Short Interest in National City, IndyMac

According to the data, National City Corp (NCC) is one of the most borrowed stocks in the North America Banks Sector, with 21% of its Market Cap out on loan [MCOL] to short investors. Forbes said that on April 21st, the financial holding company, which counts Retail and Commercial Banking, as well as Mortgage Banking and Asset Management among its companies, had reported a $171 million first-quarter loss. The stock has now dropped to its lowest point in 17 years. The share price has fallen from 18USD in January, to 6.3USD today. Investors started to increase their positions in NCC in mid-March, when the %MCOL rose from 10% to 17% over a week, as the price fell significantly from 15USD to 7.5USD in the same time frame.

However, it is possible that investors believe the price will finally start to rise, as there has been some short covering, as the %MCOL has decreased from 23% to 21% in the last week. For those investors who wish to buy back shares and close positions, there are 12 Days to Cover, down from 19 Days to Cover on February 21st.

Utilisation is at 66%, up from 43% on April 17th so it is still fairly difficult to borrow. The Utilisation for the rest of the S&P500 is 8%, and for the rest of the North America Banks Sector it is 22%.

Another heavily borrowed stock is Indymac (IMB), with 38% of the company's Market Cap out on loan to short sellers. Reuters said on April 11th that Indymac, one of the largest independent U.S mortgage lenders, said it made $3.32 billion of mortgage loans in March, down 63% from March 2007. Indymac is 70% Utilised, so it is relatively hard to borrow this stock, although in the past two weeks shorts have been covered, perhaps because investors do not believe that the price, which has already fallen from 10USD to 5.5USD since January, will fall any more. For the remainder who wish to close out positions, there are 40 Days to Cover. The average Utilisation for the rest of the U.S Small Caps is 20%.