Anyone who can earn at falling courses is safer on the stock market parquet: Shortselling also secures profits in the bear market. “Shorts” is not just something for professionals.

Brush in, even if the courses fall – if you stand in every market situation on the winning page, the market can hardly shock. Shortselling is often associated with hedge funds. The “hedge” in hedge funds is actually borrowed from the trade with shortsellings, but has nothing, as often assumed, to do with gaming. In fact, the English term literally means nothing more than “secure” and the “shorten” can also serve to secure the portfolio. But what exactly is shortselling and how do you “short”?

“Shorts” – earn on falling courses

Anyone who goes “short” speculates that the courses will fall on the market. Whether it is falling stock or currency prices or entire indices- with the right trading vehicles, investors can make profits from any course of the course. Depending on the market situation, option certificates, CFDs, lever certificates, knockouts or futures would be the means of choice. However, the highest security level applies: Because the expected price crash does not actually have to come in every case. In the worst case, there are even severe losses. Therefore, a good market knowledge for these maneuvers is essential – or if that is not the case, at least a healthy desire to play.

What is shortselling?

Another way to participate in falling courses is shortselling. This trading variant traditionally comes from the USA and Asian space and describes the empty sale of securities. This means that papers are sold that are actually not in the actual possession of the seller at this point – they are only loaned and must also be returned to the rental company at a certain point in time. Anyone who sells shares, ETFs and Co. speculates that the courses will fall until return in the period. In this case, the empty seller can buy the papers back for the cheaper course. The shortseller browses the difference between the sales and buyback course as a profit.

How do I make empty sales?

Selling stocks that don’t belong – it sounds paradoxical, but is possible. Because the desired papers can simply borrow investors relatively easily, from a credit institution, a broker, fund or even a major shareholder. An interest fee is incurred, which should be calculated in advance. In addition, a fixed appointment is made in advance, to which the respective papers have to be returned. Afterwards, the empty seller can sell them on the stock exchange for the current course – he retains the yield in the hindquarters. Now it will be exciting: do the courses actually fall? If so, the empty seller must wait for the lowest possible price and then buy the investment values ​​that he has to return at the agreed time at this cheaper price. Once the deadline has passed, the distributor receives the securities back for the price to which they were borrowed. The empty seller keeps his profit because he has sold his securities expensive and bought back cheaply.

What if the courses don’t fall?

Sometimes the markets are moody and react very differently than expected. Shortsellers have to live with this risk, because of course it is possible that the courses do not fall as accepted after the securities were sold, but may even rise. In this case, the clock continues to tick until the papers are returned. In the worst case, the shortseller has to buy it back to a more expensive course and thus realizes a loss that can be almost unlimited.

Why shortselling?

Shortselling does not always have to mean wild gaming at the same time. Sometimes a higher -level downward trend is emerging on the market, such as in the period of the bear market from 2000 to 2002. In such a long -term downward movement, investors can sometimes participate very profitably through “shorts”. The time window until the papers are returned and thus the chance of a cheap buyback course is also larger in this scenario.

Even if markets run hot and the next correction is due, this situation can be made with shortselling. And even if the overall market tendency points upwards, shortsellers can earn on individual base values ​​that show weakness against the higher -level trend.

In addition, investors can even secure their depots with empty sales. If the courses start sinking, empty stocks feathers springs off the fall somewhat or even compensate for it.

Short Sales and your dubious reputation

Empty sales are seen critically in the financial world. They are in the call to cause price falls when well -known investors go short, although it is not foreseeable why the courses should go into the basement. In this case, careful investors sometimes like to sell their papers as a precaution before they sleep in the course of the course. But shortsellings can also use the market. For example, short sales help to slow down speculative exaggeration. If the courses are booming and bladder formation threatens, investor bets on falling courses help to let some air escape from the forming speculation bubble.

Christina Fischer, editorial office finance.net

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