U.S. Retail: Short Interest Rises as Sales Fall

US retailers have reported another month of dropping sales. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that same store sales have now dropped for 10 straight months, and more than half of the thirty retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters have missed analysts expectations for June.

We set up a DESLI index to track the overall short interest (as measures by percent shares outstanding on loan) for eighteen US Retailers and since hitting a 52 week low on May 19th, the index has risen 22%. Since the low date the names that have seen the largest percentage increase in short interest were; Bj's Wholesale (BJ) (+120%), Macy's (M) (+90%) and Limited Brands (LTD) (+81%) . Only Tiffany (TIF)(-14%), Wal-Mart (WMT)(-27%) and Target Corp (TGT)(-35%) saw a decrease.

As of July 8th, the names with the largest short interest were; Bj's Wholesale (13.99%), Abercrombie &Fitch (13.32%), Nordstrom (12.04%), Tiffany & Co (9.16%) and Sears Holding Company (8.58%).

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Comments

[TCK:]

Buying the Aug 27 put on XRT.

Jul 13 07:45 AM