If a stock is listed as having a 5% short interest and has not popped more than 2% are the shorts still set?

Question

If a stock is listed as having a 5% short interest and has not popped more than 2% are the shorts still set?

Answer 1

I'm not totally sure about your question because "popped" is not exactly a well defined term.  

Remember, you are dealing with delayed information.  For example, the latest NYSE release was on 21May and covered 15MAY.

It depends on the trading strategy of the short sellers.  For some, a 2% retracement is no big deal and will wait for 5%.  Others will set a stop at 1 or 2 % initially, and then expand the stop as the market moves in their favor and they will use wider stops when playing with the market's money.  You don't know the entry point of the shorts.

Some won't trade with stops.  Instead, they will protect themselves with calls.  You have no way of knowing how much of the short interest you are seeing is backstopped by offsetting calls.

Also, a large number of shorts may have liquidated their positions by slowly feeding the stock into the market with causeing and sort of "pop" on the chart.

Answer 2

No one knows

You can not ASSUME that a move in volume equates anything to the open shorts

You have to look at the open short interest

Answer 3

You won't really know because you need to know what price they went in short at.