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Among the most shorted stocks trading on the New York Stock Exchange, General Electric, and to a lesser extent Petrobras, drew the most attention from short sellers between the October 15 and October 30 settlement dates. They both saw sharp percentage upswings in the number of shares short during the period. Meanwhile, the number of shares short in AT&T dropped handily.

Note that the six most shorted NYSE stocks all had more than 110,000 shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period.

After rising since the end of May, short interest in Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) retreated for the second consecutive period, pulling back less than 2% to more than 219.08 million shares by the end of the month. That was 33.4% of the company’s float, and the days to cover rose to about 14 as the daily average volume declined. In the period, investors held their collective breath ahead of the latest earnings report. Short sellers watched the stock fall about 15% between the settlement dates. It closed at $7.06 on Tuesday, down about 64% year to date. In the past year, shares have traded between $6.01 and $24.43.

The short interest in General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) soared between the settlement dates, up more than 70% to about 217.99 million shares. Fewer than 100 million shares were short for most of the past year, but it was up to 2.2% of the float by October 30. It would take about three days to cover all short positions. GE started the period with a positive earnings surprise. The share price rose more than 3% but then surrendered that gain during the two-week period. Shares closed at $30.12 Tuesday, after hitting a 52-week high of $30.27 the day before. The $19.37 52-week low was during the market swoon back in August.

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After a more than an 18% plunge in the number of Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) shares short in the previous two periods, they reversed course and grew 2.3% to around 188.67 million. That was still the second lowest level of short interest since last January. At the most recent average daily volume, it would take around seven days to cover all short positions. At least one analyst sees the Brazilian miner as a contrarian play. Shares of Vale did end the short-interest period almost 10% lower. The S&P 500 was more than 2% higher during that time. The stock closed most recently at $4.11, in a 52-week trading range of $3.97 to $9.55.
Sprint Corp.’s (NYSE: S) short interest pulled back more than 3% in the final weeks of the month, after about an 11% gain in the previous period. The most recent reading of more than 171.01 million was 27.4% of the float and the second greatest number of shares short in at least a year. The days to cover rose from about eight to more than 11. Prospects for Sprint’s turnaround have seemed dim, but the share price ended the two-week period more than 10% higher, though it was up more than 18% at one point. Shares ended Tuesday’s session at $4.08, in a 52-week trading range of $3.10 to $5.45.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), better known as Petrobras, saw the number of its shares short jump by more than 14 million in the two weeks to more than 165.51 million. That was easily the highest level of short interest in the past year. The days to cover rose to about seven as the average daily volume plunged. PIMCO is suing Petrobras, and its shares retreated less than 4% in the final two weeks of the month. They closed most recently at $4.93, down more than 33% year to date. The 52-week high of $11.13 occurred almost a year ago, while the $3.72 low was seen at the end of September.

The more than 113.78 million AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) shares short at the end of October was almost 11% lower than on the prior settlement date. It was 1.9% of the float as well. It would take about four days to cover all short positions. Note that short interest was around 300 million shares for much of this year. AT&T remains one of the most ignored dividend plays on Wall Street. Its shares were down fractionally by the end of the most recent short interest period. The stock closed Tuesday at $32.79, which was more than 2% lower than at the beginning of the year. The 52-week trading range is $30.97 to $36.45.

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Rounding out the top 10 were Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP). The big mover here was Corning, with short interest more than doubling to lift it up into the top 10. Double-digit percentage declines allowed Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) to drop out of the top 10 in late October.