Highest Borrow-Fee Stocks Today: August 12, 2026 — Hard-to-Borrow Rates
BAOS leads the market-wide hard-to-borrow ranking at 429% annualized as of August 12, 2026, with 14 names falling into the hard-to-borrow or extreme tier.
TL;DR: As of 10:50 PM ET on August 12, 2026, BAOS carries the highest IBKR borrow fee in Tapeboard's market-wide ranking at 429% annualized. The #2 and #3 tickers are GCTK at 349.8% and JZ at 114.7%, respectively, both reflecting severe scarcity in the securities-lending pool.
The costliest name to borrow on a market-wide basis is BAOS at 429% annualized as of August 12, 2026. Fees on today's list span 1.9% to 429% annualized; the median is 10.5%. Ultra-high rates in the triple-digit range typically flag distressed or nearly un-locatable names rather than conventional short squeeze setups — a high borrow fee is a cost-to-short signal, not a momentum indicator.
Today's Hard-to-Borrow Rate Table
| Rank | Symbol | Annualized Borrow Fee | Rebate Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BAOS | 429.0% | −425.3% |
| 2 | GCTK | 349.8% | −346.1% |
| 3 | JZ | 114.7% | −111.0% |
| 4 | NXTC | 95.3% | −91.6% |
| 5 | BQ | 71.6% | −68.0% |
| 6 | CHOW | 57.2% | −53.6% |
| 7 | CETX | 54.0% | −50.4% |
| 8 | PARA | 31.2% | −27.6% |
| 9 | WKHS | 26.8% | −23.2% |
| 10 | LCID | 26.5% | −22.9% |
| 11 | OPAD | 15.0% | −11.4% |
| 12 | CGC | 12.3% | −8.6% |
| 13 | DRTS | 10.5% | −6.9% |
| 14 | VVOS | 10.1% | −6.5% |
| 15 | GRRR | 9.4% | −5.7% |
| 16 | BIRD | 9.2% | −5.5% |
| 17 | NRDY | 9.1% | −5.5% |
| 18 | CRMT | 6.0% | −2.4% |
| 19 | OPTT | 6.0% | −2.4% |
| 20 | ABCL | 5.7% | −2.1% |
| 21 | RUM | 5.6% | −2.0% |
| 22 | SOS | 5.0% | −1.4% |
| 23 | INO | 3.7% | −0.0% |
| 24 | SPCE | 3.0% | 0.6% |
| 25 | EVTL | 1.9% | 1.7% |
*Source: IBKR Securities Lending rates as compiled by Tapeboard, August 12, 2026 10:50 PM ET. Market-wide ranking across all IBKR-tracked securities. Not investment advice.*
Borrow-Fee Tiers
Tapeboard categorizes annualized borrow fees as normal (under 2%), elevated (2-10%), hard-to-borrow (10-50%), and extreme (above 50%). On August 12, 2026, 14 names on today's market-wide list fell in the hard-to-borrow or extreme tier. The extreme tier — fees above 50% — contains seven tickers: BAOS, GCTK, JZ, NXTC, BQ, CHOW, and CETX. These are the names where locating shares in the lending pool is most difficult, and the negative rebate rates confirm borrowers are paying substantial additional costs beyond the base fee.
What a High Borrow Fee Signals
An annualized borrow fee is the stock-loan cost a short seller pays; a high fee reflects scarcity in the lendable pool. It does NOT by itself predict a squeeze; names with triple-digit fees are often distressed, very-low-float, post-reverse-split, or recently IPO'd stocks where shares are almost impossible to locate — high cost-to-short is not the same as squeeze potential. Borrow fee is weighted 25% in Tapeboard's composite squeeze score. For a fuller picture, traders should combine this with short interest data, price momentum, and volume trends — see the methodology for details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which stocks have the highest borrow fees today?
As of August 12, 2026, the top three are BAOS at 429% annualized, GCTK at 349.8%, and JZ at 114.7%. These triple-digit fees indicate extreme scarcity in the securities-lending market, often associated with distressed fundamentals or very low float.
What is considered a high stock borrow fee?
Tapeboard defines a normal borrow fee as under 2% annualized, elevated as 2-10%, hard-to-borrow as 10-50%, and extreme as above 50%. On today's list, 14 names fall into the hard-to-borrow or extreme categories, with the median fee sitting at 10.5%.
Where do these borrow rates come from?
Tapeboard compiles IBKR Securities Lending borrow fees daily and refreshes them each evening across the full market universe. These rates are daily snapshots, not real-time intraday values, and may differ from rates quoted by other brokers due to varying lending pools and demand dynamics.
Data and Methodology
- Borrow fee: IBKR Stock Loan Availability, updated daily each evening, market-wide.
- Rebate rate: IBKR Securities Lending data, where available.
See today's full squeeze analysis for the 7-factor composite ranking, or the hard-to-borrow leaderboard for the live pillar.
This post is for educational and informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Borrow fees reflect securities-lending conditions reported in IBKR's daily data; they are not real-time intraday rates and may differ from rates at other brokers. A high borrow fee does not constitute a buy or sell signal. Short selling carries unlimited downside risk. Editor: Marcus Reilly.