What does it mean to be short on an outcome?

What does it mean to be short on an outcome?

A "short" position is the sale of share(s) you do not own. Traders who sell short believe the share price will decrease in value, as opposed to increase in value. If the price drops, you can buy the share back at the lower price and make a profit.

If the price of the outcome rises and you buy it back later at a higher price, or the share settles at 100, you will incur a loss.

Please note: Shorting is an Advanced Trading technique and must be enabled by navigating to the Trading Experience menu within the Sporttrade App's Account tab.

An example

It's late in a PGA Tournament, and you believe the current tournament leader and odds-on favorite to win it all, will ultimately fail to win the event. To capitalize on this, you enter into a short position by selling the player's To win bet which is currently trading at $30.0.

As you anticipated, the favorite's chances to win the tournament diminish as their play falters late in the last day of play. With the share price of bets on the player to win the tournament declining, your profit has been increasing, as you already sold a share at a higher price. Nearing the end of the final day, the value of the share is now $12.0 for the player to win the event. You have an unrealized profit of $18.0.

To exit your position with the profit, you can close your position by buying back the share at the new, lower price, keeping the difference, ($18.0), OR, you may risk waiting to see if the player ultimately loses the tournament in which case bets on the player to win would settle at 0 (a $30.0 profit).

In either case, the profit you collect is the difference between the price you sold the initial share for, and the price you either buy it back for or what the share settles at.

*Exchange wagering is not yet available in Iowa and Virginia.