The ADPV Adaptiv Select ETF enters mid-May with a striking divergence: short interest has jumped sharply this month, yet the borrow market has quietly loosened from its earlier highs.
The headline number is dramatic on first glance. Short shares have climbed more than 11-fold over the past month, and roughly tripled week-on-week to around 18,750 shares. In percentage terms the figures look alarming. But context matters here. At just 0.5% of free float, the absolute level of short interest remains tiny — this is a lightly traded ETF where small changes in shares short produce outsized percentage moves. The short score of 37.5 reflects a modest, not extreme, positioning signal.
The more interesting story is in the borrow market, and there it runs in the opposite direction. Cost to borrow has actually eased materially over the past month — from above 5.7% in mid-March and late April to 3.7% now. The direction of travel is notable: CTB peaked near 5.9% on April 22, then declined steadily as shares short collapsed in late April before rebounding this week. Availability remains extremely loose at 943% of short interest, meaning there are nearly ten shares available to borrow for every one currently lent out. The borrow market here is not stressed.
Utilization tells the same story. After briefly reaching its 52-week high of 100% in the historical record, current utilization has dropped to around 20% — down sharply from 74% on April 22 and a brief spike to 31% on May 4. The lending pool is well-supplied relative to demand. Whoever has been building shorts this week is doing so cheaply and easily.
There are no earnings events, no analyst coverage, and no valuation data to speak of for this ETF — the product tracks a select portfolio strategy rather than an individual company. The short score's recent climb from 27 to 37 over the past week is worth tracking, but at these absolute levels it registers as mild rather than urgent. The pattern to watch is whether the current short-building accelerates — and whether the cost to borrow follows it back up toward April's peaks.
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