Bearish bets on US stocks are surging: Short interest in the S&P 500 is up to ~3.7% of its free float, near the highest in data going back to 2010. Short interest in the Russell 3000 is up to ~6.1%, also near an all-time high. Both metrics have steadily increased since the start of 2025. Furthermore, short interest across all NYSE-listed stocks rose to a record 9.0% of shares outstanding in late June. By comparison, this metric peaked at ~5.0% during the 2008 Financial Crisis and ~6.0% during the 2020 pandemic. Conditions for a short-squeeze are rising.(The Kobeissi Letter)