Short Seller Swarm: Highest Days To Cover (CADX, DMND, TSLA, OMEX, PACR, MNKD, WAVX, ENER, NTRI, ZIXI, MR, ZZ, RCI, MNI, HGG, AM, BPI, LTM)

Many investors track the largest increase in short selling, but there is another crucial way to look at short interest: the days to cover often tells just how actively shorted a stock is, as does a large percentage of its float.  More importantly, these often represent a longer-term bias by the trading community.  We have tracked the NASDAQ and NYSE short interest data today to screen for companies with the highest days to cover ratios (all are over one months of trading volume).  We also looked for a high percentage of its shares outstanding or its float to be in the short interest.  Almost all of these also had an increase in the period from August 31 to September 15 settlement dates.

The NASDAQ stocks which fit this bill are as follows: Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CADX); Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND); Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA); Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMEX); Pacer International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PACR); MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD); Wave Systems Corporation (NASDAQ: WAVX); Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER); NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRI); and Zix Corporation (NASDAQ: ZIXI). 

The NYSE stocks which fit this bill, except for one, are as follows: Mindray Medical International (NYSE: MR); Sealy Corporation (NYSE: ZZ); Rogers Communication, Inc. (NYSE: RCI); The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI); HHGregg, Inc. (NYSE: HGG); American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM); Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI); and Life Time Fitness (NYSE: LTM). 

We only looked at companies with an average volume of more than 250,000 shares and have added some loose color on these if applicable.

NASDAQ SHORT INTEREST DATA:

Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CADX) saw a 1% gain in the short interest to 13,754,125 shares with nearly 40% of its float short and a days to cover ratio of 52.92 days.

Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) saw a 1% gain in the short interest to 8,406,601 shares with some 39% of its float short and its days to cover ratio was 32.48 days. 

Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) saw a 2% rise in its short interest to 21,189,149 shares with some 43% of its float short and its days to cover is 30.76 days.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMEX) saw almost a 1% gain in the short interest to 11,491,304 shares with almost 17% of its float short and with a days to cover ratio of 29.9 days.

Pacer International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PACR) saw nearly a 2% rise in the short interest to 6,476,410 shares with almost 19% of its float short and with a 28.21 days to cover ratio.

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) is a perpetually highly-shorted name for its inhalable diabetes treatment.  That is more than 31% of its float short and days to cover is 27.44 days.  That is the highest short interest in more than a year but it is not the highest days to cover ratio at all.

Wave Systems Corporation (NASDAQ: WAVX) saw a 3% gain in the short interest to 8,648,927 shares, which is 10.5% of its float and it has a days to cover ratio of about 25.36 days.

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) is surprising to see  such a small gain considering its past in alternative energy.  It had a gain of 0.6% in the short interest to 14,309,334 shares.  This comes to 27.3% of its float short but was a big jump in the days to cover ratio to 24.56 days.

NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRI) is usually heavily bet against as it is a diet stock that is down massively from its old highs.  There was almost a 3% gain in the short interest to 6,534,480 shares.  This comes to 25.6% of its float and the days to cover was the highest since February at 24.03 days.

Zix Corporation (NASDAQ: ZIXI) saw a 2.1% rise in the short interest to 7,641,433 shares.   Zix had about 12% of its float short and this was also more than a year high by far on the days to cover ratio at 23.69 days.  

NYSE SHORT INTEREST DATA:

Mindray Medical International (NYSE: MR) saw some action ahead of its portable ultrasound system.  It saw a 3% gain in its short interest to 18,703,580 shares.  That comes to about 16% of its share count but it is now listed as a whopping 63.36 days to cover since its average volume has come down so much.

Sealy Corporation (NYSE: ZZ) saw a 1.2% gain in its short interest to 15,098,472 shares at the mattress and bedding company.  It currently has nearly 32% of its float short and a days to cover ratio of 58.44 days.

Rogers Communication, Inc. (NYSE: RCI) saw nearly a 2% rise in the short interest to 23,559,864 shares and this is only about 6% of its entire float.  Still, this comes to a massive days to cover ratio of 51.74 days.

The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) is one that technically should not have fit the screen because its short interest fell by 0.5%.  The new short interest is 26,330,958 shares and it has 44% of its float short and a days to cover ratio of 49.62 days.

HHGregg, Inc. (NYSE: HGG) saw a 3.7% rise in the short interest to 9,544,562 shares with nearly 53% of its float short and a days to cover ratio of over 34 days.

American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM) saw a 5.7% gain in the short interest to 8,161,833 shares with over 22% of its float short and a days to cover ratio of 27.5 days.

Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI) saw a 0.7% gain in the short interest to 9.25 million shares with over 52% of its float short and a days to cover ratio of 27.24 days.

Life Time Fitness (NYSE: LTM) saw another gain in the short interest of 0.6% to 8,716,129 shares in the short interest.  This comes to 22.3% of the float short and a days to cover ratio of 21.64 days.

JON C. OGG