Skip to content
Stock screener filter

Days to Cover Stock Screener: Short Ratio

Screen short ratio, also called days to cover, in ChartsWatcher. Compare shares sold short with average trading volume alongside float and activity.

Your criteria. Your toplist.Example workspace

Understand the metric

What is Short ratio?

Short ratio divides shares sold short by average trading volume. Often called days to cover, it expresses short positioning relative to a daily activity baseline. ChartsWatcher provides it separately from short interest, whose denominator is float. The ratio is a contextual estimate based on that volume reference, not a schedule requiring short positions to be closed.

An illustrative example

Short ratio in practice

With 6 million shares short and average daily volume of 2 million shares, the short ratio is 3. If average volume instead becomes 1 million while shorted shares are unchanged, the ratio is 6. The higher result can therefore reflect lower baseline volume.

Make it part of your workflow

A more deliberate stock screen.

Use short ratio beside short interest in a ChartsWatcher toplist to separate positioning relative to activity from positioning relative to float. Compare current and average volume as well, then review news and price action to investigate whether present participation differs from the historical baseline.

ChartsWatcher lets you combine this filter with other criteria in a toplist and rank the results by the columns you care about. Keep the shortlist beside charts, stock news, and watchlists in your own layout.

Explore the screener / toplist

Before you build

A little more detail.

How do I add Short ratio in ChartsWatcher?

Open or create a toplist and add Short ratio to its filter configuration. Choose the available options and the bounds that fit your screen. Combine it with other metrics to narrow the results. Filters can also refine which stocks qualify for an alert.

What should I check when interpreting this filter?

Days to cover is not a deadline or a prediction of actual covering time. It assumes a volume baseline that can differ sharply from current trading activity.

Your ChartsWatcher workspace

From an idea to your own scan.

Use Short ratio with the other conditions that define your setup. Keep matching stocks, charts, and news together, with a configuration you can refine as you go.