> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.allocait.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Shorts

> A negative share count is a short, judged by its own size range.

A short is a negative share count on the same holding row. There is no separate direction field. Allocait records what you hold. It places no orders and computes no profit, borrow cost or margin.

## How a short is valued

A holding's value is shares times price, so a short's value is negative. Cash moves by the change in shares times the price you give, so selling short credits cash and covering debits it. A short subtracts from its class's total for the [allocation band](https://docs.allocait.app/concepts/allocation-bands.md).

## Allow shorts

A short works only on a portfolio with **Allow shorts** on. It is off by default, and Allocait refuses to turn it off while a short is held (`IN_USE`). A short never applies to a holding in the Options asset class. You set **Allow shorts** in **Settings**, **Portfolios**; see [Update holdings](https://docs.allocait.app/guides/update-holdings.md).

## The short size range

A short is judged by its own **short size range**, not the long [size range](https://docs.allocait.app/concepts/position-sizes.md). It counts a short's size without the minus sign: a short worth -6% of the portfolio counts as 6%.

* It sits beside the size range in the same rule, for example 3% to 5% (a fictional example).
* Give both short fields or neither, except in rules text, where the minimum has a [default](https://docs.allocait.app/concepts/rules-text-format.md#defaults).
* The field shows when any of your portfolios has **Allow shorts** on, or when the rule already has a short size range.
* A class with no short size range does not judge its shorts. They show as **Not monitored**, never as a pass.

## What a rebalance skips

A rebalance trades long holdings outside the Options class. A short or an Options holding gets no row. The result lists it once under `not_rebalanced` with its symbol, class and reason, and no price, count or value. A class made only of such holdings reads `no_priced_holdings`.

## Next steps

* [Size ranges](https://docs.allocait.app/concepts/position-sizes.md) covers the long size range and how it is checked.
* [Plan a rebalance](https://docs.allocait.app/guides/plan-a-rebalance.md) shows the `not_rebalanced` list in context.
* [Update holdings](https://docs.allocait.app/guides/update-holdings.md) records what you hold.
* [Exposure](https://docs.allocait.app/concepts/exposure.md) reads shorts beside longs.


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