Short interest jumps for FLWS, HOMS, LOOK and NILE

Short interest data is now available for Nasdaq stocks through March 15th. Short interest has rocketed for some internet stocks:

Changes in short interest Feb 15th to March 15th:

• 1-800 Flowers (ticker: FLWS) +43%
• Homestore (ticker: HOMS) +41%
• Looksmart (ticker: LOOK) +23%
• Ask Jeeves (ticker: ASKJ) +17%
• Blue Nile (ticker: NILE) +11%
• Amazon (ticker: AMZN) +8%
• CNET (ticker: CNET) +3%
• eBay (ticker: EBAY) +2%
• Shopping.com  (ticker: SHOP) 0%
• IAC (ticker: IACI) -3%
• Yahoo! (ticker: YHOO) -2%
• Priceline  (ticker: PCLN) -3%
• Google  (ticker: GOOG) -29%

Stocks with the highest short interest:

• Overstock.com  (ticker: OSTK) 52%
• Travelzoo (ticker: TZOO) 45%
• Netflix  (ticker: NFLX) 41%
• Priceline (ticker: PCLN) 38%

Quick comment: High short interest can be interpreted two ways: it represents pent-up buying demand, so it's technically bullish; but it might show that smart investors are bearish on a stock, in which case it's bearish. Most analysts interpret high short interest as bullish, particularly for stocks with small floats, in which case high short interest signals risk of a short-squeeze.