Options traders are paying up for downside protection on FEPI. The put-call ratio hit 2.89 on June 16 — nearly a full standard deviation above its 20-day mean of 1.98. That shift coincided with a sharp jump in borrow activity and rising borrowing costs.
The PCR of 2.61 on June 16 sits 1.65 standard deviations above its 20-day mean. Earlier in the month, the ratio averaged closer to 1.85. The move is notable for an income-focused ETF that typically draws buy-and-hold yield investors rather than active options traders.
The 52-week PCR range runs from 1.04 to 14.06. Current levels are elevated but well below the historic peak — suggesting increased caution rather than outright panic.
Availability has dropped from effectively unlimited to 694% over the past week — a 77% tightening in relative borrow supply. That follows near-zero borrowing activity as recently as June 4 and 5, when availability registered at the database ceiling of 9,999%.
Cost to borrow has risen 67% over the week to 0.90%. It remains low in absolute terms. But the direction matters: CTB was below 0.25% as recently as June 4. The climb tracks the sudden surge in short interest.
Estimated short interest rose 75% in a single day on June 16, reaching 33,586 shares. Week-on-week the increase is 89%. In absolute terms, SI sits at just 0.27% of float — extremely low for any security. Context matters here: FEPI ran far higher short interest through most of May, when estimates regularly topped 150,000–200,000 shares. The current activity looks like a reset from June's near-zero baseline, not a fresh structural short thesis.
The ORTEX short score sits at 32.1, down from a local peak of 44.4 on June 11. It has been volatile this month, swinging from the mid-20s to the mid-40s and back. That instability itself is a signal: borrow demand on this ETF is episodic, not sustained.
What to watch: Whether the PCR normalises back toward 1.85–1.95 as availability remains comfortable, or continues climbing if borrow demand accelerates further.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open FEPI on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
