Short Sellers Move Into Banks, Out Of Tech (C)(BAC)(WFC)(DELL)(INTC)(CSCO)(MSFT)

Banking, finance, and taxes

Published: May 12, 2009 3:18 am

Last Updated: April 28, 2020 4:50 am

Short sellers may have helped themselves by moving out of tech stocks just as shares in the sector began to make big advances.

In the period ending. May 11, short interest in Microsoft (MSFT) fell 10% to 79.7 million shares. Shares sold short in Cisco (CSCO) fell 9% to 68.6 million. The short interest in Juniper (JNPR) was off by 5% to 52.4 million. Shares short in Oracle (ORCL) were down 2% to 50.3 million.

The only significant deviation in the retreat of short in selling in the tech sector was PC and chip stock in companies where revenue has been weakened by global demand. Share short in Dell (DELL) rose 14% to 41.2 million and the short interest in Intel (INTC) moved up 6% to 85.6 million.

The recovery in bank stocks will not last if short positions are any indication, but the results of stress tests may squeeze shorts out of these stocks. Shares sold short in Citigroup (C) rose 3% to 1,270 million. The short interest in Bank of America (BAC) was up 11% to 174.4 million. Shares short in Wells Fargo (WFC) moved up 8% to 161.7 million.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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