The month-long volatility in DIA's lending market has resolved sharply. Availability has surged to 477% — from a floor of 17% just eight days ago. Short sellers are retreating. Cost to borrow has halved. The stress signals that dominated coverage since mid-May are clearing fast.
This is a decisive reversal. Every metric that was flashing stress two weeks ago is now pointing the other way.
Short interest fell 10.3% over the past week to 5.44% of float. That's down from a recent peak above 6.2% just ten days ago. The month-over-month figure still shows a 6.4% rise, but the weekly direction is clear: positions are being cut.
Availability has gone from tight to loose in days. The 52-week low was 4.46% on May 14. As of May 28, it stands at 477% — meaning nearly five shares are available to borrow for every one already borrowed. A week ago that ratio was 17%. The swing is striking even by DIA's volatile May standards.
Cost to borrow collapsed 59% week-on-week to 0.37%. That's the lowest level in recent trading. At the May 21 stress peak, CTB had climbed toward 0.90%. The borrow market is now as loose as it has been all month.
The ORTEX short score reflects the shift. It dropped from 56 on May 19 to 48.2 on May 27 — a meaningful step down, moving toward neutral territory.
The options picture is more complex. The put/call ratio sits at 1.765 as of May 28 — effectively flat on its 20-day mean of 1.77, with a z-score near zero. The elevated reading of 1.87 flagged on May 26 has not persisted.
DIA's PCR has been structurally high all month. The 52-week range runs from 1.46 to 2.22. The current 1.77 reading sits in the middle of that band. Defensive positioning hasn't disappeared — but the urgency has faded alongside the borrow squeeze.
Previous coverage tracked a lending market under repeated demand shocks throughout May. Availability swung from 4.5% to 151%, back to 17%, and has now blown out to 477%. Each tightening episode resolved quickly. This latest snap-back is the most complete recovery yet.
The borrow squeeze and the associated short build have now fully unwound. Short interest has returned to early-May levels. CTB is at a fresh recent low. Goldman Sachs trimmed 2.5 million shares in Q1; Citadel cut 1.4 million. Institutional flows show the largest holders reducing rather than building exposure.
What to watch: Whether the PCR — still historically elevated at 1.77 — begins to normalise toward the lower end of its 52-week range now that borrow stress has cleared, or whether options demand for downside protection persists independently of the lending market dynamics.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open DIA 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.
