Running discussion on SP, page-5613

But this makes no sense.

"At some point in the future I will get the shares back." - Yes you will, but now the market value is say half the value of what it was when you lent them. Your 1 million shares were worth say $6m at $6.00 per share. If the shorter closes their position today and gives you your shares back, your investment is worth $3m and you have lost $3m on paper.

As the original owner I don't care if borrower makes or loses money, I pick up interest on the shares lent. Yes you have picked up interest - let's say you earned 20% interest per annum (I have no idea what the rate is but that seems high enough). In the last 2 months, on your $6m you have earned roughly $200k in interest, so you are up $200k on interest, but down $3m on your investment's market value, a net loss of $2.8m.

There must be something I am not understanding about why these shares are being lent to shorters.