Shorts Flee Tech Stocks (MSFT)(INTC)(ORCL)(CSCO)

Short sellers moved out of tech stocks in large volumes at mid-month. Based on short interest figures as of August 14, shares short in Intel (INTC) fell 33% to 88.3 million. The short interest in Microsoft (MSFT) was down 4% to 65.1 million. Shares short in Cisco (CSCO) fell 14% to 44.2 million. Short interest in Oracle (ORCL) dropped 13% to 29.5 million. The short interest in Nvidia (NVDA) dropped 29% to 26.2 million.

Among other widely followed stocks traded on Nasdaq, shares short in Sirius XM (SIRI) fell 11% to 119.6 million. Shares short in Level 3 (LVLT) were down 5% to 93.8 million. The short interest in Starbucks (SBUX) was up 10% to 44.3 million.

Short sellers upped their positions in most large financial firm shares. The short interest in Citigroup (C) rose 82% to 624.6 million. Shares sold short in Bank of America (BAC) rose 28% to 118.1 million. The short interest in Fannie Mae (FNM) rose 26% to 69.3 million.

Share short in all three major telecom companies rose. AT&T (T) shares sold short rose 8% to 42.9 million. Shares short in Verizon (VZ) rose 12% to 38.9 million. The short interest in Sprint (S) was up 16% to 71.5 million.

Among large retailers, the short interest in Target (TGT) rose 17% to 30,5 million shares. Shares sold short in Macy’s (M) fell 11% to 36.2 million. The short interest in JC Penny (JCP) fell 18% to 15.8 million.

The largest single move among major stocks was a 138% increase in shares sold short in E*Trade (ETFC) to 323.9 million.

Data from Nasdaq and NYSE.

Douglas A. McIntyre