Article: Naked Short Selling and Market Returns

Article - Academic

Naked Short Selling and Market Returns

Thomas J. Boulton, Marcus V. Braga-Alves

The Journal of Portfolio Management, 30 April 2012

Boulton and Braga-Alves study persistent failures to deliver (fails) to better understand naked short sellers’ trading strategies, their ability to profit from their trades, and the market’s reaction to information about their activities. Contrary to recent claims that naked short sellers are momentum traders who drive down stock prices, they find that returns are typically positive just prior to periods of increased naked short selling that result in persistent fails and that returns generally remain positive for several weeks afterward.

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Article: The skinny on the 2008 naked short-sale restrictions

Article - Academic

The skinny on the 2008 naked short-sale restrictions

Thomas J. Boulton, Marcus V. Braga-Alves

Journal of Financial Markets, 1 November 2010

On July 15, 2008, the US Securities and Exchange Commission announced temporary restrictions on naked short sales of the stocks of 19 financial firms. The restrictions offer a unique empirical setting to test Miller’s (1977) conjecture that short-sale constraints result in overpriced securities and low subsequent returns. Consistent with Miller’s overpricing hypothesis, we find evidence of a positive (negative) market reaction to the announcement (expiration) of the short-sale restrictions. Announcement returns are higher for firms that appear to be subject to more naked short selling in the days immediately preceding the announcement of the restrictions.

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