Why isn stock XYZ available to sell short?
If a stock locate cannot be determined, then the stock may be unavailable for shorting. This is known as a “hard-to-borrow” security. Some factors that can influence the availability of stock are high demand, small float and increased volatility of the particular security. In some cases a hard-to-borrow security may be available to sell short, but only for an added fee known as a hard-to-borrow fee or negative rebate.
