short cover

(FINANCE) when a trader in a short position is wrong about the price movement, and is consequently forced to buy the asset at the higher price in order to meet legal obligations.

The classic example of this is the broker who sells stocks he does not own, in the expectation that he can buy the stock in the future at a lower price for delivery. If the price goes up instead of down, the broker must "cover his shorts," and very possibly drive prices higher still.

When Morgan was ready to squeeze the shorts, he was damn certain his corner would hold as the Twombly men scrambled to buy shares at any price.

"I've got your short cover right here, Gentlemen," he snorted from his seat overlooking the trading pit.

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covering shorts

(FINANCE) the situation in which a derivatives trader with a short position is wrong about the behavior of the market. Having sold shares of stock he doesn't own, he is now compelled to buy them at a higher price than he sold them for (in order to reimburse whomever he borrowed the shares from).

If the short position was taken by writing naked options (i.e., issuing call options of stock the trader doesn't happen to have), then the trader has to buy shares of underlying stock in order to honor the options.

It's extremely expensive for traders to have to cover their shorts.

The surprising stock rally came as a shock. Nicholas Leeson had been riding high, but now he was furiously covering shorts, and driving the share prices higher still. By closing bell, he was ruined.

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