USD Borrow Market Tightens Fast After 12% Drop

USD, the ProShares Ultra Semiconductors ETF, fell 12.3% on June 23. The lending market is now sending urgent signals.

Availability has collapsed to just 9.2%. That means fewer than one share remains available to borrow for every ten already out on loan. A month ago, availability sat above 1,000%. The shift has been rapid and dramatic.

The Borrow Squeeze

The tightening has accelerated over just two weeks. On June 8, availability was still 963%. By June 16 it had dropped to 55%. It now sits at 9.2% — the tightest reading in the available history outside of the 52-week low of 2.4%.

Cost to borrow has moved in lockstep. It stood at 0.69% on June 11. It hit 1.38% on June 23. That is nearly a doubling in twelve days. The one-month rise is 43.7%.

Short interest itself remains technically low — 1.57% of free float. But it jumped 24.7% in a single session on June 23. The one-week rise is 22.6%. Demand for borrows is clearly growing fast.

Options Tell a Different Story

While the lending market tightens, options traders are leaning the other way. The put-call ratio hit 0.48 on June 23. That is 2.4 standard deviations below the 20-day mean of 0.59. Call volume is running well above the recent norm — an unusual posture given the 12% single-day decline.

The PCR had been remarkably stable from mid-May through mid-June, trading in a tight band around 0.61. The break lower began on June 22, a day before the price drop. The 52-week low on PCR is 0.23 — still room to run lower if call buying persists.

The divergence is notable. Borrow demand is rising fast. Options traders are buying calls. These two flows are pointing in opposite directions.

What to Watch

The ORTEX short score sits at 47.1 as of June 22 — a mid-range reading that has crept up from 43.7 on June 11. It is not at an extreme, but the direction is clear.

The key question is whether availability continues tightening toward the 52-week low of 2.3%. Below that level, new short positions become very difficult to establish. That is the threshold worth watching.

---

• Price (June 23): $96.85, –12.3% on the day
• SI % of free float: 1.57%, up 24.7% in one session
• Availability: 9.2% (down from >1,000% in late May)
• Cost to borrow: 1.38%, up 43.7% over one month
• Put-call ratio: 0.48, –2.4 standard deviations from 20-day mean
• ORTEX short score: 47.1 (June 22)