Week of April 20–27, 2026. Short sellers broadly unwound positions across large-cap names this week. At the same time, a cluster of micro-cap stocks saw extreme and often violent short interest moves in both directions. Options markets flashed a wave of put-side spikes — notably in financials — while convergence alerts fired on more than 40 names. The week's dominant theme: two-speed markets, with blue-chip bears retreating and small-cap positioning reaching fever pitch.
The week's most dramatic SI moves came almost entirely from the micro-cap end of the market.
DKI — Darkiris Inc. — saw short interest collapse 62% over the week to 260,000 shares as of April 23, down from over 690,000 shares on April 15. Shares surged 14% in tandem. At a $6.8M market cap, even small covering flows move the needle fast.
ABLV — Able View Global — swung the other way. Short interest surged 350% over the week to 380,063 shares. Cost to borrow stands at 74% APR. Shares available to borrow cover just 14% of outstanding short interest — a tight setup heading into earnings.
CDT — CDT Equity — added to its short book in a week, reaching 8.1% of free float. Borrow costs hit 462% APR. The stock has shed 78% in a month. Short sellers are building into what already looks like a distressed situation.
SMX — SMX Security Matters — touched 88.9% of free float short on April 23. That's 111,697 shares short on a sub-$7M market cap name. Borrow costs run at 276% APR. The stock has lost 76% in a month.
JFB — JFB Construction Holdings — saw SI climb 33% in a week to 11.8% of float, with utilisation reaching 79%, the highest since late March. At $83M market cap, this is one of the more substantial names among the week's movers. Short sellers are doubling down as the stock falls.
CIIT — Tianci International — added 29% to its short position. Cost to borrow surged 129% to 287% APR. At 34.2% of free float already short, and availability at just 19%, the borrow market is tightening fast.
On the other side, NPT dropped 41% in one session to 1.42% of float after having risen 54% over the prior week. NCL shed 36% of its short book week-on-week. Both retreats look like fast-money unwinds after failed momentum bets.
Put pressure dominated the options landscape this week, with multiple names seeing PCR readings four or more standard deviations above their 20-day averages.
ING (ING Groep, trading on US markets) hit a 52-week PCR high of 1.05 on April 21 — more than four standard deviations above its 0.42 average. With earnings scheduled for April 30, traders appear to be positioning for downside volatility ahead of the Dutch bank's results.
TEM — Tempus AI — saw its PCR surge to 0.65 on April 21, four standard deviations above its 0.48 average. At 24.6% of float short and availability at just 41%, the put spike adds a second bearish datapoint. This name already carries significant short interest for its $9B market cap.
CSL posted a PCR of 4.14 on April 23 — near its 52-week high and more than four standard deviations above its 0.73 mean. That is an extreme reading by any measure.
SNA saw its put/call ratio hit 1.29, more than four standard deviations above its 0.27 average. TCBI reached 1.19, four-plus standard deviations above its 0.48 mean. Both readings landed on the same date, April 23, suggesting a coordinated move into downside protection across the mid-cap financial and industrial space.
JAGX offered the week's clearest bullish outlier. Its PCR plunged to 0.019 — a Z-score of -4.18 — signalling extreme call-side skew. Options traders are positioned heavily to the upside on this micro-cap biotech.
The week's 504 pulse signals touched every major category — cost to borrow, options, short interest, and utilisation — but a clear clustering emerged in three areas.
Financials under options scrutiny. ING, ONB, TCBI, WSFS, and SIGI all posted put/call spikes of four-plus standard deviations within a 48-hour window on April 21–23. This is not random noise. Options traders are buying downside protection across regional US banks and European financials simultaneously. Earnings season is the likely catalyst — several of these names report in the next two weeks.
Micro-cap borrow markets in turmoil. AKAN — Akanda Corp — has SI at 40.7% of float with borrow costs at 830% APR and zero shares available to borrow. FCHL — Fitness Champs Holdings — carries an extraordinary 5,369% SI as a percentage of free float. YCBD saw SI explode 333% overnight, now sitting at 62.4% of float. These names share a common profile: tiny floats, extreme borrow costs, and near-zero availability. The squeeze dynamics are live on all three.
Large-cap bears retreating. Across the blue-chip universe — NSC, RSG, WMB, PRU, and BBVA — short sellers are unwinding. Norfolk Southern's SI sits at 3.75% of float. Republic Services and Williams Companies are both below 1.5%. BBVA is at just 0.44%. The bears are not pressing macro bets on large caps this week.
More than 40 tickers triggered three or more simultaneous pulse types this week. These are the names where multiple independent signals aligned.
AKAN is the standout. SI doubled, borrow costs hit 540%, and utilisation maxed out. With zero availability and 40.7% of float short, any sustained buying pressure has nowhere for shorts to go.
BYND — Beyond Meat — triggered a triple convergence: short interest at 30.7% of float, borrow costs at 38% APR, and zero shares available to borrow. The squeeze alert here is structural, not speculative.
VELO fired four signals. SI sits at 59.3% of float. Availability is just 9.8%. This is one of the highest short-squeeze setups among names above $400M market cap this week.
LLY — Eli Lilly — saw three signals converge despite its $791B market cap. SI is a modest 0.93% of float, but the borrow and options signals are moving together. Worth monitoring given the size of the name.
SPGI — S&P Global — had borrowing costs spike amid a bullish options tilt. SI is just 1% of float. The CTB move is the story here, not outright short pressure.
AU — AngloGold Ashanti — generated a triple signal convergence. Gold miners have been a battleground all year. SI is just 0.71% of float, but the confluence of signals in a $50B miner is notable.
HSBC saw borrow costs surge as short sellers returned. The convergence alert flags rising SI alongside a CTB spike — a setup that historically precedes either a short squeeze or accelerated downside, depending on the catalyst.
AKAN — Borrow at 830% APR, zero availability, 40.7% SI. The most acute squeeze setup of the week.
VELO — Four signals firing, SI at 59% of float, availability under 10%. Watch for any volume catalysts.
TEM — 24.6% SI, put spike four standard deviations above average. A name where bears and options traders are aligned.
JFB — Construction stock with SI climbing 33% in a week to 11.8% of float. Utilisation hit a multi-week high. Watch for continued building.
BYND — 30.7% of float short, zero availability. A structural short-squeeze candidate if any positive catalyst arrives.
ING — Earnings due April 30. Options PCR hit a 52-week high this week. The market is positioned for a volatile print.
CIIT — Borrow at 287% APR and rising, SI at 34% of float, availability tightening toward 19%. The borrow market is becoming increasingly hostile to new short positions.
ORTEX data as of April 24, 2026. This digest is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
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.
