How to bet against the stock market?

Asked by: Felicia Reichel  |  Last update: January 11, 2026
Score: 4.8/5 (7 votes)

Short selling is the most traditional way to bet against a stock. An investor borrows shares of a stock from a broker and sells them at the current market price, with the intention of buying them back later at a lower price.

What is the 7% rule in stocks?

The 7% rule is a straightforward guideline for cutting losses in stock trading. It suggests that investors should exit a position if the stock price falls 7% below the purchase price.

How do I bet on the stock market?

You have three ways to trade shares: via spread betting, CFD trading or US options and futures for American stocks. You can also invest in shares with share dealing and own stocks. As an owner of an underlying asset, you'd have shareholder rights and receive dividend payments if the company grants them.

How to bet against S&P 500?

1. Inverse S&P 500 Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)
  1. By utilizing the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), investors have a straightforward way to bet on a decline in the S&P 500 Index. ...
  2. But if you don't want to sell the ETF short, you can instead go long (i.e. buy) an inverse ETF that goes up when the underlying index goes down.

What's it called when you bet against a stock?

Short selling is a trading strategy where investors speculate on a stock's decline. Short sellers bet on, and profit from a drop in a security's price. Traders use short selling as speculation, and investors or portfolio managers may use it as a hedge against the downside risk of a long position.

Gary Shilling explains the only way to beat the market and win

30 related questions found

What is martingale strategy in stocks?

The strategy assumes that a single investment, or bet, cannot lose every time, so if you continue increasing the same investment, eventually you will earn back your money plus a profit. The martingale system promotes a loss-averse mentality that tries to improve the odds of breaking even.

How do you make money shorting a stock?

When you short a stock, you're betting on its decline, and to do so, you effectively sell stock you don't have into the market. Your broker can lend you this stock if it's available to borrow. If the stock declines, you can repurchase it and profit on the difference between sell and buy prices.

Where to put money if the stock market crashes?

If you are a short-term investor, certificates of deposit (CDs) issued by banks and Treasury securities are a good bet. If you invest for a longer period, fixed or indexed annuities or even indexed universal life insurance products can provide better returns than Treasury bonds.

Do any funds beat the S&P 500?

Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ)

The Invesco QQQ Trust is a go-to ETF that tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index. It's outperformed the S&P 500 in seven out of the last 10 years, all for a reasonable 0.2% expense ratio. It slightly trails the S&P's one-year return, but only slightly, and it thrashed the S&P in full-year 2023.

What is inverse trading?

Key Takeaways. An inverse ETF is a fund constructed by using various derivatives to profit from a decline in the value of an underlying benchmark. Inverse ETFs allow investors to make money when the market or the underlying index declines, but without having to sell anything short.

What is the easiest way to bet against a stock?

Short selling is the most traditional way to bet against a stock. An investor borrows shares of a stock from a broker and sells them at the current market price, with the intention of buying them back later at a lower price.

Can I play the stock market with $100?

You can start investing with $100 or even less. And that is especially true with today's modern investment apps, fractional share investing, and other innovations.

How do you bet against the economy?

So, if you believe a market is set to lose value, you can take short positions on stocks, indices, forex, commodities, interest rates and more. You'd then make a profit from a decline in your traded markets' price. However, if the price moves up, against your prediction, you'd incur a loss.

What is the 90% rule in stocks?

The Rule of 90 is a grim statistic that serves as a sobering reminder of the difficulty of trading. According to this rule, 90% of novice traders will experience significant losses within their first 90 days of trading, ultimately wiping out 90% of their initial capital.

What is the 357 trading strategy?

The 3 5 7 rule is a risk management strategy in trading that emphasizes limiting risk on each individual trade to 3% of the trading capital, keeping overall exposure to 5% across all trades, and ensuring that winning trades yield at least 7% more profit than losing trades.

What are Warren Buffett's 7 principles to investing?

Warren Buffett's Value Investing Guidelines
  • Buy Companies at Bargain Prices. Warren Buffett is a true value investor. ...
  • Be Patient. Wait for the right time to buy. ...
  • Go Against Conventional Wisdom. ...
  • Stick with What You Know. ...
  • Be Self-Confident. ...
  • Buy Companies with Competitive Advantages. ...
  • Believe in America.

What funds does Dave Ramsey invest in?

Ramsey recommends investing in four types of mutual funds: growth and income funds, growth funds, aggressive growth funds, and international funds. What is Dave Ramsey's recommended asset allocation? Ramsey recommends a 100% stock portfolio, with no allocation to bonds or other fixed-income investments.

Is it better to buy Spy or Voo?

SPY is more expensive with a Total Expense Ratio (TER) of 0.0945%, versus 0.03% for VOO. SPY is up 28.31% year-to-date (YTD) with +$7.13B in YTD flows. VOO performs better with 28.36% YTD performance, and +$103.99B in YTD flows.

Do I lose all my money if the stock market crashes?

Do you lose all the money if the stock market crashes? No, a stock market crash only indicates a fall in prices where a majority of investors face losses but do not completely lose all the money. The money is lost only when the positions are sold during or after the crash.

At what age should you get out of the stock market?

The reality is that stocks do have market risk, but even those of you close to retirement or retired should stay invested in stocks to some degree in order to benefit from the upside over time. If you're 65, you could have two decades or more of living ahead of you and you'll want that potential boost.

Where is your money safest during a recession?

Smart Stash: Four Recession-Proof Places to Keep Funds
  • Saving Accounts. There's a good chance you already have a savings account. ...
  • Money Market Accounts. A money market account is great for larger sums, offering significantly higher interest rates. ...
  • Share Certificates. ...
  • Stock Market.

How do you bet against a stock?

Short selling involves borrowing a security whose price you think is going to fall and then selling it on the open market. You then buy the same stock back later, hopefully for a lower price than you initially sold it for, return the borrowed stock to your broker, and pocket the difference.

What happens if I short a stock and it goes to $0?

For instance, say you sell 100 shares of stock short at a price of $10 per share. Your proceeds from the sale will be $1,000. If the stock goes to zero, you'll get to keep the full $1,000. However, if the stock soars to $100 per share, you'll have to spend $10,000 to buy the 100 shares back.

Is it illegal to borrow money to invest?

It's generally possible to take out a personal loan and invest the funds in the stock market, mutual funds or other assets, but some lenders may prohibit you from doing so. Among popular online lenders, SoFi, LightStream and Upgrade explicitly exclude investing as an acceptable way to use your personal loan funds.