To: StormRider who wrote (46394 ) 6/30/2000 2:52:25 PM From: Don Green Respond to of 93625 How is short interest in Nasdaq stocks calculated? Short selling is the selling of a security which the seller does not own, or any sale which is completed by the delivery of a security borrowed by the seller. Short selling is a legitimate trading strategy. Short sellers assume the risk that they will be able to buy the stock at a more favorable price than the price at which they sold short. The Nasdaq Short Sale Rule prohibits NASD members from selling a Nasdaq National Market stock at or below the inside best bid when that price is lower than the previous inside best bid in that stock. To calculate short interest in Nasdaq stocks, NASD member firms are instructed to report to the NASDR TS-Customer Advocacy & Quality Management Department, on a monthly basis, their short positions, for all accounts, in shares, warrants, units, ADRs, and convertible preferreds resulting from short sales. Once the short position reports are received by the Product Deployment and Support Department, the short interest is then compiled for each Nasdaq security.Firms are required to report their short positions as of settlement on the 15th of each month, or the preceding business day if the 15th is not a business day. The reports must be filed by the second business day after the reporting settlement date. The Product Deployment and Support area compiles the short interest data and provides it for publication on the 8th business day after the reporting settlement date. The monthly short interest information does include the adjustment for stock splits. The adjustment to the short interest for stocks that split on or before the reporting settlement date will automatically be reflected in the most current reporting period.