NYSE Short Interest Hits Another Record High

NYSE short interest data for the end of May was released after the close yesterday, and from the looks of the report, the market's weakness in the second half of the month emboldened the short sellers.  Total short interest on the Big Board rose by 2.7% to another record high.  At current levels, short interest represents 4.3% of all shares outstanding and has now risen by more than 40% from its levels in October when the S&P 500 peaked.

On an individual stock basis, it's easy to see where the shorts are focusing their bets.  Of the ten stocks with the highest short interest as a percentage of float, all of them come from either the Consumer Discretionary or Financial sectors.

Comments

[Edward Janeck:]

The US is in recession. The market is going to start going down. I went short with the money I manage a month ago. read about it at theinvestingspeculator...

2008 Jun 06 09:52 AM

[customer man:]

Can anyone quantify the effect on the short interest figure of the 130/30 funds ?

2008 Jun 06 03:56 PM