Short interest jumps for KONG, SOHU, NCTY, and JOBS

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

Changes in short interest from March 15th to April 15th:

Online travel services:

• Ctrip.com (ticker: CTRP) -5.8% (Previous 30-day period (P): +11.8%)
• eLong (ticker: LONG) -61.3% (P: +1.6%)

Internet services:

• Sohu.com (ticker: SOHU) +23.3% (P: +20.3%)
• Sina.com (ticker: SINA) -28.0% (P: -31.1%)

Online games:

• The9 (ticker: NCTY) +21.0% (P: +146.1%)
• Shanda Interactive (ticker: SNDA) -8.4% (P: +7.6%)
• Netease.com (ticker: NTES) -8.7% (P: 16.0%)
• (Korean) Webzen (ticker: WZEN) -13.1% (P: +29.2%)
• (Korean) Gravity (ticker: GRVY) -48.5% (P: -93.7%)

Wireless services:

• KongZhong (ticker: KONG) +53.4% (P: -12.0%)
• Tom Online (ticker: TOMO) -3.3% (P: -38.3%)
• Linktone (ticker: LTON) -27.8% (P: -36.6%)
• Hurray (ticker: HRAY) -29.1% (P: -95.4%)

Employee recruiting and human resources services:

• 51Job (ticker: JOBS) +20.4% (P: +44.4%)

Financial services:

• China Finance Online (ticker: JRJC) +7.8% (P: -4.4%)

Software:

• Ninetowns (ticker: NINE) -12.9% (P: -9.6%)

Quick comment on "short interest" from the Internet Stock Blog: 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.