Wall Street slide nets short sellers $127 billion.
Short sellers targeting U.S. companies have gained $127 billion on paper from April 2 through Monday after President Donald Trump’s plans for sweeping tariffs sparked a sharp selloff in stocks, according to data and analytics company Ortex Technologies.
The data, for U.S. companies with market capitalization $1 billion and greater, showed short sellers’ gains for 2025 through Monday at $189 billion. Short sellers aim to profit by selling borrowed shares and buying them back later at a lower price.
These bearish investors profited since April 2 as Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs against U.S. trading partners set off a plunge of roughly $5 trillion in market value for the S&P 500 index. Short interest for various stock indexes from around the globe increased rapidly from March 31 and peaked on April 4 before starting to drop, data from Ortex showed.
Source: Finance.Yahoo
