001631
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2025.104155
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    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

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