Banking, finance, and taxes

Short Sellers Can't Make Up Their Minds on Major Banks

Chris Lange

Published: October 25, 2018 8:35 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 3:52 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 October 15 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest moves in these selected big bank stocks were mixed.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) saw its short interest fall to 116.67 million shares. The previous level was 124.30 million. Shares were last seen trading at $26.19, in a 52-week range of $25.81 to $33.05.

The number of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) shares short fell to 16.68 million from the previous level of 18.66 million. Shares recently traded at $103.29, in a 52-week range of $95.95 to $119.33.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) short interest decreased to 17.28 million from the previous level of 18.37 million. Shares were trading at $63.80, in a 52-week range of $63.18 to $80.70.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) short interest rose to 22.03 million shares from the previous reading of 19.66 million. Shares were trading at $50.19, within a 52-week range of $50.02 to $66.31.

Short interest in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) increased to 4.39 million shares from the previous 3.53 million. The stock recently traded at $209.18, within a 52-week range of $208.40 to $275.31.

Morgan Stanley’s (NYSE: MS) short interest for this settlement date was 11.24 million shares, down from the previous 12.54 million. Shares were changing hands at $43.49, in a 52-week trading range of $42.88 to $59.38.