June 2007 Short Interest By Sector

The NYSE short interest for June 2007 is out and we compiled a gatewayfor a breakdown of many of the key sectors. This list isn’t a full sector breakdown,but the main sectors are included. The reasoning for it may seem illogical ornot as sometimes the short sells are mere hedges.

There was a mixed bag among the short selling in DJIA component stocks. Out of the 28 DJIA components that are listed on NYSE, 16 of the 28 saw a gain in short selling.   Warren Buffett must be a target now as short sellers lightly increased their bets against the Buffett portfolio of the 21 names we include.

In semiconductor stocks, there was an unbelievable increase in the short selling in National Semiconductor (NSM). You can see this in the full report on NYSE semiconductor-related stocks.  If you thought rising interest rates were bad for financials, you aren’t alone. It was a bit of a mixed bag for the brokerage firm stocks in short-seller land although there was a net rise. There was a big increase in short selling  in the larger and money center banking stocks.

Short sellers actually upped their betsagainst many of the key oil and energy sector stocks, even as oil approached $70/barrel.  There was a true mixed bag in the medical and drug stocks as far as short selling.  Traders usually buy into stocks with an upcoming spin-off or arestructuring of some sort, but you wouldn’t know it by the looks ofthe short seller activity in June in restructuring or reorganization stocks such as Tyco (TYC).

Jon C. Ogg
June 25, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at [email protected]; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.