Bearish bets on U.S. stocks hit records as AI bubble fears grow
Short interest remained near multi-year highs across major U.S. equity benchmarks, with NYSE-listed stocks reaching a record 9.0% in late June.
Fact Check
The exact figures (3.79% of free float for S&P 500 and 6.3% for Russell 3000) are corroborated by multiple independent outlets citing S3 Partners LLC data. The Yahoo Finance and Hedgeweek articles both explicitly confirm these numbers as all-time/record highs, along with the AI-bubble-skepticism context and the S&P 500's 18% rally since late March. The framing of 'bearish bets hitting records amid AI bubble fears' matches the claim precisely.
Summary
Short sellers have built unusually large bearish positions across U.S. equities, with short interest standing at about 3.7% of float for S&P 500 constituents and about 6.1% for Russell 3000 constituents, both near highs since 2010. NYSE-listed stocks reached a record 9.0% in late June, compared with about 5.0% in 2008 and 6.0% in 2020, The Kobeissi Letter said. The elevated short positioning underscores persistent investor skepticism about the durability of the market rally, as concerns linger over a potential AI bubble, stretched earnings expectations and heavy market concentration.
Terms & Concepts
- short interest: Shares that have been sold short and remain outstanding.
- float: The shares of a company that are available for public trading.
- S&P 500: An index of 500 large publicly traded U.S. companies.