Short Interest in Nasdaq Issues Rose 6.3% in the Latest Month
May 09, 2011
Short interest in larger-capitalization Nasdaq stocks and among smaller stocks in the Nasdaq Small-Cap Market rose modestly in the latest month. Short interest in all stocks on the Nasdaq Stock Market, including the small caps, was up 6.3% during the latest month, ended April 27, 2011 small-cap and large-cap Nasdaq securities combined, the figure climbed to 1,220,361,439 shares from 1,148,343,320 shares in mid-July, according to the National Association of Securities Dealers. Short interest rose 4.1% in the Nasdaq Small-Cap Market, made up of the 1,437 smaller-cap stocks, and rose 6.4% for the 3,988 larger-cap stocks on the Nasdaq National Market. The figures are as of the 15th of each month or the prior business day. Traders who sell securities ``short'' borrow shares and then sell them, betting they can profit by buying the stocks back later at lower prices. Short interest is the number of shares that haven't been repurchased for return to lenders. The Nasdaq National Market's short-interest ratio climbed to 2.35 from 2.34 last month. The short-interest ratio for the smaller stocks rose to 1.12 from 0.87. The ratio is the number of trading days that would be required to close out the short positions through share purchases and is considered a measure of trading sentiment. The largest volume decreases in short interest were in Cisco Systems Inc., down 5,567,679 shares to 13,059,123; WorldCom Inc., down 3,225,926 shares to 8,465,854; and MFS Communications Co., down 3,128,571 shares to 13,546,326. The largest volume increases in short interest were in Tele-Communications Inc., up 7,422,700 to 18,836,585 shares; Intel Corp., up 4,979,555 shares to 13,994,070; and Iomega Corp., up 4,919,716 shares to 22,449,724.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
