Stocks with the Highest Short Interest

Below is a table of the S&P 500 stocks with the highest short interest as a percentage of equity float. For each name, we also provide its year to date performance, so you can see if the shorts have been winning or losing. Be on the lookout for these names as they report earnings this quarter. Ones that come in better than expected should do very well since shorts will be forced to cover. If the overall market continues to head lower, these names will most likely be some of the worst performers as shorts continue to pile in.

As shown, KB Home (KBH) has the highest short interest as a percentage of float at 27.77%, followed by Mylan (MYL), Citigroup (C), and Zions (ZION). The list of names is mainly made up of Financial and Consumer Discretionary stocks that investors are very familiar with. Companies like Wynn Resorts, Nordstrom, Harley Davidson, and Abercrombie & Fitch are household consumer names that the shorts flock to if they think retail will continue to struggle. If or when retailers do begin to thrive again, these names should be some of the best performers. Other key names on the list include Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), US Steel (X), and Legg Mason (LM).

Bespoke Premium and Premium Plus offers an in-depth Short Interest report twice a month for those interested. Click here to subscribe.

Comments

[Gyoza Mimi:]

The list is missing (unless it is there and I didn't find it) STEC.

Jul 10 02:50 PM

[Paul Zimbardo:]

@Bespoke

Your analysis was great and I could see this type of information being very useful for a contrarian trying to take advantage of a short squeeze.

What is the data source and what date is the data from?

@Gyoza Mimi

I also checked and STEC is not at the list. As of 6/10/09, the short interest was 38.9% according to Yahoo Finance. If this is correct, it would be right on top of the list...

Source: finance.yahoo.com/q/ks...


On Jul 10 02:50 PM Gyoza Mimi wrote:

> The list is missing (unless it is there and I didn't find it) STEC.

Jul 10 04:07 PM

[Gyoza Mimi:]

Paul,

STEC is of a particular shorting interest of mine due to the seemingly "pump-and-dump" scheme going one around it. The company's management screams "We are The Monopoly; We Own the World", while dumping their stocks. Within a month, they reduced their exposure by 20%, and the selling accelerating. There are no "buy" orders by the insiders, only "sells". P/E is at 200+ (under the assumption that they will remain a monopoly perpetually) and shorting interest is insanely high. Other players are entering the same field, and within next 3-6 months we will see some competition. Thus, I (and those 38.9% of shorts) expect it to plunge rather sooner than later.


On Jul 10 04:07 PM Paul Zimbardo wrote:

> @Bespoke
>
> Your analysis was great and I could see this type of information
> being very useful for a contrarian trying to take advantage of a
> short squeeze.
>
> What is the data source and what date is the data from?
>
> @Gyoza Mimi
>
> I also checked and STEC is not at the list. As of 6/10/09, the short
> interest was 38.9% according to Yahoo Finance. If this is correct,
> it would be right on top of the list...
>
> Source: finance.yahoo.com/q/ks...

Jul 10 04:35 PM

[Jeff Borack:]

Readers of this might find this paper interesting:

Abstract:
We study the information content in monthly short interest using NYSE-, AMEX-, and NASDAQ-listed stocks from 1988 to 2005. We show that stocks with relatively high short interest subsequently experience negative abnormal returns, but the effect can be transient and of debatable economic significance.

empiricalfinanceresear...

Jul 10 11:39 PM

[Bruce Krasting:]

This is nice data but there is something missing. What is the borrow cost of being short? Just because there is a big short interest does not mean the stock is going down (or up). There is no public info on the borrow cost. It is a very important part of the equation when looking at this stuff. For example the borrow cost of Sears was 36% per annum recently. You do not want to short that one unless your time frame is very short. If you are looking for a short name check with your broker as to the cost of borrowing. If it is a big number then caveat emptor.

Jul 11 08:45 AM