Short interest on January 15 showed bets against financial shares listed on the NYSE climbed when compared to December 31 numbers.
Shares short in Countrywide Financial (CFC) rose 32.5 million to 166.9 million. Shares sold short in Washington Mutual (WM) moved up 37.5 million to 129.9 million. Shares short in Wachovia (WB) moved up 15.4 million to 81.7 million.
Shares short in some tech and telecom stocks fell. Short interest in IBM (IBM) dropped 4.7% to 12.9 million. Shares sold short in Qwest (Q) dropped 4.4 million to 84.5 million. Shares short in Verizon (VZ) dropped 2 million to 29 million.
Largest Short Positions.
Company Shares Sold Short
Countrywide 166.9 million shares short
Ford (F) 154.7 million
Washington Mutual 129.9 million
AMD (AMD) 91.8 million
Qwest 84.5 million
Wells Fargo (WFC) 84.1 million
Wachovia 81.7 million
Micron (MU) 76.9 million
Home Depot (HD) 70.7 million
Largest Increases In Share Sold Short
Company Increase In Shares Short
Washington Mutual 37.7 million share increase
Countrywide 32.5 million
Ford 16.1 million
Wachovia 15.3 million
SLM (SLM) 13.5 million
AMD 12.6 million
Largest Decrease In Shares Sold Short
Company Decrease In Shares Short
GE (GE) 6.4 million decrease in shares short
Best Buy (BBY) 5.7 million decrease
CVS (CVS) 5.0 miillion
IBM (IBM) 4.7 million
Qwest 4.4 million
Data from NYSE and WSJ
Douglas A. McIntyre
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