TrendSpider offers several types of esoteric market data that are not typically found in other trading platforms. One such data type is FINRA Reg SHO (Short Sale) data. This data is sourced directly from FINRA short sale data files published on their website.
In this documentation, we will explore the following:
- Meaning of FINRA Reg SHO
- Add FINRA Reg SHO to the Charts
- Limitations of the FINRA Reg SHO Data
Let’s get started 🚀
Meaning of FINRA Reg SHO
FINRA Reg SHO is defined as:
“Regulation SHO requires broker-dealers to identify a source of borrowable stock before executing a short sale in any equity security with the goal of reducing the number of situations where stock is unavailable for settlement.”
Please note that FINRA defines this data as follows:
“The Daily Short Sale Volume Files provide aggregated volume by security for all short sale trades executed and reported to a TRF, the ADF, or the ORFduring normal market hours for public dissemination purposes (i.e., media-reported trades). The short interest data reflects aggregate short positions held by market participants at a specific moment in time on two discrete days each month, while the Daily Short Sale Volume reflects the aggregate volume of trades executed and reported as short sales on each trade date.”
TrendSpider provides the Short Sale Volume data described in the aforesaid definition.
Add FINRA Reg SHO to the Charts
Step 1: From the top toolbar, click on the vertical ellipsis (⋮) adjoining Other Data.
Step 2: Check the Short Volume, Finra Reg SHO (US Stocks & ETFs) from the dropdown list.
Please ensure that it is enabled in the Chart Key on the top left corner of the charts and you will observe a new lower indicator on the interface.
Limitations of the FINRA Reg SHO Data
Below are a few limitations with respect to the use of FINRA Reg SHO data with TrendSpider:
- This data is not real-time. It is updated once per day.
- This data does not feature intraday granularity. There will only be one reading per calendar day.
- This data does not support other asset types. It will only work on US equities and ETFs traded on FINRA regulated Exchanges.
- This data does not represent a complete "short volume" report across all Exchanges. As a result, you cannot divide the total traded Volume by the reported FINRA Reg SHO Short Sale Volume and get a reliable number to use as a short interest percentage.
- We only have data since Aug 2018 (we use Consolidated data set from FINRA and that's all they have).