Banking, finance, and taxes

Big Banks See Rising Tide in Short Interest

Chris Lange

Published: September 26, 2018 8:25 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 5:20 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 September 14 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest in most of these selected big bank stocks increased.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) saw its short interest rise to 126.38 million shares. The previous level was 125.50 million. Shares were last seen trading at $30.67, in a 52-week range of $25.12 to $33.05.

The number of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) shares short rose slightly to 19.31 million from the previous level of 19.05 million. Shares recently traded at $116.39, in a 52-week range of $94.58 to $119.33.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) short interest decreased to 16.05 million from the previous level of 16.48 million. Shares were trading at $73.51, in a 52-week range of $64.38 to $80.70.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) short interest rose to 29.73 million shares from the previous reading of 27.04 million. Shares were trading at $54.23, within a 52-week range of $50.26 to $66.31.

Short interest in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) increased to 4.65 million shares from the previous 3.89 million. The stock recently traded at $232.50, within a 52-week range of $218.89 to $275.31.

Morgan Stanley’s (NYSE: MS) short interest for this settlement date was 11.04 million shares, up from the previous 10.57 million. Shares were changing hands at $48.28, in a 52-week range of $46.28 to $59.38.