Looking Into Illinois Tool Works''s Recent Short Interest Illinois Tool Works''s (NYSE: ITW ) short percent of float has risen 5.82% since its last report. The company recently reported that it has 6.20 million shares sold short , which is 2.0% of all regular shares that are available for trading. Based on its trading volume, it would take traders 5.2 days to cover their short positions on average. Why Short Interest Matters Short interest is the number of shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. Short selling is when a trader sells shares of a company they do not own, with the hope that the price will fall. Traders make money from short selling if the price of … Full story available on Benzinga.com