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FTD With Borrow Rate Spike

Updated dailyData needs: lowshort only
paper
2008
Source
Joint signal extending #25 borrow_rate_spike and Boehmer-Jones-Zhang 2008 JF — triangulating two independent short-pressure proxies (borrow-rate z + FTD presence).
Read the paper →

In plain terms

When the cost to borrow a stock spikes AND the stock is failing to deliver shares at the same time, both independent stress signals point to continued downside.

How it works

Borrow-rate spikes signal that shorts are paying up to maintain conviction; FTDs confirm that supply pressure is hitting the settlement system. The joint fire is rarer than either signal alone and historically associated with sharper declines in the 10-20d horizon.

Live results

0 times picked on its own · 11 times inside a blend (8 beat the stock) · updated 2026-06-06
This strategy is a frequent ingredient in blends that combine a few strategies on one stock. It has contributed to 11 such blended picks (8 of which beat simply holding the stock). Picking it on its own is only one of the ways it shows up.
How its picks scored vs. buy & hold
Each pick is graded on a recent year it was never tuned on, against simply owning the same stock
Where its edge concentrates
Share of picks in each company-size group that beat buy & hold
How often it trades
Active vs. patient. Bars on the left mean it waits for rare setups; bars on the right mean it trades often
Return vs. buy & hold
How much each pick beat or trailed simply owning the stock over the test year (extreme microcap moves trimmed)
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Data dependencies

  • Daily prices

    Adjusted-close OHLCV for every US-listed ticker; primary price feed.

  • SEC fail to deliver daily

    SEC fail-to-deliver daily ZIP archives normalized by settlement date and ticker.

  • Stock borrow rates

    Daily borrow-fee curve from prime-broker feeds.

Expected edge

Reported return
-1.5-3% over 10-20d (joint signal)
Tested over
T+1 to T+20d

Independent-signal triangulation; internal target -1.5-3% over 10-20d on joint fires.

Related families

Explore FTD With Borrow Rate Spike on alphactor.ai

See which tickers this family is currently firing on, with live signals and rankings.

For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Learn more