S&P 500 Stocks with the Highest Short Interest

While there has been a lot of discussion recently regarding how most of the market's volume has been in just a handful of stocks, we are seeing a similar trend with regards to short interest. Below we highlight the five stocks in the S&P 500 with the highest short interest. Collectively, these five names account for over 16% of the total short interest for the index.

Comments

[Deepv:]

So ZRAN is over valued with mose of its market cap in net cash? sorry buddy.


On Aug 28 04:07 PM Nettligent wrote:

> There are many tech, retailers, and Homebuilders with high risk,
> overvalue, and best candidate for shorts or watch out for: ADCT,
> CVLT NETGEAR (seekingalpha.com/symbo...), N NVDA, ATHR,
> SNDK, BBND, CY, BRCD, LRCX OCNW, ZRAN, SMTC, CTX DHI HOV KBH LEN
> PHM EXTR NVLS BCSI CTXS RVBD

Aug 29 08:23 AM

[richjoy403:]

I don't short stocks...but I do believe in the right of those who do so (so long as they are not naked shorts).

Just as the longs need to be properly regulated (including margin limits), so do the shorts.

Aug 29 08:27 AM

[jk trader:]

In case you have not noticed, Smart $ will do WHATEVER they can to put you on the wrong side of the trade, period. It's a zero sum game. The "zero" is where our retail trading accounts will be if we cannot align with Smart $. Shorting (please correct me if I am wrong) was originally designed to allow people to hedge.positions. Just about anything humans come up with to make an improvement will b also used for other unintended purposes for personal gain. Have a good weekend and good luck trading !!

Aug 29 09:34 AM

[Michael Clark:]

Stock to short today: ERTS.

Aug 29 10:23 AM

[Chuckx:]

Good luck shorting ERTS on a Saturday.

Aug 29 10:38 AM

[Sanitychecker:]

yea

Aug 29 11:06 AM

[HChang:]

anything more than 5% is worth consider shorting. only 1 of the 5 qualified. try your luck, go ahead and short GE and see if you get squeezed ! i am buying more while it's still in consoliidation before it break out and up. try shorting PFE or MRK then, good luck.

Aug 29 12:00 PM

[SHADOW:]

A RISING SHORT INTEREST IN A "MOMENTEM" STOCK LIKE "C" IS GOOD. SHORTS MUST EVENTUALLY COVER. ONCE THE PRICE EXCEEDS $5, IT CAN BE BOUGHT ON MARGIN=NEW BUYERS.

Aug 29 12:13 PM

[justabug:]

For nearly fifty years I´ve operated the markets, so take it from a survivor....NEVER-EVER short a stock just because the interest in that sector is HIGH. SH ORT because of fundamentals mixed iwith analysis of market action (technicals). Actually, over the years I´ve found that approach quite satisfactory. Also, generally, the stupid operator is helped by the input of actuon based upoin the NEWTON PRINCIPLE....in one word...GRAVITY. Buildings take a while to build, we all agree, yet a demolition expert can undo that in a minute...as the building FALLS a heckova lot faster than building it takes. SMILE..

Aug 29 12:14 PM

[Sterling Ha...:]

What most retail customers fail to realize is that Short Interest does not mean what it did 25 or more years ago. Most short interest in stocks is due to professionals hedging a position; whether it is an index or etf arbitrage, a program trade, or a hedge against a derivatives postion, ( either listed or unlisted), or a risk arbitrage position against bonds or other stocks.
A large short interest position in a stock does not mean that there are a lot of speculators making a simple bet on the stock going down.

Aug 29 12:51 PM

[mouth:]

I like the thought on ETFC squeeze

Aug 29 01:53 PM

[Urbane Gori...:]

The snarky answer would be 'yes!' .. What a high short float means is you probably have a very volatile stock. Simply put, if the shorts are right and there is bad news associated with the company, then most probably, the stock will sink. However, if any news is interpreted as 'positive', or 'not as bad as we thought' then buyers come back in and the shorts scramble to cover, which drives the stock price higher. The news can either be valid, or 'subjective' such as 'Gee! The government won't let (company name goes here) sink into the muck!'

Luck! ;=)


On Aug 28 05:04 PM PseudonymName wrote:

> Does a large amount of short interest mean that these are primed
> for a pull back or are they ready to pop when the shorts get squeezed?

Aug 29 04:03 PM

[ari5000:]

the HFTs are playing a different game. There may be several operators who are long and short the same amount -- so the basically have little to gain or lose by the actual price.

But they do make 1/4 cent for every share traded -- which is why we're seeing enormous volume on a few select crap stocks. The game is always the same -- a very sharp run up over a 2/3 week period... and then a slow, managed decent as retail investors move on. Over that period -the billion shares a day volume probably means millions in profits... with options, I'm sure they can pull in close to a billion or two from the move in AIG.

There's no doubt in my mind they've got ETFC as the next target name. It may not be as successful as AIG -- I'm sure someone is pushing for a 10:1 reverse split to get the liquidity down and make it harder to short. I would suggest going all in if you see a reverse split announcement on any crap bank -- especially FNM/FRE -- that would almost guarantee a double overnight.

Game is rigged beyond belief now... but play the hand they deal.

Aug 29 07:48 PM

[convertbond:]

The short interest in C is dangerous. Never short a stock under $5. That was a rule of mine at Lehman Brothers. Too much downside risk.

Aug 30 02:06 PM

[BigGuy:]

Stocks shorted below $5 are not marginable. Also, most full service and many discounters require at least $2 per share on penny stocks and $5 a share on stocks between $1 and $5.

In other words, to short 10000 shares at 50 cents -- $5,000 proceeds -- most firms will require you to put up $20,000. To short 10,000 shares at $1 -- $10,000 -- most firms will require you to deposit $50,000 in cash or T bills, not stock, to secure the transaction.

Shorting MRK and PFE here is really unwise. What bad news there could be is already out. Big pharm has much better chances of having a positive surprise or no surprise at this point than a negative surprise. What could push the stock down has already happened.

Aug 30 05:49 PM

[capital pains:]

Thousands of ridiculously overvalued stocks and
MRK and PFE make the list ? More proof of the idocy dominating the casino, excuse me, I mean stock market ! Totally absurd.

Aug 30 07:28 PM

[overbet:]

Mrk and Pfe are on the list because they are in deals. Mrk is buying Sgp so the arbs are long sgp and short mrk. Pfe is buying wye and the arbs are short pfe and long wye.


On Aug 30 07:28 PM capital pains wrote:

> Thousands of ridiculously overvalued stocks and
> MRK and PFE make the list ? More proof of the idocy dominating the
> casino, excuse me, I mean stock market ! Totally absurd.

Aug 30 10:24 PM

[overbet:]

aig #6


On Aug 28 04:18 PM whidbey wrote:

> Good highlight.
>
> I am just shocked that the financial Stks are not more prominent
> on the list. At the top I would have guessed AIG. That, and the GSEs
> are speculative as hell, but looking at their special ownership one
> does hesitate to take them short.
>
> Is health care shorting just a hedge on the bill passing, or longer
> run bad management of health by the government. Either will do to
> put those stocks short.

Aug 30 11:35 PM

[Stockpickin...:]

"I like the thought on ETFC squeeze"

ya, us too!

We have alot of $5 calls!

stockpickingpros.com

Aug 31 06:58 PM

[notaspecultor:]

stec has 30% short interest for several months

but the earnings are great


why does stec have such a high short interest 30% of float per yahoo????/

anyone

Sep 29 10:04 AM