In brief: Shorting allows investors to borrow and immediately sell shares of stock with the intent to buy back shares at a lower price. Apple's stock is being bet against to the tune of $9.8 billion worth of shorts.
Financial technology company S3 Partners has shared that Apple has become the most shorted stock in the days leading up to its special event. At a total of $9.8 billion in short orders, it still only accounts for a very small amount of Apple's trillion dollar market cap.
Just behind Apple, the next six heavily shorted companies are all tech giants. Amazon, Tesla, Alphabet, Netflix, Microsoft, and Facebook follow behind Apple.
Tariffs are a major concern for investors in Apple and other tech companies as President Trump continues to speak of adding additional taxes of up to 25 percent on certain electronics. This combination along with increased publicity over Apple's iPhone launch event have caused increase trade volume over the past few days.
Undoubtedly, Apple is still going to rake in billions from its product launches this holiday season. Aside from three new iPhones, Apple could also unveil a new watch, AirPods, iPads, wireless charging pad, or possibly a new Mac Mini. While the iPhone is Apple's cash cow, its accessories and compatible products line the wallets of investors and executives even further.
Barring any unforeseen problems, Apple has a large number of new products ready for deployment into the market. Catch the latest updates today at 10:00 a.m. PDT / 1:00 p.m EST on Apple's live stream of their special event. It is available on Twitter, via Apple TV, and Apple.com.