Short Sellers Cut and Run From Major Banks

Banking, finance, and taxes

Published: May 10, 2018 11:30 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 11:49 pm

The financial sector was a major part of the Great Recession, and it has been a major part of the recovery and raging bull market since then. Generally speaking, the major financial institutions in the United States are a good barometer of the current state of U.S. markets.

So when short sellers make a play against these major banks, they are effectively betting for a downturn. Conversely, when they back off they might be expecting a surge. Granted, some plays are directly against individual companies, like we saw with Wells Fargo early in 2017.

The April 30 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest in most of these selected big bank stocks decreased.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) saw its short interest decrease to 121.00 million shares. The previous level was 123.19 million. Shares were last seen trading at $30.90, in a 52-week range of $22.07 to $33.05.

The number of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) shares short fell to 22.84 million from the previous level of 24.65 million. Shares recently traded at $113.65, in a 52-week range of $81.64 to $119.33.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) short interest decreased to 18.31 million from the previous level of 22.40 million. Shares were trading at $72.40, in a 52-week range of $59.10 to $80.70.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) short interest rose to 31.18 million shares from the previous reading of 29.85 million. Shares were trading at $54.05, within a 52-week range of $49.27 to $66.31.

Short interest in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) decreased to 5.71 million shares from the previous 6.08 million. The stock recently traded at $242.25, within a 52-week range of $209.62 to $275.31.

Morgan Stanley’s (NYSE: MS) short interest for this settlement date increased to 11.34 million shares from the previous 9.67 million. Shares were changing hands at $54.50, in a 52-week range of $40.43 to $59.38.

ALSO READ: The 6 Most Shorted NYSE Stocks

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