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Short selling around the 52-week and historical highs

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  • Lee, Eunju
  • Piqueira, Natalia

Abstract

Although the distance of a stock price to its past price high does not provide fundamental-related information, it plays an important role of anchoring investors׳ expectations about the performance of stocks. Using a stock׳s 52-week and historical highs, we examine the impact of the nearness to these price highs on short sellers’ trading behavior in the U.S. equity market from 1988 to 2012. We find that short selling is negatively associated with the nearness of the price to the 52-week high, while it is positively associated with the nearness to the historical high. This suggests that short sellers exploit other investors’ behavioral biases.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Eunju & Piqueira, Natalia, 2017. "Short selling around the 52-week and historical highs," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 75-101.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finmar:v:33:y:2017:i:c:p:75-101
    DOI: 10.1016/j.finmar.2016.03.001
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    3. Duong, Huu Nhan & Kalev, Petko S. & Tian, Xiao, 2023. "Short selling, divergence of opinion and volatility in the corporate bond market," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. Li-Chuan Liao & Tzu-Pu Chang & Ping-Huang Wang, 2023. "Earnings Management Ethicality and Application in the Kenyan Public Sector: A Critical Review," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), Kavala Campus, Greece, vol. 16(1), pages 71-86, October.
    5. Mustafa Disli & Koen Inghelbrecht & Koen Schoors & Hannes Stieperaere, 2019. "Stock Price Anchoring," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 19/966, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    6. Hsiu-Chuan Lee & Donald Lien & Her-Jiun Sheu, 2023. "Hedging performance of volatility index futures: a partial cointegration approach," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 265-294, July.
    7. Kwaku Boafo Baidoo, 2019. "The Effects of Short Selling on Financial Markets Volatilities," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 5(2), pages 218-228.
    8. Levon Goukasian & Emily Jian Huang & Qingzhong Ma & Wei Zhang, 2021. "Anchoring and Risk Factors," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 11(4), pages 82-96.
    9. Adam Zaremba & Jacob Koby Shemer, 2018. "Price-Based Investment Strategies," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-91530-2, December.
    10. Lee, Hsiu-Chuan & Lee, Yun-Huan & Lu, Yang-Cheng & Wang, Yu-Chun, 2020. "States of psychological anchors and price behavior of Japanese yen futures," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    11. Gao, Shenghao & Cao, Feng & Fok, Robert (Chi-Wing), 2019. "The anchoring effect of underwriters' proposed price ranges on institutional investors' bid prices in IPO auctions: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 111-127.
    12. Mazouz, Khelifa & Wu, Yuliang, 2022. "Why do firm fundamentals predict returns? Evidence from short selling activity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    13. Ran, Rong & Li, Cheng & Ko, Kuan-Cheng & Yang, Nien-Tzu, 2022. "State-dependent psychological anchors and momentum," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Short selling; Anchoring bias; Price highs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

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