MOO Borrow Market Dries Up as Short Interest Triples in a Week

Why this matters: Three weeks ago, MOO had one of the loosest borrow markets on record — availability above 3,700%. Today, availability stands at 3.3%. Short interest has risen 281% in five trading days. The lending pool is, for all practical purposes, full.

The Lending Market Collapse

The speed of this reversal is the story. On August 20, availability sat at 7,242% — meaning there were roughly 72 shares available to lend for every one already borrowed. By September 1, that had compressed to 243%. By September 3, it hit 3.25%. Every share in the lending pool is now lent out.

Cost to borrow has followed. It rose 65% over the past week to 0.81%. That remains an absolute level that is modest by market standards. But the direction — and pace — reflects genuine demand pressure for borrows that was absent throughout August.

The ORTEX short score corroborates the shift. It stood at 29 on August 20. It reached 56 on September 2. That is a near-doubling in under two weeks, driven by the convergence of rising short interest, tightening availability, and higher borrow costs.

Short Interest: From Noise to Signal

As recently as September 2, two previous ORTEX notes on MOO described short interest as low — first at 2.2%, then at 2.6% of float. Both readings were accurate at the time. The data has now changed materially. Short interest reached 8.9% of float as of September 3. That is the highest level in months and a figure that merits attention.

The build happened in days, not weeks. Short shares stood at roughly 187,000 on August 26. By September 3 they had reached 715,000 — a near-fourfold increase. For an ETF that spent most of July and August with short interest below 2%, this is a structural shift in how the market is positioning against MOO's underlying holdings.

The agribusiness basket — fertilisers, crop-input companies, food processors — has been rising. MOO is up 8.9% over the past month and 4.6% over the past week. Short sellers are leaning against that move.

What the Options Market Says

The options picture runs in the opposite direction. The put/call ratio sits at 0.046, well below its 20-day average of 0.066. There is little incremental hedging being added through options. The two tools — options and borrowing — are sending different signals about how participants are expressing caution.

Data Summary

• Short Interest % of Float: 8.9% (vs. ~2.2% two weeks ago)
• Short Interest 1-week change: +281%
• Availability: 3.25% (vs. 7,242% on August 20)
• Cost to Borrow: 0.81%, up 65% in one week
• ORTEX Short Score: 56 (vs. 29 on August 20)
• Price: $88.18, up 8.9% over one month
• Put/Call Ratio: 0.046, 1.0 standard deviations below 20-day mean