The selling of a security, contract or commodity not owned by the seller.
Go Short: To sell securities, options or futures.
Selling Short: The practice of could borrowing a stock, future or option from a broker and selling it because the investor forecasts that the price of a stock is going down.
Short option position: The position of an option writer which represents an obligation on the part of the option's writer to meet the terms of the option if it is exercised by its owner. The writer can terminate this obligation by buying back (cover or close) the position with a closing purchase transaction.
Synthetic Short Stock: A short call position combined with a long put of the same series.
Synthetic Short Put: A long stock position combined with a short call of the same series as that put.
Synthetic Short Call: A short stock position combined with a short put of the same series as that call.
Short Stock Position: A strategy that profits from a stock price decline. It is initiated by borrowing stock from a broker-dealer and selling it in the open market. This strategy is closed (covered) at a later date by buying back the stock and returning it to the lending broker-dealer.
Short Selling: The sale of shares or futures that a seller does not currently own. The seller borrows them (usually from a broker) and sells them with the intent to replace what s/he has sold through later repurchase in the market at a lower price.
Short Premium: Expectation that a move of the underlying in either direction will result in a theoretical decrease of the value of an option.
Short Position: A position wherein a person's interest in a particular series of options is as a net writer (i.e., the number of contracts sold exceeds the number of contracts bought).