Float
The number of shares actually available for public trading.
Also called: free float · public float
In plain language
Float excludes shares locked up by insiders, founders and restricted holders. It is the supply that can genuinely change hands.
A small float means limited supply. The same buying pressure produces far larger price moves than it would in a widely held stock.
Low-float stocks are correspondingly dangerous: wide spreads, violent gaps, and stops that fill far from where they were placed.
Why it matters
Float is one of the best available predictors of how badly a stop might slip, which argues for smaller positions in low-float names regardless of what the risk math says.
Common mistakes
- Sizing a low-float stock by risk math alone without allowing for slippage.
- Confusing float with shares outstanding when assessing liquidity.
Keep exploring
These concepts are connected. Understanding one usually makes the next one easier.
How easily an asset can be bought or sold without moving its price.
The number of shares sold short but not yet bought back, often shown as a percent of float.
The difference between the price you expected and the price you actually got.
How much and how quickly an asset’s price moves over a given period.
The total market value of a company’s shares — share price times shares outstanding.