What is an equity position?

If somebody says they are taking the "under" on an equity position, what does that mean?

• Does that mean they are shorting it ?

• Answer:

  An over-under or over/under bet is a wager in which a sportsbook will predict a number for a statistic in a given game (usually the combined score of the two teams), and bettors wager that the actual number in the game will be either higher or lower than that number. For example, in Super Bowl XXXIX, most Las Vegas casinos set the over-under for the score of the game at 46.0. A bettor could wager that the combined score of the two teams would be either more than or less than that number (as it happened, the combined score was 45, so anyone who had bet the under won). so in terms of equity, if someone is taking the under they are betting that it will be less than expected. If this question stemmed from Jeff Mackey's statement that he is taking the under on the GDP for tommorrow. It means that he is betting that the GDP contraction number will be lower than expected. Expected number is 6-7%. Hope that answers your question.