Short Interest In Troubled Companies Rises (C, SIRI, LNKD, WFC)

After a period in which short sellers backed out of stocks in troubled companies, the have rushed into them again.

The short interest in Research-In-Motion (NYSE: RIMM), battered by competition from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android rose 15% to 46.3 million. Shares short in Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI), which recently posted weak subscriber sales, rose 10% to 277 million shares. The short interest in Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) rose 29% to 12.8 million

Probably in anticipation of earnings that would push shares lower after a tremendous run, the short interest in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR) rose 45% to 24.7 million. The bet was a smart one. Quarterly numbers were weak enough to push the stock down by over 35%.

Shares sold short in major bank shares moved very little. The short interest in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) fell 6% to 190 million. The short interest in Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) was down 12% to 55.4 million. Shares sold short in Citigroup (NYSE: C) fell 58.9 million.

Stocks under tremendous pressure because the short position was such a large portion of their floats included LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) which at 36%. Short interest as percent of float at Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) was 36% The percent of float for newspaper chain McClatchy (NYSE: MCI) was 44 days. For Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK), the number was 25%.

Douglas A. McIntyre