← Glossary · Buying and selling
Short selling
A bet on falling prices: selling borrowed shares and buying them back later.
In a short sale you borrow shares, sell them straight away and hope to buy them back cheaper later; the difference is the profit. If the price rises instead, you make a loss that is in theory unlimited.
Short selling is mainly for professionals. The term is useful because high short interest can show that many market participants expect prices to keep falling. DipCatcher analyses purchases only, not short positions.