Short Sellers Push into Banks Before They Fall (JPM, BAC, NOK, HPQ, AAPL, INTC)
August 10, 2011 by Douglas A. McIntyre
Short sellers moved into bank stocks ahead of the sell-off based on data for the period that ended July 29.
Shares sold short in JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) rose 17% to 33.6 million. The short position in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was higher by 6% to 131.9 million. Short interest in Capital One (NYSE: COF) rose 143% to 29.6 million. Shares short in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB ) were up 22% to 22 million.
Short sellers also increased positions in a number of large technology firms. Shares sold short in Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) rose 15% to 20.6 million. Shares short in Nokia (NYSE: NOK) rose 9% to 112 million. Shares sold short in Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) were up 18% to 36.2 million. Short interest in Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) rose 29% to 15.3 million. Shares short in embattled Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) rose 3% to 70.2 million. And short interest in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was higher by 8% to 11.8 million.
Short sellers pulled out of the major chip stocks. Short interest in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) was off by 16% to 100.3 million. Shares sold short in Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) were down 32% to 20.5 million. Short interest in RF Micro (NASDAQ: RFMD) dropped 8% to 20.9 million. Short interest in Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) dropped 11% to 15. 6 million. Stocks in this sector have shown strength because the companies are providers to the rapidly growing smartphone industry.
Among other widely traded stocks, shares short in News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS) were up by 39% to 32.9 million. Short interest in Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) fell 14% to 22.1 million. Shares sold short in troubled Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) rose 10% to 81.8 million. Short interest in the weakest of the large airlines, AMR (NYSE: AMR), rose 21% to 64.7 million. And short interest in Walmart (NYSE: WMT) rose 13% to 40.7 million.
Data from NYSE and NASDAQ
Douglas A. McIntyre
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