Bank of America saw a sharp rise in short interest between the May 30 and June 13 settlement dates. It and four of its companions in the top six most shorted stocks on the New York Stock Exchange — including AT&T, Advanced Micro Devices and J.C. Penney — saw increases in the number of shares short during the period. And they all had short positions of more than 80 million shares by mid-month.

The number of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) shares short increased by almost 9.7 million in the first two weeks of the month to about 190.67 million. That was the highest level of short interest since the middle of April, and it represents 3.7% of the float. It would take almost ten days to cover all short positions. AT&T began financing its buyout of DirecTV during the period. The stock declined less than 2% in the two-week period to June 13, and it closed at $35.29 Tuesday, up a little more than 1% from the beginning of the year. The 52-week range is $31.74 to $36.86.

Brazilian iron ore producer Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) saw a 7.3% rise in short interest to more than 127.56 million shares. That was on top of a more than 12% gain in the previous period. It would take more than seven days to cover all short positions. Shares closed at $12.90, in a 52-week range of $12.29 to $17.14, and they ended the two-week short-interest period about where they began it.

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Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) had a 5.0% rise in short interest to almost 108.961 million shares by the middle of the month. That totaled 17.7% of the company’s float but was still the second lowest number of shares short so far this year. The days to cover fell to less than seven. Analysts predicted big upside in AMD during the period, and the stock’s price grew about 7%. But it now is up less than 2% year-to-date. The stock closed at $3.94 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $3.04 to $4.65.

On top of a rise of more than 5% in short interest in Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) in the previous period, it jumped in early June by 14.9% to around 106.86 million shares. That was 1.0% of the bank’s float, and it would take less than two days to cover all short positions. Bank of America is among banks facing shrinking investment banking revenues. The stock’s price was up about 2% by the end of the two-week period and now is down less than 3% year-to-date. Shares closed at $15.49 and have traded in a range of $12.13 to $18.03 in the past year.

Cemex SAB de C.V. (NYSE: CX) bucked the trend as the number of its shares short decreased by around 3.75 million from the previous period to more than 89.52 million by the middle of June. That was a decline of about 4.0% and represents about 7.4% of the total float. At the current average daily volume, it would take less than 10 days to cover all short positions. Shares rose less than 2% in the two-week period but are up almost 20% year-to-date. Shares closed at $13.09 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $9.01 to $13.82.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc.’s (NYSE: JCP) short interest grew from more than 80.82 million shares to around 82.67 million in the first two weeks of the month, the second period in a row of rising short interest. That was 27.4% of the float. The days to cover jumped from three to around seven as the average daily volume fell to a year-to-date low. J.C. Penney was one of America’s most familiar brands, but not entirely for the right reasons. The share price ended the two-week period more than 4% lower than were it began. Shares closed at $8.55 Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $4.90 to $17.80, and are down around 2% year-to-date.

Rounding out the top ten are Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), which all saw their short interest rise at least 3.8% in the period.

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