Short interest jumps for DISK, RGCI, BBGI and SALM; plummets for NOOF

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

% changes in short interest Feb 15th to March 15th:

• Image Entertainment (ticker: DISK) +44.66%
• Regent Communications (ticker: RGCI) +38.10%
• Beasley Broadcast Group (ticker: BBGI) +31.48%
• Salem Communications (ticker: SALM) 24.74%
• Tivo (ticker: TIVO) +18.19%
• Carmike Cinemas (ticker: CKEC) +16.18%
• Hollywood Media (ticker: HOLL) +10.28%
• NDS Corp. (ticker: NNDS) +5.69%
• Sirius Satellite Radio (ticker: SIRI) +5.67%
• Pixar Animation Studios (ticker: PIXR) +4.48%
• Movie Gallery (ticker: MOVI) -0.31%
• Rentrak Corporation (ticker: RENT) -0.75%
• XM Satellite Radio (ticker: XMSR) -0.86%
• Netflix (ticker: NFLX) -2.76%
• Young Broadcasting (ticker: YBTVA) -11.10%
• New Frontier Entertainment (ticker: NOOF) -51.26%

Days needed to cover short position

• Movie Gallery (ticker: MOVI): 15.49

• Netflix (ticker: NFLX): 12.40
• XM Satellite Radio (ticker: XMSR): 10.72
• Salem Communications (ticker: SALM): 8.37
• Beasley Broadcast Group (ticker: BBGI): 8.36
• Carmike Cinemas (ticker: CKEC): 6.99
• Pixar Animation Studios (ticker: PIXR): 6.65
• Young Broadcasting (ticker: YBTVA): 5.58
• Regent Communications (ticker: RGCI): 4.41
• NDS Corp. (ticker: NNDS): 3.29
• Hollywood Media (ticker: HOLL): 2.64
• Sirius Satellite Radio (ticker: SIRI): 2.30
• Tivo (ticker: TIVO): 1.84
• Image Entertainment (ticker: DISK): 1.00
• New Frontier Entertainment (ticker: NOOF): 1.00
• Rentrak Corporation (ticker: RENT): 1.00

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.