TDIV Borrow Cost Jumps 51% as Options Turn Bullish

Three distinct signals converged on TDIV this week. Cost to borrow spiked, short positions built, and options positioning shifted sharply toward calls — all at once.

Borrow Cost Leads the Story

Cost to borrow on TDIV hit 4.47% on June 29. That is up 51% in one week, from roughly 2.96% on June 22.

The move is notable for an ETF. Dividend-focused tech funds rarely attract aggressive short demand. Yet borrow costs have climbed steadily — from 2.09% in mid-May to current levels.

Availability sits at 497% today. That is normal territory. But the picture was very different just days ago. On June 23 and 24, availability dropped to 82% and 94% respectively — tight by any measure. The subsequent loosening suggests the lending pool expanded, but borrow costs kept rising anyway. Demand for borrows is growing faster than supply alone can explain.

Short Interest Rises, but Stays Small

Short interest as a percentage of free float stands at 0.38%. That is low. It has tripled over the past month, rising 232% from late May levels.

In absolute terms, roughly 145,000 shares are short. That is a small position in the context of this ETF. The directional move matters more than the absolute level here — someone is building a short, and doing so quickly.

Options Positioning Pulls the Other Way

The put-call ratio on TDIV hit 0.1028 on June 29. The 20-day mean is 0.086. That puts the reading 2.37 standard deviations above average.

Counterintuitively, a higher PCR here signals more call activity relative to puts — not more bearish positioning. Options traders are leaning bullish. Calls outnumber puts by a wide margin.

That creates an unusual setup. Short interest and borrow costs point to rising bearish conviction in the lending market. The options market points in the opposite direction.

Short Score Drops Sharply

The ORTEX short score fell from 47.1 on June 22 to 31.1 on June 26. That is a significant move in four days. A lower short score reflects reduced short-selling pressure in the model's composite view — consistent with the availability loosening seen over the same period.

Data Summary

• Cost to borrow: 4.47%, up 51% in one week
• Short interest % of free float: 0.38%, up 52% week-on-week, up 232% month-on-month
• Availability: 497% (current); tightened to 82% on June 23 before loosening
• Put-call ratio: 0.1028, z-score +2.37 vs 20-day mean
• ORTEX short score: 31.1, down from 47.1 four days prior
• Price: $113.85, down 7.6% over the past month
• Dividend: $0.4231 per share announced June 24

The divergence between lending-market signals and options positioning is the key thing to watch on TDIV heading into July.