Short Sellings Move Back Into Financials, Target Industrials, Tech, And Media

Short sellers think financial stocks believe that financial stocks still have further to fall. Based on data as of February 15, short sellers kept a big bet on Citigroup (C). Share short in AIG (AIG) rose 17% to 151 million The short interest in Well Fargo (WFC) was up 11% to 124 million, and shares sold short in Bank of America (BAC) rose 15% to 111 million. Shares sold short in Goldman Sachs (GS) were up 26% to 16 million

Short sellers also made a run at the stocks in large industrial companies. Shares short in GM (GM) rose 9% to 114 million. The short interest in Dow Chemical (DOW) was up 28% to 39 million. Shares short in Corning (GLW) rose rose 33% to 26 million.

Media companies were hit hard by short sellers. The short interest in CBS (CBS) was up 20% to 47 million shares. Shares short in Gannett (GCI) rose 12% to 71 million. The short interest in in McClatchy (MNI) was 29% of the total float and share short in Lee (LEE) were 24% of its float. Twenty-five percent of the float in Cox (CXR) was sold short. At Media General (MEG) the number was 24%. Shares sold short in Yahoo! (YHOO) were up 8% to 43 million and shares sold short in Comcast (CMCSA) were up 5% to 54 million.

In the tech sector, shares short in Intel (INTC) were up 12% to 107 million. Shares sold short in Microsoft (MSFT) were up 14% to 92 million. Shares short in Cisco (CSCO) also rose.

Douglas A. McIntyre