24/7 Wall St. » UMC

The Month’s Biggest Index Losers: Chinese Agriculture, Chinese Solar, and Semiconductor Fabricators

247wallst — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:44:54 +0000

There were strong losses in three Tickerspy indexes over the most recent 30-day period. This month’s biggest fallers are in Chinese Agriculture, Chinese Solar, and Semiconductor Fabricators.

Chinese agriculture stocks continue to decline, and are down 43.2% in the past month. The worst performing stocks in the index are China Agritech Inc., (NASDAQ: CAGC) down 37.9%, China Green Agriculture, Inc., (NYSE: CGA) down 21.6%, and China Organic Agriculture, Inc., (OTC: CNOA) down 16.2%.

Chinese solar stocks are down 21.8% in the past month. The worst performing stocks in the index are Canadian Solar Inc., (NASDAQ: CSIQ) down 43.2%, Trina Solar Ltd., (NYSE: TSL) down 21.4%, and Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd., (NYSE: STP) down 21.3%.

Semiconductor fabricator stocks are down 20.9% in the past month. The worst performing stocks in the sector are Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., (NYSE: SMI) down 21.9%, United Microelectronics Corporation, (NYSE: UMC) down 17.7%, and Tower Semiconductor Ltd., (NASDAQ: TSEM) down 15.9%.

24/7 Wall St.

Filed under: Most Actives Tagged: CAGC, CGA, CNOA, CSIQ, SMI, STP, TSEM, TSL, UMC

New Short Selling Stocks of Interest (ODP, ALU, UMC, MBI, MU, GLW, SKS, HMA, CHK)

247wallst — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:52:21 +0000

The recent headlines over the short interest showed a rise on the NYSE and NASDAQ. In terms of the Top 50 NYSE Jumps In Shorts, a couple key stocks stand out. For NYSE stocks, short increased their bet in Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE: ODP) as the short position rose by 8,204,236 shares and the short ratio now stands at 3.97. It appears the shorts are betting that office equipment sales are lagging or that Office Depot will struggle against its much bigger competitor Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS). The result of this bet will be understood in January as Office Depot announces how it fared through year-end holiday sales. Another interesting increase in short interest was Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) which saw its short position increase by 5,305,141 shares with a short ratio of 4.04 in spite of a very low stock price of $3.26. A move up by a $1 could hit the shorts for a loss of 31%. Good Morning Wall St. has a complete review of the top increases and decreases in short interest.

A tendency still exists as we noted last month for short sellers to short stocks with a price tag under $5.00. Stocks with low prices that were among the Top 50 Jumps in Short on the NYSE with short ratios above 4 include United Microelectronics (NYSE: UMC) with an increase of 3,351,468 shares and a short ratio of 10.39 and MBIA Inc (NYSE: MBI) with an increase of 2,525,083 shares and a short ratio of 5.02.

NYSE stocks that are currently listed as being in possible short squeezes (not on news, but stocks with high short selling over the past five years and strong price performance) include Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE: MU), Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW), Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS), Health Management Associates (NYSE: HMA) and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK).

Micron (MU) beat estimates last week and now the shorts are on the run as the short position rose by 4,033,386 shares and the short ratio is at 3.42.
Chesapeake Energy (CHK) is getting the benefit of the rise in the price of natural gas along with its short position that rose by 2,630,762 shares and the short ratio is at 1.71 which is not a significant as the other names but over the last year it is rising to a new high on its short ratio.

Short interest numbers for the NYSE are reported for the period of settlement date December 15th. The NYSE saw short interest increase to 13,534,278,885 from 13,181,274,622 (revised number) from an original number of 13,202,567,761. Our calculation shows an increase of 353,004,263 or 2.68%. There were 1,612 increases with 1,581 decreases.

Short interest numbers for NASDAQ are reported for the period of settlement date December 15th. Short interest rose to 6.459,229,433 from 6,452,841,088 for an increase of 6,388,345 or 0.10%. There were 1,573 increases and 1,100 decreases.

Geoffrey A. Garbacz, GoodMorningWallSt.com

Posted in Short Interest, Trading Alert Tagged: ALU, CHK, GLW, HMA, MBI, MU, ODP, SKS, UMC

Short Interest Data Not Telling The Whole Story (UMC, M, C, SNV, ALU, WNR, LIZ, EEE, MBI)

247wallst — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:27:05 +0000

The headlines this morning are that short interest rose a tiny bit on the NYSE and fell on NASDAQ. However, after looking closer into the numbers a different story is being told for the most recent release and several of the past releases.

In terms of the Top 50 NYSE Jumps In Shorts, a couple stocks stand out. First United Microelectronics (NYSE: UMC) a large semiconductor company out of Taiwan saw a rather hefty increase in short interest with a jump of 10,193,708 shares and the short ratio moves to 10.03. Recently, they raised estimates. Shorts continue to pile into Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) as short interest rose 4,664,144 and the short ratio is at 3.13. A tendency remains for shorts to add to stocks with prices under $5 and include such tickers as Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C), Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE: SNV), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR), Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ), Evergreen Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EEE) and MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI).

There is a mix in the overall short interest data from exchange to exchange.

Short interest numbers for the NYSE were reported after the close yesterday for the period ended settlement date November 30th and rose to 13,202,567,761 from 13,173,105,311 which is a revised number. Each new period the NYSE revises the prior number. Our calculation shows an increase of 29,462,450 or 0.22%. There were 1,714 issues increasing on an absolute basis and 1,109 issues decreased.

Short interest for NASDAQ are reported for the period of settlement date November 30th and fell to 6,452,841,088 from 6,495,260,406 for a decrease of 42,419,318 or -0,65%. There were1,714 issues increasing on an absolute basis and 1,109 issues decreased. Over the last three releases, we have seen more stocks with shorts increasing to both NYSE and NASDAQ names. Could the shorts be positioning for 2010 with no respect to the traditional Santa Claus Rally and January Effect?

For a complete review of the top increases and decreases in short interest we would direct you to the area at Good Morning Wall St.

Geoffrey A. Garbacz, GoodMorningWallSt.com

Posted in Short Interest, Trading Alert Tagged: ALU, C, EEE, LIZ, M, MBI, SNV, UMC, WNR

The 52-Week Low Club 7/31/2008 (DLX)(UMC)(BA)(AKAM)(HOLX)(BARE)

247wallst — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:02:44 +0000

Deluxe Corporation (DLX) Drops 2008 outlook and pays the price. Falls to $14 from 52-week high of $40.86.

United Microelectronics (UMC) Fails with weak results and analyst upgrade. Sells off to $2.53 from 52-week high of $4.48

Boeing (BA) Concerns about plane orders as airline industry falls apart. Down to $61.06 from 52-week high of $107.15

Akamai Technologies (AKAM) Poor outlook for balance of the year. Sells off to $22.69 from 52-week high of $41.45.

Hologic (HOLX) Lowers sales forecasts. Dips to $18.18 from 52-week high of $36.44

Bare Essentials (BARE) Analyst downgrade. Plunges to $11.40 from 52-week high of $29.90

Douglas A. McIntyre

The 52-Week Low Club

247wallst — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:10:56 +0000

Ruby Tuesday (RT) Low profits, analysts downgrades. Falls to $15.87 from 52-week high of $30.80.

United Microelectronics (UMC) Wall St. worried about contract chip makers. Off to $4.03.

Maidenform Brands (MFB) Bra business must be light. Drops to $14.62 from 52-week high of $24.49.

Inphonic (INPC) Looking at "strategic options" and CEO stepped down. Falls to $.40 from 52-week high of $14.49.

Curagen Corp (CRGN) Drug trial fails and is abandoned. So are the shares. Down to $.90 from 52-week high of $4.99.

Sharper Image (SHRP) Retail sales were dying slowly, but now dying quickly. Drops to $3.17 from 52-week high of $14.16.

Douglas A. McIntyre