'''Naked short selling''', or '''naked shorting''', is a term used to refer to a form of stock manipulation involving the largely illegal practice of placing sales transactions for stock that the seller does not own, and has not borrowed. Hence, the sale is "naked", as the buyer's money is paid, but no share is delivered. Except for market makers in limited instances, deliberate delivery failure is prohibited by SEC rules. Naked short selling is not the same as innocent delivery failure due to lost or stolen certificates, nor is it related to legitimate short selling (where a share of stock is first borrowed before the sale is placed). The term refers to a deliberate practice designed to depress the price of the affected security, by creating the appearance of more supply than actually exists, by effecting sales transactions without capability or intent to deliver the shares sold.

'''Naked short selling''', or '''naked shorting''', is a form of [[Short selling|selling shares of securities short]] that seeks to profit from share price declines.