XLV has crossed a threshold that matters. Availability has dropped to 18% — the tightest the lending pool has been all year. For every share still available to borrow, more than five are already out on loan.
This is a step change from the September 23 note, which flagged availability at 35%. In two days, the pool has tightened by nearly half again. The 52-week low was set this week.
Two weeks ago, availability sat above 100%. A week ago it was 73%. Now it is 18%.
That collapse is not gradual drift. Short sellers have pulled forward an enormous amount of borrowing in a compressed window. Cost to borrow has risen 73% over the past week to 1.13%. A month ago it was 0.57%. Bears are paying nearly twice as much for a shrinking pool of stock.
The ORTEX short score stands at 61.5. That is up from 56.2 ten days ago and reflects the combined weight of SI levels, cost pressure, and availability tightening. It is not at an extreme — but the direction is consistent.
Short interest sits at 7.6% of free float as of September 23. That is up 7.8% on the week and 47% on the month. In share terms, bears have moved from roughly 13.4 million borrowed in mid-August to nearly 19.8 million now.
The monthly pace of build is the standout. What started as a slow accumulation through August became a sharper push through September. The September 16 note described 7.1% of float. The September 23 note confirmed 7.9%. The current ORTEX estimate is 7.6% — effectively flat day-on-day, which may indicate the short-building pace is pausing as availability shrinks toward its floor.
The put/call ratio is 1.63, against a 20-day mean of 1.52. The z-score has eased back from the near-extreme readings earlier this week, but the PCR has not retreated. It has held above 1.60 for four consecutive sessions. This is not a single-day spike — it is a sustained positioning pattern.
For context, the 52-week PCR high is 2.67 and the low is 0.47. The current level is elevated but not extreme. The consistency of the elevated reading matters more than the level.
Availability at 18% means the borrow pool has little room left. If short interest continues to rise, the cost to borrow will follow. If SI starts to fall — whether through covering or forced exits — availability will recover quickly. The speed of that move, in either direction, is what the data will tell next.
Key figures as of 25 September 2026
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open XLV 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.
