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We have seen what appears to be a mixed bag of shares listed in the short interest of the most active NASDAQ tech stocks traded day in and day out. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) all saw decreases to their short interest. While there was an increase in the short interest of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL), QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) and Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM), these actually do not come close on a percentage basis to the declines seen when you compare the relative changes.
These ten stocks listed here account for more than 40% of the NASDAQ -100 weighting measured by the Powershares QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQQ). The short interest on the QQQQ Trust rose 9.5% to 130.3 million shares, but this is often sector and position hedging in a key ETF rather than indicative of added bets against technology stocks. We have compiled the data for the settlement as-of date of December 15, versus a prior date of November 30. A percentage change in the open interest of each has also been noted:
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Brand measurement is a popular exercise. Several major business magazines run brand value lists. The annual Brand Z and Interbrand lists always get heavy press coverage. Companies are concerned about their rankings and what they will brag to customers, investors, and consumers about how the world sees their products and services. The Tiger Woods fiasco brought up the issue of how much a brand’s value can be undermined by a rapid and negative change in the fortunes of an important endorser.
Reuters: Merger activity will grow slowly in 2010.
Reuters: Obama’s poll ratings on the economy dropped.
Reuters: 
M&A activity picked up in the second half of 2009 as the market moved up and access to capital for big companies improved. Corporate debt offerings soared and banks began to make capital available for deals such as the proposed Kraft (NYSE:KFT) offer to buy Cadbury. Kraft has already lined up bridge loans for the potential buyout.
Reuters: Abu Dhabi supplied Dubai with $10 billion in bail out funds.
The second half of December is supposed to be when trading volume starts slowing down. That does not look to be the case for this coming week, and this list of the unusual suspects is packed with many major stocks and events. We actually have a mini-version of earnings season with companies like Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE), Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY), Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE), Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), and Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM). There is also significant event-driven trading that will be present around Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), AXA (NYSE: AXA), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY), Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE: MJN), OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIP), PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: UUP), Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V), and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC).
Reuters: The pressure is on big oil companies such as Exxon (NYSE:XOM) and BP (NYSE:BP) to find inexpensive oil reserves in Iraq.
Reuters: Dubai said the market’s perceptions of its problems is “softening.”
Short sellers sharply increased their gamble that financial stocks would fall based on short selling data from NYSE and Nasdaq on the last day of November.
24/7 Wall St. has prepared its list of the ten brands that will disappear in 2010. This list is based on a review of each firm’s financial situation and other operating data, the current and ongoing value of its brand, and whether the company that controls that brand can sell its assets.
Updated throughout the day.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer told attendees at the company’s annual shareholder meeting that Windows 7 sales were astonishingly high. 
