Russell 1000 Stocks with the Highest Short Interest as Percentage of Float

Below we highlight Russell 1,000 stocks currently with the highest short interest as a percentage of equity float.  This is short interest data from mid-September, and it will be interesting to see how things change when the end of month short interest numbers are released.  For each stock we also highlight its year to date change and change since the close on 9/16, right before the SEC began bringing the new short rules into place.  As shown, Sears Holdings (SHLD) had the highest short interest as of mid September, with 57.74% of its float sold short.  The stock is down 7.5% year to date and 3.7% since last Tuesday's close.  WBMD has the second highest short interest at 55.7%, followed by SPWR, BIG, THO and ZION.  While some heavily shorted stocks haven't done much since last week, some have soared.  This most likely has to do with the amount of "naked" shorts for each stock on the list.

Comments

[jay fredric...:]

Excellent info here on this heavy short list. Seems like there are a few retail stocks seen to go lower. Could lampert be shorting his own stock, Sears, as a hedge in the ultimate hedge scenario? Is that allowable?
Jay fredrickson chicagocheap.com

2008 Sep 27 08:35 AM