Short interest, corporate layoffs and insider buying are three kinds of public data that retail investors often see in headlines. SignalWhisper tracks this kind of disclosed activity so you can review it in one place. This post explains what each one measures and what it cannot tell you.

Short interest: how many shares are sold short

Short interest is the number of shares that investors have sold short and not yet bought back. US exchanges and FINRA publish it twice a month, a little over a week after each settlement date, so it always describes the recent past rather than today.

Two numbers usually appear next to it:

Change from the previous report. A rising short position means more shares were sold short since the last settlement date; a falling one means positions were closed.
Days to cover. The short position divided by average daily trading volume. It estimates how many days of normal trading it would take to buy back every short share.

High short interest can reflect a negative view on a company, but it can also come from hedging, arbitrage or market-making. The figure alone does not say which.

Corporate layoffs: workforce reductions

Layoff announcements come from company statements, earnings calls and, in the US, WARN notices that larger employers must file before mass layoffs. A layoff can signal pressure on a business, a cost-cutting plan, a restructuring after an acquisition, or a shift toward a different product line. The headline rarely shows which, so it is worth reading the company's own explanation and its next financial results.

Insider buying: directors and founders buying their own stock

Company insiders must report their trades on SEC Form 4, usually within two business days. Purchases by directors or founders get attention because these people know the business well. Recent filings include purchases by company directors and a founder who added about $2.5 million of stock.

A disclosed purchase still does not show why the buyer acted. It could reflect confidence in the company, a personal financial decision, a pre-arranged plan or a signal to the market. Disclosed trades do not prove intent and are not a recommendation.

How to use this data

Treat short interest, layoff news and insider trades as starting points for research, not as signals on their own.
Check the date of every data point. Short interest is published with a delay, and Form 4 filings arrive days after the trade.
Read the underlying filing or company statement before drawing a conclusion.
Look at several pieces of information together rather than reacting to one headline.

SignalWhisper's congressional trading and insider activity pages show disclosed trades as they are filed, and we are adding short-interest data so you can look up reported short positions and days to cover by ticker.

SignalWhisper provides market information, not financial advice.